In an effort to encourage charitable giving to UVI by alumni and non-alumni, the university and UVI Trustee Donald Sussman are throwing down the "donation gauntlet." According to a UVI release issued Tuesday, Sussman has stepped forward with a $100,000 matching gift challenge for individuals and companies who have not supported UVI since Oct. 1, 2008.
Sussman will match every alumni contribution dollar-for-dollar for all gifts in excess of $100. All non-alumni gifts, from businesses and individuals, in excess of $1,000 will be matched 50 cents per dollar donated. All gifts meeting these criteria will be matched up to $100,000. Sussman’s matching gift challenge runs until Sept. 30, 2010.
“Mr. Sussman has donated substantial gifts in recent years, but this kind of challenge encourages the entire community to contribute to UVI,” said Henry Smith, UVI’s interim vice president for institutional advancement. “Now is the time for donors to maximize their contribution to UVI, especially alumni, since alumni contributions will be matched 100 percent.”
Smith noted that donors can designate specific areas where they want their contributions to be used. Those areas include scholarships, the UVI Foundation, the Reichhold Center for the Arts, academic divisions, research, UVI’s Community Engagement and Lifelong Learning (UVI CELL) Center, summer enrichment programs and athletics.
Gifts not designated will go toward the President’s Fund, an unrestricted fund that supports areas of greatest need.
To learn more about the UVI donation initiatives, contact the UVI Institutional Advancement Office at 693-1040.
