More Than a Million: Darden School Alumni, Supporters Break UVA GivingToHoosDay Record

On the University of Virginia’s third annual GivingToHoosDay, members of the Darden School of Business community made history for the School as they came together to support Darden through a record-setting day of philanthropy.

With nearly 1,000 gifts made during the 24-hour celebration of UVA, Darden alumni and supporters raised $1.24 million — far surpassing the previous GivingToHoosDay record of $571,000 set by Darden in 2016. The opportunity for a million-dollar day was made possible by several Darden Annual Fund Darden Society members, who committed to match all GivingToHoosDay gifts dollar for dollar up to $500,000.

In total, the outpouring of support for Darden totaled 29 percent of the $4,336,602 in gifts made to the University.

“This is a testament to the strength, loyalty and generosity of our Darden community,” said Dean Scott Beardsley. “From those who created the challenge matches to those who made a gift online of any amount, we came together as a School to make history and to demonstrate our collective support of Darden. I am awed and inspired by this year’s GivingToHoosDay, and I am filled with gratitude for our donors and this tremendous showing.”

GivingToHoosDay began with a tremendous start as Darden earned the first gift of the day at midnight, generating additional funds through a challenge gift from the University.

The excitement for GivingToHoosDay continued on Grounds as Darden students, faculty, staff and alumni gathered for a celebratory First Coffee. Kyle Collins and Agatha Patterson, both Class of 2018 students, spoke about the importance of philanthropy to the School. They shared how transformational the Darden experience has been and how many of their opportunities were made possible by the generosity of the Darden community.

Patterson also shared her inspiration for supporting Darden on GivingToHoosDay. “I’m giving to Darden because I believe in this community and want others to experience it, too. I hope you consider giving today.”

With the challenge announced and the day in full swing, the Darden community responded quickly with gifts from around the globe. As the million-dollar mark neared, two additional anonymous donors came forward with two more challenge matches of $50,000 each, bringing the total matching funds for the day to $600,000.

Alumni, parents, faculty, staff, students and friends of Darden continued to make gifts until the stroke of midnight, driving Darden well past its original million-dollar goal for the day, with contributions totaling $1,239,581 to the School.

The impressive results generated additional funds of more than $30,000 from President Teresa Sullivan’s challenge gift.

The phenomenal sum more than doubled the $500,000-plus totals earned by Darden in the previous two years of GivingToHoosDay, and it represents the first million-dollar day in the history of the Darden Annual Fund.