For
the fourth straight year, the West
Virginia University Foundation’s annual giving program received a
record number of donations. Between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018, donors gave
$22.3 million to the University Fund surpassing the previous record high of
$21.6 million in FY ’17.
The $22.3 million is part of an overall $161 million in gifts and pledges by
donors to WVU during FY ’18, the second highest fiscal year of giving ever in
the Foundation’s history. Foundation officials say 21,811 individuals made
42,401 gifts to WVU through the annual giving program.
“I am appreciative of our alumni and friends who continue to make WVU a priority in their charitable giving and are passionate about the future of WVU,” said Greg McCracken, director of the Foundation’s University Fund.
WVU Foundation Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer B.J. Davisson added, “I congratulate the University Fund staff for another banner year and thank the thousands of donors who each year make WVU a priority when it comes to their philanthropy.”
Under the Foundation’s annual giving program, gifts can range from $1 to $24,999. Most of these donations —around 52 percent — are made through the mail. Another 21 percent are made online. Mountaineer Line, the Foundation’s telemarketing program, in which WVU students work part-time engaging alumni and friends via telephone, accounts for about 17 percent of the program’s annual contributions.
“I am pleased with the support we received for our first-ever Day of Giving,” McCracken said. “The effort turned out to be a day to celebrate WVU with over 2,500 alumni and friends participating, including over 500 who made their first-ever gift to WVU.”
The percentage of total donors to the Foundation’s annual fund program for FY ’18 was comprised of 53 percent alumni, 34 percent individual, and 7 percent corporate. Donor advised funds, sole proprietorships and foundations make up the remainder.
Gifts to the annual fund program go to programs in every college and school at WVU, WVU Alumni Association, WVU Athletics, 4-H, WVU Children’s Hospital and many others.