UMBC’s fiscal year ended on June 30, 2014. As we pause to reflect on accomplishments of last year, we’d like to thank the generous alumni, faculty, staff, family, and friends who make our great work possible. Because of Retriever Believers like you, our students have fantastic opportunities here at UMBC.

Throughout this fiscal year, our alumni – including 456 first-time donors – pulled together to give back $396,415, surpassing the goal for alumni by over $46,000. Parents of our students and alumni donated $143,521.02, and our wonderful faculty and staff contributed $81,399.46. Thanks to every gift, big and small, UMBC received $621,335.48, which is over $55,000 more than the fiscal year for 2013.

Thank you to all those who supported UMBC – we’re excited for the 2015 fiscal year. Go Retrievers!

Give back to UMBC today!

UMBC’s fiscal year ended on June 30, 2014. As we pause to reflect on accomplishments of last year, we’d like to thank the generous alumni, faculty, staff, family, and friends who make our great work possible. Because of Retriever Believers like you, our students have fantastic opportunities here at UMBC.

Throughout this fiscal year, our alumni – including 456 first-time donors – pulled together to give back $396,415, surpassing the goal for alumni by over $46,000. Parents of our students and alumni donated $143,521.02, and our wonderful faculty and staff contributed $81,399.46. Thanks to every gift, big and small, UMBC received $621,335.48, which is over $55,000 more than the fiscal year for 2013.

Thank you to all those who supported UMBC – we’re excited for the 2015 fiscal year. Go Retrievers!

Give back to UMBC today!

Feeling a little nostalgic and generous? Check out these quick and easy tips for giving to UMBC. Don’t forget: the fiscal year ends on this year on June 30! We greatly appreciate your support.

ONLINE GIVING
To donate to UMBC, you may go to our traditional giving site and designate your gift any way you’d like. If you would prefer to donate directly to student scholarships or other student programs, you can continue online to our crowdfunding site.

CHECKS
If writing a check, please make them payable to the UMBC Foundation and mail to the UMBC Foundation at 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250. Use this printable form to make your contribution even easier.

GIFT OF SECURITIES
Giving appreciated stock can benefit both you and the school you came from. You may be eligible to take a charitable deduction for the market value of the securities, and could potentially benefit by avoiding capital gains tax and reducing your estate tax. You can request additional information about donating securities here.

PLANNED GIVING
Planned gifts, such as bequests, charitable gift annuities, and charitable remainder trusts, can benefit for you, your family, and UMBC and offer a wide variety of ways to donate to the university. For more information, visit our Planned Giving website. You can also contact Kim Robinson, Director of Capital Campaigns and Donor Relations, by phone at 410-455-3700 or by email at trowbrid@umbc.edu.

GIFTS IN KIND
Used to benefit the university, a gift of personal property includes equipment, inventory, books, works of art, or other tangible property. Gifts of personal property are gladly accepted by UMBC and greatly appreciated. Donors may designate their gift to be used in an academic department or program. If you are interested in pursuing this type of gift, please email Kim Robinson, director of capital campaigns and donor relations, at trowbrid@umbc.edu or give her a call at 410-455-3700.

Make a gift to UMBC today!

Click here to view more of our grads!

As the first day of summer approaches, we’d like to look back and congratulate the class of 2014 for completing their undergraduate years at UMBC. This class created memories, opportunities, and relationships that are unlike any others, and were able to take part in many events while completing their degrees here. Thanks to the investment of donors like you, our grads are holding their heads high as they look to a future full of bigger and better things.

While it may not be immediately recognizable, your donations, no matter how big or small, all contribute to the livelihood and well-being of our campus, our faculty, and our students. We are grateful for every gift and show of support that you are able to offer.

Thank you for the past year of giving, and take a look at this video from one of our newest grads about the class of 2014!

The UMBC community gives back in many ways. The Clothing Closet and Sweeten Up Your Network events were great examples of exactly that. Thanks to your donations of time, money and clothes, students were able to find outfits for future job interviews, brush up on their networking skills and make connections that could last a lifetime. Weren’t able to make it? Take a look at some of the pictures and head over to the Student Alumni Association Facebook page for more!

Some of the clothes donated by the UMBC community. (photo via SAA)

Another happy student finds an interview outfit! (photo via SAA)

UMBC SAA member Sheena was able to mix and match a few items to create a great outfit. (photo via SAA)

The Student Alumni Association hosted a great networking event! (photo via SAA)

Alumnus and UMBC staff member, Jeremiah Sawyer ’13, chats with a student about UMBC’s Career Services Center. (photo via SAA)

Tomorrow marks the third annual Scholarship Luncheon celebrating donors and their contribution to support our UMBC students. This yearly meet-and-greet event is a great opportunity for donors to get to know the scholarship recipients and understand just how big an impact their gifts have on the UMBC students and community.

A highlight of the event is the opportunity to hear from two special speakers: a donor and a student. This year, donor Ken Pittman ’80, Economics, of PNC Wealth Management will share the story of why he supports UMBC and one of the Linehan Art scholars will share the story of how receiving a scholarship has changed her life and advanced her studies.

More than just a time to express gratitude, however, the scholarship luncheon promotes the possibility of future philanthropy – the students are able to see the faces behind the scholarships and realize that the people giving these gifts are real people with passions just like themselves with a desire to give back to others and their community. It’s heartwarming for the donors to meet the students face to face and students are also touched at the chance to learn the story behind the scholarship.

And even as the luncheon ends and our donors and students go their separate ways, the effects of their meeting often last beyond this day, beyond UMBC and even extend into the personal lives of the donors and recipients. One particular student was so grateful to his donor that he made the effort to follow up and maintain a relationship. Equally, the donors enjoy the chance to see where the students are after graduation: where they are working, what has happened in their lives and what they are working toward in their future.

As we at UMBC see it, this is what philanthropy should be: a lasting legacy and the chance to make new connections. We appreciate all the donors who support our students – you are making a very real mark on our campus and changing lives.

Make your mark today! Support students scholarships.

When we talk with our alumni, they often tell us UMBC not only taught them what they needed to earn a degree, but also what they needed to live their lives in an engaged, active way.

For some, all it took was the special attention of an extraordinary teacher. For others, it was the chance brush with another culture that caused a sea change of perspective.

Think about ways UMBC has enriched your life. Now, imagine a university where everyone knew its worth in their lives – and what might happen if each of those people supported it at whatever level they could. Every year.

Imagine what we could all do together. You know that every little bit counts, but it becomes even clearer when you see what might be possible if each of UMBC’s more than 60,000 alumni made a gift in support of UMBC’s Annual Fund. The results would be phenomenal:

• If every alum gave $10, UMBC would have $600,000 to fund new scholarships, research opportunities, faculty training, and more…
• If every alum gave $15, UMBC would have $900,000…
• If every alum gave $20, UMBC would have $1.2 million…

And it only takes one person to start the movement. When you make your gift to the annual fund, you’re making a public and important show of support.

Annual fund gifts have an immediate and direct impact on academic and other resources for our students. Did you know that state funds provide less than 25% of the university’s operating budget? And that tuition and fees alone do not cover the full cost of a UMBC education?

That’s why your gift to the department, area, or program you care most about helps keep a UMBC education within reach for our students and families.

We are extremely proud of and honored by the support we receive each year. We are amazed at the generosity of UMBC’s supporters, from alumni, faculty and staff to friends of the university, corporations, foundations, parents and even current students themselves. We know that your gifts are an indication of your belief in the work that we do here and the potential of our amazing students. 

Change lives. Make a gift to the annual fund today!

Engineers Without Borders (EWB) is changing lives. On December 3, a national day of giving, you can be a part of the change.

We talked with Lee Blaney, an assistant professor and the group’s advisor, and Michael Brown, a student engineer, about  an important trip they’ll be taking in January and how you can help.

Q: What is EWB planning on doing in January on your trip to Isongo?

Lee: The January implementation trip has one primary objective: to install a clean water system in Isongo, Kenya. Residents are currently collecting water from an unprotected spring. Our previous trip demonstrated that this shallow water is contaminated and represents a public health concern.

On the implementation trip, the team is planning to construct a borehole [a well to draw deeper water] and hand-pump system to provide clean water from deeper aquifers. Once the clean water supply is constructed, EWB-UMBC will help to form and train a village water committee on maintenance and operation issues. The goal is that after this trip, the community will be able to maintain this well.

In addition, EWB-UMBC wants to continue to engage the community in best water, sanitation and hygiene practices.  Ultimately, all three of these elements are required for a successful project.

Q: What do you need to accomplish your goal? How do the donations to your fundraising campaign help?

Lee: To successfully complete this project, EWB-UMBC requires funding to drill the borehole, purchase the raw materials for the hand-pump, and acquire tools necessary for maintenance and operation. In addition, donations will help pay for UMBC students to travel to Isongo to complete the project. Once the water supply is installed, the EWB-UMBC team will conduct water quality testing to ensure that this new water supply is safe for consumption. Your small gift can help benefit the lives of hundreds of people in Isongo for a lifetime.

Michael: The more money we can raise, the more students we can send [to Isongo], increasing the total impact that we can have on the community. One great thing about our fundraising page is that potential donors can see exactly where their money will go.

Q: What does the support from alumni and donors mean to you?

Lee: EWB-UMBC relies on gifts to fulfill our mission of implementing environmentally and economically sustainable engineering projects, while developing globally aware and internationally responsible students and engineers. We especially appreciate gifts from alumni because we believe that EWB-UMBC not only promotes projects in the developing world, but also transformative experiences for UMBC students. In EWB-UMBC, undergraduate students are empowered to tackle complex, real problems on the other side of the world.

Q: What does it feel like to know you’re helping people around the world?

Lee: One of the fundamental canons of engineering is “to hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public.” In EWB-UMBC, students are empowered to use the knowledge that they gain in classes to benefit real people. Meeting these people and knowing that our work is helping to improve their lives is very powerful.

[UMBC student] Chris Mullen, who traveled to Isongo on last year’s assessment trip, expressed the impact of these experiences nicely: “I learned just as much in those ten days as I learned in the previous semester. It’s not just about the engineering application or the problem solving, it’s about the experience: getting to know people living in a foreign land that you won’t hear about on the news, good people who will make a bigger impact on my life than I could ever make on theirs.”

Michael: Helping communities in need is exactly why the students in this group give so much of their time and energy. Engineers Without Borders projects are great because the ultimate goal is to give the project over to the community. This creates a sense of empowerment within the community because they are ultimately the ones who are making it all happen.

Yes, I want to support EWB-UMBC and change lives!

To see more of what EWB-UMBC does, check out their Tumblr.

Thank you to all of the wonderful donors and scholarship students who came out for last week’s 2nd annual Scholarship Luncheon, March 13. Often, this event marks the first meeting of donors and their scholars, making it a truly memorable occasion for all. The event drew more than 100 guests, and featured remarks by McCormick & Company President Alan D. Wilson and senior Nia N. Hampton ’14, media and communications studies, who is the recipient of a number of scholarships at UMBC, along with UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski, III.

We’ll be sharing stories of connections made at the luncheon over the course of the next couple months, but in the meantime, we hope you’ll enjoy this photo slideshow!