Through their generosity and support, several alumni and friends have set the stage for success in UMF’s second-annual June Match Giving Challenge.

By Marc Glass, May 2019

Nationally, June is widely associated with many good things: a preponderance of weddings, Flag Day, Father’s Day, and, for students and teachers, the start of a hard-earned summer vacation. Perhaps less well known, June also happens to be National Turkey Lovers’ Month. (That’s right — June, not November. Go figure.)

But among alumni and friends of UMF, the sixth month of the year is also rapidly becoming known as the time to rise to a challenge — the June Match Giving Challenge.

The June Match Giving Challenge

Thanks to the support of several alumni and friends of UMF, the 2019 June Match Giving Challenge features a first-ever raffle with a dozen crave-worthy prizes, including a 2019–2020 no-blackouts season pass to Sunday River, Sugarloaf, and Loon. Read on to learn more. 

Last June, alumni and friends kicked off the new annual tradition with a win for UMF. Spurred by $5,000 in matching funds from a group of generous lead donors, more than 217 members of the UMF community made contributions of $25 or more in the last month of the fiscal year — triple the number of gifts made to the University in June 2017.

“Basically, thanks to the generosity of alumni and friends who participated in last year’s challenge, we were able to take the $5,000 donated by the lead donors and turn it into more than $10,000 for the University in one month,” says Katie O’Donnell ’07, director of annual giving and stewardship at UMF. “I cannot wait to see what the UMF community can achieve next month.”

Katie O’Donnell ’07, Director of Annual Giving and Stewardship at UMF. (Photo by Marc Glass.)

O’Donnell says the 2019 June Match Giving Challenge will feature a bigger goal — 250 contributions to the UMF Fund in one month. And with the bigger goal comes bigger incentives to participate.

“First, there’s a bigger pot of matching funds,” she says. “Thanks to a larger group of generous lead donors, this year’s June Match Giving Challenge has $25,000 available to match contributions of $25 to $1,000 made to the UMF Fund, dollar for dollar.”

The math, says O’Donnell, is simple: A gift of $25 to the UMF Fund will be matched by the lead donors and becomes $50. A gift of $50 becomes $100. A gift of $1,000 becomes $2,000.

The gift-doubling impact of the match wouldn’t be possible without the generosity of the lead donors, including three people who wish to remain anonymous, past Alumni Council member Greg Gravel ’67, and Board of Visitors members David Levesque ’88, Chris McKee ’92, and Marjorie Medd.

Aside from $20,000 more in matching dollars than last year, the 2019 June Match Giving Challenge also features a first-ever raffle with a dozen crave-worthy prizes. Everyone who makes a contribution of at least $25 to the UMF Fund in June will be automatically entered into the raffle to receive:

Make a Gift Today

“We’re incredibly grateful to all our alumni partners who have made generous in-kind gifts to support the month-long challenge with such terrific raffle prizes,” says O’Donnell. “The truly fun part will be announcing the winners on Monday, July 1, on the UMF Alumni Facebook page.”

In addition to the raffle, O’Donnell says there are three other powerful reasons to participate:

  • Everyone who makes a contribution of at least $25 to the UMF Fund in June will receive a UMF-branded buff.
  • In keeping with last year’s June Match Giving Challenge, alumni and friends can make contributions in honor of their BFFs (Best Farmington Friends). O’Donnell says the Ferro Alumni Center team will let those classmates, mentors, coaches, or professors know gifts have been made in their honor.
  • And with a new GiveCampus gift-processing website, making contributions online has never been quicker or easier. O’Donnell says GiveCampus even accepts contributions through Apple Pay.

“One of the exciting things about the new site is that in addition to seeing our progress toward the goal of 250 donors in real time, as gifts are made, people can create their own mini-challenges with friends and classmates,” says O’Donnell. “Using our new GiveCampus site is a fun and social experience. I’m looking forward to seeing the name of the first person to make a contribution appear on the online donor roll.”

In case you’re wondering who made the first contribution to last year’s June Match Giving Challenge, O’Donnell says the 2018 honor belongs to Alumni Council member Mike Milliken ’07, who made his gift shortly after the challenge was launched on June 1.

In a video interview seen widely on social media, Milliken summed up the motivations of many challenge donors, saying his gift was an expression of gratitude.

“One of the reasons it feels right to give a gift to UMF is because of all that UMF has given to me,” said Milliken, who explained that he met his wife, Nell Woodworth ’10, at Farmington, along with lifelong rugby friends and an “all star cast” of mentors, including John Bagnulo, Woody Hanstein, Allison Thayer ’95, and Kawika Thompson ’93.

Milliken, one of the newer members of UMF’s Alumni Council, said that in exchange, “a small gift that is matched is the least I can do for Farmington.”

Michael Angelides ’12, assistant director of advancement, says Milliken’s sentiments echo those of many alumni he spoke with by phone during last year’s inaugural matching challenge.

Michael Angelides '12

Michael Angelides ’12, UMF’s Assistant Director of Advancement. (Photo by Marc Glass.)

“Many people I chatted with wanted to make their contribution in honor of a favorite professor or classmates who became friends for life,” says Angelides. “The truly fun part of the work is hearing people talk about the impact UMF has had on their lives and the gratitude they have for their time on campus. It’s a privilege to experience those moments with alumni, and I look forward to catching up with them again during this year’s challenge.”