The Fordham community came together once again on Fordham Giving Day, piecing together a tally of nearly $1.5 million.
The gifts from alumni, faculty, staff, and others—made between March 4 and 5—surpassed the amount raised on Giving Day last year and propelled the University closer to completing its $350 million fundraising campaign, Cura Personalis | For Every Fordham Student, in the campaign’s final stretch.
For this year’s Giving Day campaign, 2,433 donors gave in support of scholarships, academic centers, diversity and inclusion initiatives, athletics, and other University priorities, often responding to other donors’ giving challenges and matching funds. Gifts ranged from $1 to $12,500, with $100 as the median gift.
Piecing Together the Future
The campaign was titled Piecing Together the Future, with a message that “you are a vital piece in shaping Fordham.”
This year, for the first time, Giving Day was paired with blood drives—held at the Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses—that reinforced the themes of service and making a positive impact. More than 75 people took part.
Tania Tetlow, president of Fordham, thanked supporters in an online video message. “When you come together to each give even a little bit, you are part of building on Fordham’s academic excellence, incredible community, and the ways that you help us make a difference to the world when it needs us most.”
Committed Alumni
The Giving Day fund that received the most support—in both number of donors and dollars raised—was the fund for Fordham’s Greatest Needs. It received nearly $295,000 from 660 donors.
Beyond that, the funds that got the most support included the water polo program; the Fordham Law School Fund; the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) at the Lincoln Center campus; and the Parents and Families Fund.
This was the first year that HEOP at Lincoln Center held a Giving Day campaign. HEOP alumni often give back to the program by mentoring and meeting with students, and this year they were asking how they could make monetary gifts too, said Jennifer Sanchez-Trujillo, associate director of the Lincoln Center HEOP program.
She expected perhaps 50 donors to respond. Instead, she got 118.
“I was very touched,” Sanchez-Trujillo said. “It just shows how invested our alumni are in Fordham and in the program.”
It was also a good Giving Day for the Marymount Legacy Scholarship, awarded to a Fordham student—of any gender—who has an affiliation with Marymount College, which merged with Fordham before closing in 2007.
Giving Day support for the scholarship has been trending upward over time, with 114 donors giving more than $36,000 this year, said Karen Easton, MC ’86, vice president of the Marymount Alumnae Association, which “has been very active in keeping graduates informed and connected,” she said.
This year, donors spanned 25 states and class years from 1959 to 2007, she said. “We really have a high-spirited group of graduates” who want to sustain the college’s legacy, she said.
Cura Personalis Campaign
The strong Giving Day total brings Fordham to 94% of the Cura Personalis campaign’s fundraising goal. The campaign is designed to enhance the entire University experience through investments in access and affordability; academic excellence; student wellness and success; athletics; and greater diversity, equity, and inclusion on campus.
