Cowboy Raises Gold By: Emily Slaughter

Cowboys Raises Gold, shines a light on what it means to participate in philanthropic giving to something that matters.

The annual Cowboy Raises Gold campaign is going to go live on Feb. 17 at Hardin-Simmons University (HSU). This campaign is designed for the community to aid in Hardin-Simmons’ mission, “A community dedicated to providing excellence in education enlightened by Christian faith and values.” 

Cowboys Raise Gold is a "giving day" style campaign that seeks to encourage donor participation through small-dollar gifts to HSU fundraising initiatives that resonate with our HSU family,” Aaron Ruff, director of Annual Giving and senior development officer for the Office of Engagement and Advancement, said. “I have a lot of hopes and dreams in terms of strengthening campus programs.

My desire is for our academic and athletic programs to have the funding necessary to pursue excellence for our students in every format they desire such as enrichment opportunities, guest speakers, participation/presenting at conferences, community service practicums, etc. I would also like to see as many financial barriers as possible removed that keep HSU students from thriving.

This encompasses everything from the student care fund strengthening student support initiatives, to the Annual Scholarship Fund continuing to help make a college education accessible.” Hardin Simmons’ goal for this campaign is to receive 250 donations.Ruff states that, “this year we included a student engagement initiative, ‘Gilbert's Gold Rush’, which is the first year we have looked to intentionally encourage student participation.

“It was important to us to make sure that any student could participate regardless of whether they felt like they had the ability to give or not. A few generous donors gave unrestricted gifts that will show up around campus in the form of fake gold bars. If a student brings that into Cowboys Raise Gold Central in Moody, they get to designate the donation amount to the giving initiative of their choice. Our hope is that by empowering students to direct philanthropic giving now, they will begin developing the habit of responding to their own desire to give charitably later in life—whether in support of HSU or another cause that matters to them.”

In 2025, this campaign raised over $52,000 in donations which helped support funds for the HSU Athletic Department, Theatre Department, Six white Horses Program and more. 

Cowboys Raise Gold has provided some key funding for specific programs such as the HSU cycling team. Cowboys Raise Gold funds were used last year to raise the funds that jumpstarted their inaugural season,” Ruff said. If you are interested in helping raise funds to strengthen student experience and to enrich campus growth, please donate on the HSU website.