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!

UMBC is an incredible and diverse community of thinkers, creators, and innovators. When we work together, we can accomplish great things.

Alums enjoy the IT & Engineering Happy Hour and Fundraiser

Case in point? Just today, a group of our Information Technology and Engineering alumni raised enough money to fund a student scholarship. They decided to shoot for $1,600, and they raised 105% of that goal with two days left in their campaign.

As they say, the proof is in the pudding. This is one story among many of the generosity of our alumni and the ways in which they change UMBC for the better each year.

As our fiscal year comes to a close today, this demonstration of support is especially timely. Gifts made now will have the most immediate impact on our students as we get to work planning for an amazing new school year.

Give today and watch your gift go to work immediately
for our students.

Support our UMBC students!

Did you know that last year more than 65% of UMBC’s full-time undergraduate students applied for financial aid?

Unfortunately, more than a quarter of those students didn’t receive all—if any—of the support they so desperately need. What’s worse is that it’s often a very small amount of money that holds students back from getting the education they need to survive and succeed in today’s economy.

That’s why we’re turning to you. The great thing about Retrievers is that you know the importance of community support.

Together, we can make sure that our students finish school and get the degree that will help them throughout their lives.

Every gift, no matter the size, will move us forward. Please support UMBC students with a gift, today. When you do, you’ll change someone’s life.

Please support our students today!

Once in a while you might get a call asking for your support for UMBC and its mission.

The person on the other end of the line? A UMBC student.

Five nights a week, UMBC students assemble at Alumni House and reach out to alumni and parents via the university’s Phonathon. The program was brought back to campus in 2011 after being outsourced to a third party for eight years.

Dayna Carpenter, UMBC’s director of annual giving, says that the university made the change because it was students who could make the most tangibleconnection to donors.

“People were really excited to talk to actual UMBC students and to have meaningful conversations,” said Carpenter.

Success is measured in numbers – and giving is up since the switch was made. But the relationships built by the Phonathon effort are just as important. Students and alumni swap stories about their time at UMBC, and a few students have received internship and job offers from alumni whom they’ve connected with during a phone call.

Logan Wern, UMBC’s Phonathon coordinator, says that students’ understanding of philanthropy has also increased: “Many of our students realize and understand the importance of fundraising and the good it does here on campus.”

One of the efforts that has benefited from the Phonathon is the Retriever Learning Center. The effort was heavily funded by alumni and it is a place beloved (and used) by many students.

“It’s because of the donors’ outstanding support that UMBC is able to offer so many resources for students and alumni alike,” says student caller Jordan Coffie ’14.

– Katharine Scrivener

Read the full issue of the Winter 2014 UMBC Magazine.

This March, while most college students were enjoying freedom from the classroom or even sunny days on the beach, a number of UMBC students instead chose to spend their week off from school in service learning experiences through Alternative Spring Break (ASB).

These week-long service trips introduce students to the broad range of challenges our society faces and teach them how they can help change things for the better. Thanks to donors like you, our students were volunteering and serving for projects and organizations like: 

• The Gesundheit Institute
•  Through the Eyes of a Refugee
• The ARC of Carroll County
• Will Hope for Change
• A Better Impact

Your gifts ensured that students could take advantage of these life-changing education opportunities, so thank you! They truly will carry these memories and lessons throughout their lives.

“My ASB experience was truly memorable. I loved seeing that small actions can make an impact and I had the best time working with other students in the program,” says student Erin Wells who went on the A Better Impact trip. “I have grown so much from just one week, thank you for this opportunity.”

See more photos from the Alternative Spring Break trips!

A group of UMBC students needs your help! The Students for Environmental Awareness (SEA) is currently seeking funding to host their Earth Day Festival on April 23.

SEA’s mission is to think locally and act globally, and they work to raise awareness for environmental causes and how everyone can make a difference.

And what better way to raise awareness than an Earth Day festival bringing the whole school together around peace and interconnectedness? SEA has worked tirelessly to secure space, funding and partner organizations to make this the best EcoFest yet! This year the students have a week of events planned, with the biggest being the Earth Day Festival, celebrated on April 23.

The funds raised will be used to pay for parking passes for SEA’s off-campus organization guests, printing posters, stenciling t-shirts, craft supplies for button-making and others, and covering other unanticipated costs.

Everyone is welcome to join in the festivities on April 23. We’d love you to be there in person or in spirit!

Help our students raise $200 to host EcoFest!