West Virginia University’s ninth Day of Giving brought in more than $22 million and a record number of gifts on Wednesday, March 25, with donors in all 50 states contributing to the 24-hour fundraising event.
More than 11,000 gifts were made over the course of the day, the most since WVU launched the event in 2017. It was also the first time since 2019 that every state was represented on the donor map.
The online event, organized by the WVU Foundation, supports academic programs, health care, research and student experiences across the WVU system, including WVU Health Sciences, WVU Medicine, WVU Athletics and regional campuses in Keyser and Beckley. This year’s effort focused on unrestricted scholarship support to give the university flexibility in meeting students’ needs.
It was the first Day of Giving for WVU President Michael T. Benson, who also encouraged supporters to contribute seed funding for innovative projects as part of his Strategic Compass.
“We are so thankful for the many alumni and supporters who came together on Day of Giving to support WVU,” Benson said. “As Mountaineers, we lead with pride, and these results are evidence of the generosity, buy in, and bold spirit that drive our mission to serve West Virginia, while providing our students the life-changing experiences that prepare them to serve others and lead in the Mountain State and around the world.”
Among the larger gifts: a $3 million contribution from Syd Peng to the WVU Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, and a $2 million gift from Hamid and Tina Moghadam benefiting the WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute.
“This year’s WVU Day of Giving demonstrated the power of collective philanthropy at scale,” Kristen Shipp, WVU Foundation executive director of annual giving, said. “The remarkable level of participation from our community shows a deep and growing commitment to supporting our students and advancing the University’s mission.”
In nine years, WVU Day of Giving has raised more than $164 million from over 58,000 gifts.
