Powered by an immense show of support from members of the VMI family, VMI’s Fiscal Year 2025 Day of Giving, held Nov. 14, 2024, raised $296,176.60 for the benefit of the Corps of Cadets.
Held just a few days after Nov. 11, when the Institute marked 185 years since its founding, the Day of Giving attracted 1,019 donors. The overwhelming majority of gifts—82%—came from alumni, with the remainder of the day’s strong support provided by parents, friends, and faculty and staff.
Funds raised from the Day of Giving will help VMI achieve the five goals outlined in the Institute’s newly unveiled strategic plan, Forging 21st Century Leaders: Prepare exceptional leaders, enhance academic excellence, foster esprit de corps, recruit top cadets and boost success, and deliver 21st century facilities.
“The VMI Day of Giving is about unifying our alumni, family, and friends and coming together to make a difference,” said Andrew C. Deal ’12, VMI Alumni Agencies chief development officer. “This year’s Day of Giving provided the opportunity to support a wide range of areas that will have a profound impact on our cadets and faculty. When I look back on my cadetship, the VMI experience took a group of strangers and molded them into a unified group. We have that same opportunity with philanthropy. It truly does make a difference.”
A robust social media presence featuring cadet videos in the days before the campaign resulted in a number of early gifts. By the afternoon, the original goal of 600 donors had been surpassed, and a new goal of 839 donors was set, which was reached well before midnight.
Supporters had the opportunity to direct their gifts to one of eight areas: Unrestricted giving, academic excellence, cadet life, the newly established Call to Duty scholarships, scholarship enrichment, athletics, the Center for Leadership and Ethics, or a gift to a specific scholarship, team, etc.
Of those, the largest number of donors—more than 365—chose unrestricted giving. This is immensely helpful, as unrestricted funds can be allocated quickly to the areas of greatest need.
A gift to an area of the donor’s choice was the second most popular gift option, followed by athletics, Call to Duty Scholarships, cadet life, scholarship enrichment, academics, and the Center for Leadership and Ethics.
As an incentive for friendly competition and participation, the class with the highest number of donors was offered the chance to have its class year on Moe’s jersey during home football and basketball games. With $25,183 raised and 101 donors participating, the Class of 1984 claimed top honors. The Class of 1990 came in second, with 96 members of that class participating.
Throughout the day, members of the VMI family could watch the campaign’s progress online and via social media. By midnight, donors from 47 states and many foreign countries had shown their support.
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Mary Price Development Writer/Communications Specialist
The development writer plays a key role in producing advancement communications. This role imagines, creates, and produces a variety of written communication to inspire donors to make gifts benefiting VMI. Utilizing journalistic features and storytelling, the development writer will produce content for areas such as Annual Giving, stewardship, and gift planning.
