The University of Mary Washington will hold its first giving day on Tuesday, March 14. This date is significant in the University’s history, as it marks 109 years since its founding in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women.
During Mary Wash Giving Day on March 14, donors can make gifts at mwgivingday.com from midnight through 11:59 p.m. Gifts received during this time will celebrate the UMW spirit of giving back and help fill the gap—since funding from the Commonwealth of Virginia accounts for just 25% of the University’s operating budget. Private support from the Mary Washington community is essential to providing an outstanding liberal arts education for UMW’s 4,000 students.
Of UMW’s 38,000 alumni, nearly one-third are graduates of the last decade, and their participation in giving is key to sustaining and strengthening the University’s tradition of excellence. One objective of Mary Wash Giving Day is to inspire these young Eagles to give back to the University, continuing a longstanding alumni tradition of paying it forward to the next generation of students.
The University has set a Giving Day goal of 654 donors (a nod to the prefix of all phone numbers on the Fredericksburg campus). Each individual’s participation, not the amount of their gift, matters most. Donors will be able to make online gifts in support of one or several areas of the University. These eight areas of support will be highlighted:
- Fund for Mary Washington (the University’s largest source of unrestricted support)
- Athletics
- Amphitheatre Challenge
- Arts & Culture
- Scholarships
- President’s Impact Fund
- Colleges and Libraries
- Senior Class Gift (the Class of 2017’s legacy gift to the University).
At mwgivingday.com, donors will be able to keep track of the day’s progress via a dynamic leaderboard, share their donations on social media and send emails and text messages encouraging friends to give. Alumni and other passionate Mary Washington supporters who would like to serve as #MaryWashDay social media ambassadors can download profile and cover images on the Social Media page of the site. More information about the day can be found on the FAQs page.
