On Tuesday, March 14, join the 24-hour celebration by giving back to the areas that mean the most to you, including the Fund for Mary Washington, UMW Athletics, Arts & Culture, the President’s Impact Fund, the Amphitheatre Challenge, Scholarships, and the Colleges and Libraries.

Generous donors have stepped up with challenge matches totaling $42,000, doubling the impact of gifts on Mary Wash Giving Day. Set your alarm to wake up early with us on March 14 to unlock a $2,500 matching gift if we reach 109 donors by 9 a.m.!

We have set a goal of 654 donors for Mary Wash Giving Day, and gifts of all amounts are important and valued. Join President Paino, alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends of Mary Washington in giving back to pay it forward. We can’t wait to see what happens when we all work together on #MaryWashDay!

We are thrilled to report that 614 donors, including many faculty and staff, came together in just two weeks to make $108,334 in gifts and gift commitments to the Fund for Mary Washington, exceeding the goal of $108,000 to mark the University’s 108th founding anniversary.

The funds raised during the Challenge will preserve and strengthen the Mary Washington tradition. Thank you to all who made the second annual Founders Day Challenge a success!

In celebration of our 108^th founding anniversary on March 14, the Office of Annual Giving has launched the second annual Founders Day Challenge.

The challenge aims to raise $108,000 in two weeks for the Fund for Mary Washington, the University’s single largest source of unrestricted private support. Gifts to the Fund enable UMW to support students, programs and other needs not covered by the state’s operating budget.

During last year’s six-week Founders Day Challenge, 926 donors came together to give more than $127,000. Advancement staff decided to shorten this year’s Challenge to make it even more exciting. All gifts to the Fund for Mary Washington between March 1 and March 14 (Founders Day) will count toward the total. Faculty and staff are asked to help spread the word using the Challenge hashtag, #EaglesGive.

The Fund for Mary Washington is just one of seven areas of priority within UMW’s $50-million Mary Washington First Campaign. The campaign, which will close June 30, 2016, has garnered generous support from more than 16,000 donors since it was launched in 2011.

UMW was established as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Fredericksburg on March 14, 1908. It was the second institution in the state devoted exclusively to the training of teachers for public schools, after the Normal School for Women at Farmville, now Longwood University.

For more information about the founding of UMW, past Founders Day celebrations, the Challenge, or to make a donation, please visit giving.umw.edu/challenge. To share your Mary Washington story in honor of Founders Day, please complete this short form.