Homecoming may have brought a steady stream of school spirit to the Hilltop this past weekend, but it also brought the university a small flood of alumni funding.

“Our really large events like homecoming drive a spike in giving,” Jeff Donahoe of the Office of Advancement said. “[Alumni] are thinking about Georgetown and about seeing their friends, so it’s on their mind.”

The Office of Advancement, which handles everything from monetary contributions to communications, is still crunching numbers, but Donahoe said that alumni giving rates are up already from last year. Statistics from the 2010 fiscal year showed that 27 percent of undergraduate alumni contributed donations.

This year, the university was able to garner support even from its most recent grads, challenging those from 2005 to 2010 to see which class could number the most donors. Despite their status as the most recent members of the Georgetown alumni community, the Class of 2010 came out on top with 163 donations.

Right now, the university’s most prominent donor project is the 1789 Scholarship Imperative, which seeks to raise $500 million by 2014 in order to create 1,789 annual scholarships. According to Donahoe, most donations to the university go toward this fund.

“People respond to it,” he said of the project. “It’s very motivating, and it puts a face on the donation.”

The 1789 Imperative is endowed by the Georgetown Fund, which is currently contributing every dollar it collects to the project. The money is then divided into $25,000 blocks and issued as scholarships. Donors can contribute cash or appreciated securities, stocks and bonds.

Some alumni donors also contribute directly to departments, clubs or athletic teams, often to ones in which they were involved when in school.

“People tend to give where their heart is,” Donahoe said, adding that the school sees donations that are directed toward the library, campus ministry and athletics, among other destinations.

Alumni who donate annually are enrolled in the Georgetown University Loyalty Society, which is comprised of reliable yearly donors, some of whom have contributed for over 20 consecutive years.

Homecoming is only one of several major celebratory and fundraising events that rake in contributions to the university. According to Donahoe, annual class reunion weekends often result in donations, as does John Carroll Weekend, a spring gala that commemorates alumni volunteering and benefaction.

In the past, the John Carroll celebration has been held in locations around the world, such as New York City, Madrid, Paris and London.

Alumni donations can also come, and often do, in the form of time commitments. Georgetown maintains an extensive network of willing volunteers who interview prospective students through the Alumni Admissions Program. Over 18,000 volunteers also offer informational interviews and networking opportunities to current students though the Alumni Career Network.

According to Theresa Mutter, assistant director of Class Programs, alumni volunteering also spikes around major events. Still, she said, thousands of alumni volunteer every year.

“There are a total of around 1,200 main campus class volunteers alone,” she said in an email.

Whether their contributions are in dollars or in minutes, Georgetown alumni are giving back to their alma mater.