This year's Class Giving Campaign, a mass fundraising effort targeted at the class of 2010, has seen 50 percent participation with $122,000 total raised, according to campaign chair and former Student Council President Matt Schrimper.
The campaign initially set a goal of 60 percent participation. As the campaign comes to a close, Schrimper said current turnout and donation numbers are improving still.
"Class giving has been going very, very well," Schrimper said, adding that the campaign is "part of an effort to help people realize what their gifts can do."
Mary Elizabeth Luzar, an associate director of the Alumni Association and adviser to the Fourth Year Trustees said a popular amount to give this year has been $20.10, which some students have opted to split among multiple organizations. Fourth-year students can give to a variety of on-Grounds programs, including majors, athletic teams and contracted independent organizations. But this was not always the case.
"Since the early '80s until late '90s, each class would pick a [single] project to give to," she said.
It was a graduating fourth-year class during the late 1990s that began the tradition of allowing students to choose which initiatives to fund.
"A lot of schools do have giving campaigns [in which] they give to one initiative," she explained. "We're trying to highlight the fact that students can give to whatever they want."
The Fourth Year Trustees have embarked on many promotional efforts for the campaign, Luzar said, such as introducing a "robust" new website and awarding donors with class of 2010 Minerva pins, funded by the Senior Vice President of Development and Public Affairs. This also is the first year the campaign has used YouTube videos to promote its efforts, she added.
One video, demonstrating the apparent ease of filling a donor pledge card, ends with the campaign's tagline: "Make your gift matter to what matters to you most."
Although the main purpose of the campaign is to educate students about the impact of giving, Luzar said she hopes this also will instill a tradition of giving with new alumni and allow them to help create a similar, enriching University environment for future classes.
During the past seven to eight years, Luzar said 56 to 63 percent of fourth-year students donated to their class campaigns before graduating.
-Jane Ma contributed to this article
Read More
U.Va. Alumni Association submits plans for new Alumni Hall building
By Caroline Hagood | 2 days agoWest said that despite the proposal moving through City Council’s review process, the project is still years away from becoming a reality.
Graduating student leaders reflect on how they impacted the University community
By Jackie Bond and Brandon Kile | 2 days agoAccording to Lilian Rojas, Board of Visitors student representative and fourth-year Batten student, the Class of 2024 is defined by its resilience.
D.C. baseball legend Ryan Zimmerman to deliver keynote Valedictory address
By Xander Tilock | 3 days agoFamously nicknamed “Mr. National” for his many contributions to the Washington, D.C. franchise, Zimmerman is considered one of the most successful alumni in Virginia baseball history.
