April 12, 2019
The Darla Moore School of Business raised $75,797 from 729 unique donors for the University of South Carolina’s annual Giving Day Wednesday.
Surpassing their goal of 500 donors, the Moore School had the largest number of donors among academic units on campus.
Within the Moore School, donors, which included a multitude of current students, supported 20 different areas. Those included student scholarships, academic departments and the Darla Moore Second Century Fund, a fund to honor benefactress Darla Moore and support the second century of business education at USC, said Mark Richter, Moore School director of development.
“Students participated in a big way during the mid-day hours from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. when more than 250 made gifts during a celebration outside of the Moore School,” Richter said.
Competing against other university campaigns and academic departments, the school received a $5,000 bonus for winning the power-hour challenge, a competition to see which could secure the most donors from 4-5 p.m.
An even bigger gift was given to the Moore School by alumnus Drew Stevens (B.S. ’10), who agreed to match all donations up to $25,000 given by USC alumni who graduated since 2010.
A Columbia wealth management adviser with Northwestern Mutual, Stevens said he pledged such a significant sum because he feels a sense of responsibility to help the next generation.
“I don’t look at it as a donation or contribution, but I recognize it as an investment in the community, if not the country,” he said. “I love this school, I love what the Moore School stands for, what it represents, and I love being a tiny, tiny piece of what makes it better.”
Stevens said he received a $1,000 scholarship as a senior, so this was his way of paying it forward.
“It was really neat to realize that alumni care so much that they are connected and investing in us and are supporting the work that the students do,” he said. “That’s why I really wanted to give.”
Alumni like Stevens who are dedicated to supporting the Moore School and the university can influence other alums to give, Richter said.
“Drew Stevens is very passionate about the work being done by the Moore School and investing in students’ futures,” Richter said. His contribution “did help motivate others who may have been sitting on the fence to give or increase their gift.”
On its second annual Giving Day, the University of South Carolina raised more than $4 million with contributions from 6,576 donors.