The 2016 Alumni-Athlete Giving Challenge has come to a close and the donations have been tallied. The annual challenge set a new record this year for the most dollars raised. More than 300 alumni-athletes participated in the challenge, donating approximately $174,000 to Mason Athletics during the challenge, which is in its sixth year. Compared to last year’s challenge the dollars raised increased by 63%, setting a new record.
The challenge is made possible by Board of Trustees member Dan Wotring and his wife Patty, both of whom are also alumni-athletes themselves. Each year the Wotrings sponsor the program with a $5,000 donation to Mason Athletics. The challenge offers awards in three different categories to the programs that the alumni-athletes hail from: highest percentage of alumni-athlete giving, the most improved percentage of alumni-athlete giving from the previous fiscal year, and the highest percentage of young alumni-athlete giving (graduated within the past five years).
“It’s great to see the continued growth of this initiative and new records in terms of participation and money raised. Patty and I are grateful to the generosity of alumni-athletes and coaches,” said Dan Wotring.
This year’s alumni-athlete giving awards go to:
- Wrestling for the highest overall giving percentage, with 32% (nearly 60 alumni donating) and the most improved giving percentage from the previous fiscal year.
- The Masonettes had the highest-ever young alumni-athlete giving percentage, with an impressive 92% participation rate.
“It is impressive that wrestling, lacrosse and baseball all finished at or above 20% participation. We know Coach Russell worked extremely hard to achieve 32% of giving by connecting with wrestling alumni directly and leveraging former coaches in the process. The Masonettes accomplishing a 92% participation rate for young alumni is equally impressive and key to growing the Patriot Club donor base for the future. But the real winners here are the student-athletes and that is what this initiative is all about,” added Wotring.
The success of this year’s challenge continues to show the loyalty, commitment, and generosity of our former student-athletes. Mason Athletics hopes to continue this momentum into the 2017 Alumni-Athlete Giving Challenge.
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—CM 7/27/16