Purpose:

The primary purpose of the U.Va. C2C Contest is to discover innovative ways to improve the rate at which young alumni/alumnae participate in annual giving to the University of Virginia. There are many reasons why annual giving is so important to the University:

• It is largely unrestricted, which means your gift can go directly toward the bottom line for the University and its schools and programs.
• By making contributions from year to year, alumni, parents and friends provide a consistent stream of support for academic and student-life programs.

Who May Enter:

Any U.Va. alumnus/alumna, current student, faculty or staff member may enter the contest.

Any team consisting of at least one of the preceding may also enter the contest.

Submission Structure:

Participants will develop and submit a proposal for increasing young alumni (last 12 graduating classes) annual giving rates.

Proposals will be evaluated on thoughtfulness, creativity and feasibility of execution.

Competitors will have access to the data for annual giving rates of current young alumni classes as a means of establishing goals and milestones.

Proposals must be submitted through this website on the "Entry Form" tab.

The proposal should include a two-page summary and up to two exhibits. The exhibits should help explain the applicant’s summary in sufficient detail.

Judges:

A panel of judges will review submitted proposals. The panel will consist of:

• Tom Faulders ('71), President and CEO, U.Va. Alumni Association
• Brian Johnson ('02, Law '09), President, Young Alumni Council
• Jack Lindgren, Consumer Banker's Association Professor of Retail Banking, McIntire School of Commerce
• Vishal Patel ('00, ME '04), Vice President, Young Alumni Council
• Michael Powers ('74) 
• Robert Sweeney, Senior Vice President for Development and Public Affairs
• Carol Wood, Assistant Vice President for Public Affairs
• Mary Blair Zakaib, Managing Director, Office of Engagement

What the Winner Receives:

An AccessUVA scholarship will be named in honor of the winning individual or team.  AccessUVa offers loan-free packages for low-income students, caps on need-based loans for all other students, and a commitment to meet 100 percent of need for every student. For more information, visit virginia.edu/accessuva.

Additionally, the Office of Development and Public Affairs will implement the winning proposal as a pilot program later in 2008.