The University received more than $2.1 million in total donations during its 24-hour online fundraising event — GivingToHoosDay — April 12.
Patrick Stanley, manager of digital strategy at the Office of Engagement and University Annual Giving, said he was overwhelmingly pleased with the participation from students, alumni and other donors for the event.
Altogether, the University received nearly 5,700 gifts.
The Darden School of Business raised the largest amount of money of all the schools, bringing in more than half a million dollars. In comparison, the College received the greatest total number of gifts — more than 1,100 gifts.
Up until the last hour, students and alumni of Darden and the College interacted on social media with friendly banter, pushing to be the top fundraising school, Stanley said.
“There was a great back-and-forth between the College and Darden,” Stanley said. “There was a lot of friendly competition and that added some excitement to the evening.”
Several organizations on Grounds also notably raised more than $100,000 each in donations, including the Alumni Association, Virginia Athletics Foundation and the Jefferson Trust.
Molly Bass, director of scholarships and endowments/annual giving for the Alumni Association, said while the numbers are still coming in, the Alumni Association far surpassed a $15,000 challenge.
The Alumni Association reached out to its member through typical outlets, Bass said. Twitter, Facebook and emails were utilized to encourage alumni to donate to areas they felt particularly attached to.
“Of course we have ongoing marketing efforts with our members on an annual basis. We send messages to them regularly,” Bass said. “We are very happy with the support they've shown to the Alumni Association on GivingToHoosDay.”
Mark Luellen, senior associate vice president for development, also said he was satisfied with the day long event.
“The overall participation of our alumni and friends was simply staggering,” Luellen said in an email statement. “Such support and generosity shows the tremendous culture of philanthropy we have at the University of Virginia.”
Through the day, dozens of active students and alumni also used the hashtag #GivingToHoosDay and shared pictures of their time on Grounds on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram to show support for the University.
“There were some great social media events — we had a lot of people sharing images about their time at the University on social media. We got to go through all those photos and that was fun,” Stanley said. “What you really see there is it’s not always about the biggest amount of money given.”
Overall, the results of GivingToHoosDay appear to be viewed as a success by faculty and administrators who were involved with the day.
“I think people had a really good time — that’s what it’s all about. People came together and made gifts to U.Va.,” Stanley said. “Now the schools are going to go ahead with these funds and do some great work.”
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