West Virginia University alumni and friends are invited to come together on March 20 in support of the seventh WVU Day of Giving, an annual fundraising effort organized by the West Virginia University Foundation.
Since 2017, the 24-hour event has raised $66 million for WVU from more than 28,000 gifts.
The funding benefits all areas of the University, including life-changing scholarships, health care, athletics, groundbreaking research and improvements to campus.
Scholarships, specifically, are always one of the top fundraising priorities for academic units on Day of Giving. As the need for scholarship support continues to grow nationwide, the WVU Morgantown campus disbursed more than $157 million in scholarships from institutional, state and private resources during fiscal year 2022-2023.
The WVU Foundation has more than 2,200 endowed and non-endowed scholarship funds created through generous private support. Day of Giving offers an opportunity to expand those resources for students even more.
“We want to remove as many barriers as possible to allow students access to higher education,” President Gordon Gee said. “Gifts to support scholarships will help move us toward our ultimate goal of helping each student achieve their degree and graduate from West Virginia University with little to no student debt.”
WVU Day of Giving benefits all areas of the University, including life-changing scholarships, health care, athletics, groundbreaking research and improvements to campus.
The Foundation and University will again use email and social media to spread the word to alumni and supporters about the special Day of Giving. On that day, donors can easily make donations online at dayofgiving.wvu.edu.
Hourly challenges will offer exciting opportunities to secure additional funds throughout the day based on participation, dollar amount raised, social media engagement and more. Participants will also be able to stay updated on challenge winners, live leaderboards and the donor wall.
Gifts of $5 and up will be accepted as multiple contributions can be made to help win challenges.
“Through the power of collective giving, we can strengthen efforts by WVU to transform lives through education, improve health for West Virginians, and pioneer solutions to the world’s biggest challenges,” said Kristen Shipp, WVU Foundation executive director of annual giving. “We hope you consider participating on Day of Giving alongside the WVU community.”
Listen: Inside WVUToday Day of Giving Spot
Alumni and friends wishing to help create excitement on the day can register to become a WVU Day of Giving ambassador in support of their favorite area of WVU. The top five registered ambassadors who inspire the most gifts through their unique URL will receive a WVU swag box.
All gifts are made through the WVU Foundation, the nonprofit organization that receives and administers private donations on behalf of the University.