UM Presents Year’s Biggest Fundraiser ‘The Big Give’ March 9-10

UM’s third annual day of giving, called ‘The Big Give’ will be the 24 hours between noon on March 9 to noon on March 10.

KGVO News spoke to Elizabeth Willy, director of communications at the UM Foundation about the fundraiser that brought in a record $280,000 last year.

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“The Big Give is UM’s third annual Day of Giving,” said Willy. “It's a digital fundraising campaign aimed at bringing UM donors from around the world together to support the ‘U’. So the big give is being held March 9^th and 10^th from noon to noon. The Big Give aims to inspire UM alumni donors, parents and friends to help reach the event goal of 1000 charitable gifts in just 24 hours.”

Willy said the Big Give has a theme to help inspire donations.

“This year's theme for the Big Give is ‘Rise up Together UM’, and that theme emphasizes how members of the giving community can come together to make a collective impact that changes lives,” she said. “Donors are encouraged to find what they're passionate about and give. They can choose from more than 40 University areas, so the idea is that the donors will rise up together, give to what they care about and make a difference for the lives of young students.”

Willy explained the goal of the ‘Big Give’.

“The Event goal of the Big Give is to earn 1000 charitable gifts in just 24 hours from noon on March 9 until noon on March 10,” she said. “Everyone visits the website, find what they're most passionate about and gives even just a $5 gift, whatever they feel comfortable giving. It's all of us coming together to make a collective impact. We're hoping that we can do that on March 9 and 10th and make a difference for UM students.”

Willy explains how to be a part of the Big Give on March 9 and 10.

“Participants can give at ‘support um.org/big give’,” she said. “Early gifts of any amount also count toward the event goal. Participants visit that website where they can find the list of those 40 University areas, explore all the different options, read about all the different programs, colleges, initiatives, and figure out which one means the most of them and give to that area.”

The Big Give is managed by the University of Montana Foundation, an independent nonprofit organization that has inspired philanthropic support to enhance excellence and opportunity at UM since 1950.