A Week for Woodberry was a five-day, mini-campaign held late in March 2016, to inspire increased gifts by alumni to the Amici Fund, Woodberry Forest's annual fund, and to raise awareness of how the Amici Fund supports the school. Woodberry has a well-established culture of philanthropy and proudly claims one of the nation's highest participation rates by alumni in its annual fund. The Amici Fund provides approximately 11 percent of the school's operating budget each year, supporting the "people and programs" so important to the Woodberry experience. However, the annual fund is a "mature" fund - many of the alumni who support it do so at the same level, year after year. The best way to "grow" the Amici Fund is with larger annual gifts. Hence, the primary goal of A Week for Woodberry was to inspire 900 alumni to increase their gifts to the Amici Fund by 5 percent or more. Inspiration came in the form of this simple challenge issued by a group of eleven alumni leaders from different generations: If 900 alumni increased their Amici gifts by 5 percent or more by the end of the five-day campaign, the challenge donors would contribute $150,000 to the Amici Fund. The campaign was a huge success, thanks to Woodberry's robust network of class agent volunteers.
From the Judges' Report
Very well executed campaign with a very simple message. Excellent focus on energizing a mature annual fund.
