By Ashna Balroop

The University of Maryland hosted its annual Giving Day last Wednesday, raising over $5.3 million from 8,949 donors on campus, across the country and around the world during this 24-hour philanthropic marathon.

Giving Day has been an annual event at UMD since 2014 when it was created to raise monetary support for different campus funds and organizations. This year, supporters gave to more than 400 causes in 28 campus areas, exceeding last year’s fundraiser total by more than $1 million, according to the university’s Office of Marketing and Communications. 

Student groups such as UMD’s Gamer Symphony Orchestra, an organization dedicated to playing video game music through orchestra choirs, rely on Giving Day for their semesterly concert, raising over $14,000 dollars this year. 

Matthew Doyle, a senior chemistry major, is the Gamer Symphony Orchestra’s treasurer. He said that funding expands the lifespan of the GSO. 

“The majority of our funding does come from [Student Government Association] funding,” Doyle said. “However, in recent semesters, recent years, they’ve had to implement pretty hefty budget cuts.”

Each one of GSO’s concerts costs thousands of dollars to put on, so while budget cuts worry them, the money raised from Giving Day offsets those costs. 

“And when we’re getting like 20, 40, even 60% budget cuts, all of that money has to come from somewhere, and all of that comes from Giving Day,” Doyle said.

Diana Forbus, associate director of Broad Based Campaigns and Strategic Engagement for the Office of Annual Giving, believes that Giving Day is not just about giving to the university but through the university. 

“If you’re someone who’s really passionate about food insecurity, you can also support the campus pantry, or Terps Against Hunger, or one of these other groups at the university that does these things,” Forbus said.  “Or, if you are interested in sustainability, we have a number of sustainability funds. Every school and college is represented.”

Forbus believes that the impact of Giving Day is so widespread that it’s difficult to pinpoint the specific benefits of each fund.

“With so much money being raised across so many funds, it’s hard to pinpoint for a lot of the programs,” Forbus said. “It can be very specific for what that fund is for. It could be programmatic support.”

Forbus does know that Giving Day as a whole has impacted university programs in vastly different ways, with the programs that she knows of, like the Mighty Sound of Maryland, using the funds for instruments.

“Every year, the Mighty Sound of Maryland raises money for their marching band instrument fund,” Forbus said. “So they’ve been able to replace a lot of instruments over the years, just from money that they raised on Giving Day.” 

The College of Education also benefited from Giving Day, raising over $350,000 this year. Aaron Bobik, the director of development for the College of Education, credits the college’s success on Giving Day to the specific strategies they utilize and the competitiveness of the faculty and staff.

Bobik emphasized that the money raised on Giving Day will impact various areas across the college. 

“We have a lot of specific programs, like TerpsEXCEED, [and the] Center for Young Children,” Bobik said. “They use their funds, typically, to help program operations and financially support some of the participants to be able to participate in the program.”

The College of Education is also committed to increasing graduate fellowship support, which was impacted by the reduction in federal grants by the Trump Administration.

“Any fundraising we can do on Giving Day to support our current graduate students to get through this academic year is a big focus,” Bobik said.

Stephanie Chang, Ph.D., Assistant Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion, noted that Giving Day is really important and that donations reinforce the importance of their work.

“Our participation in Giving Day is about our supporters and donors, not in the amount raised, but in the opportunity for supporters of [the Office of Diversity and Inclusion] and our units to show their belief in our work,” Chang said.

Giving Day plays a key role in supporting UMD’s organizations and colleges in their efforts to make an impact. 

“[Giving Day is] philanthropic spirit. It’s the ‘do good’ of this university. It’s Terp pride. It’s all that coming together to help to move the University of Maryland fearlessly forward,” Forbus said.

Featured Image: Sammy Garcia, a UMD alum, spreading awareness about UMD’s Giving Day in the Adele H. Stamp Student Union. Photo by Joseph Conaty.