Giving Day Raises More Than $2M

The sixth annual Giving Day, the 24-hour fundraising campaign to support student scholarships, academic programs and university initiatives, raised $2,080,506.96 from 8,649 gifts.

Donors including students and parents, faculty and staff, campus organizations, and alumni gave to a variety of causes: schools and colleges, specific departments or programs, athletics, libraries, performing arts, and Greek and student organizations. They also supported many university funds, including for emergency needs and for veterans.

Bill Pugh, computer science professor emeritus, and his wife, Lisa Orange, made the biggest commitment: $750,000 to launch the makerspace in the Brendan Iribe Center for Computer Science and Engineering, and to coordinate a campuswide makerspace initiative.

Athletics led donations with a fundraising total of $185,365.51, followed by the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences and the Office of Undergraduate Studies (UGST) with $112,557 and $71,788.49, respectively.

William A. Cohen, associate provost and dean for undergraduate studies, cited the appeal of UGST programs and the staff’s energy as factors in the unit’s success. “It’s a big effort that we start early, and we have really strong leadership in our development team.”

The Office of Undergraduate Studies drummed up the highest number of individual gifts with 900, followed by the Division of Student Affairs, with 466, and the College of Arts and Humanities, with 443.

“I think as Giving Day has become more and more well-known, everyone wants to jump in and get involved,” said Linda Clement, vice president for student affairs. “It’s terrific.”

Throughout the day, several supporters matched funds raised. Donations to the Clark Challenge for the Maryland Promise, a need-based scholarship program for undergraduate students from underserved populations in the state of Maryland and the District of Columbia, were matched dollar-for-dollar by the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation and the University of Maryland. The Clarvit family helped match gifts from students, recent graduates and first-time alumni donors, as well as donations made toward emergency scholarship funds.

Social media challenges added to the giving spirit. In the Testudo Selfie Challenge, participants posted pictures with cutouts of Flat Testudo to raise money for the fund of their choice. Twenty-three prizes went to schools and colleges and to funds ranging from the Gamer Symphony Orchestra Support Fund to the Student Crisis Fund.

Since its launch in 2013, UMD Giving Day has raised more than $6,507,936 from 26,840 total gifts from the UMD community.

Follow Testudo as he trekked around campus on Wednesday to get Terps excited about Giving Day: