--- title: ‘Giving’ It Their All date: 2025-03-05T00:00:00-05:00 author: University of Maryland canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/giving-it-their-all" section: Articles --- # ‘Giving’ It Their All *March 5, 2025* — by [Sala Levin ’10](/author/sala-levin-10) > Units Go to Extremes to Encourage Generosity During UMD’s Fundraising Marathon *Giving Day 03062024 DS 8365 1920x1080 — Today is Giving Day, UMD's annual 24-hour fundraising marathon that supports initiatives across campus.* A marching band, a hot sauce taste test and a chocolate fountain—no, it’s not the world’s weirdest party, it’s another year of [Giving Day](https://givingday.umd.edu/), the University of Maryland’s annual 24-hour philanthropy extravaganza. Today marks the 12thannual fundraising push, when students, alums, faculty, staff and friends of UMD unite to support programs, units and initiatives across campus. Originally known as Scholarship Day, Giving Day now has a selection of more than 600 funds for donors to choose from, giving them an opportunity to select the campus cause that’s closest to their hearts. (Last year’s Giving Day set a record high, with a total of $4,221,558 raised by 9,663 individual donors.) “Giving Day is a lot like a big pep rally,” said Diana Forbus, associate director of broad-based campaigns and strategic engagement at UMD. “It’s school spirit and Terp pride bringing us all together to raise money to do good and have an outsize impact on this university.” Some units have gained a reputation for going all-out on Giving Day. Read on to see what they’ve got planned for this year’s philanthropy spree. *woman laughs as man gets pied in face — Last year, Nima Farshchi '14, MBA '20 took a pie to the face for every $50 donor to the Robert H. Smith School of Business' Center for Social Value Creation.* **Topics:** [Campus & Community](https://today.umd.edu/tags/campus-community) **Tags:** [Philanthropy](https://today.umd.edu/topic/philanthropy) **Units:** [College of Arts and Humanities](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-arts-and-humanities), [Division of Student Affairs](https://today.umd.edu/topic/division-student-affairs), [Division of University Relations](https://today.umd.edu/topic/division-university-relations), [Belonging & Community at UMD](https://today.umd.edu/topic/belonging-and-community-at-umd), [Robert H. Smith School of Business](https://today.umd.edu/topic/robert-h-smith-school-business)