Richmond Athletics raises more than $680,000 during #URHere Giving Day

Richmond Athletics raised a record $682,726 to support Spider student-athletes during the University of Richmond’s fourth annual #URHere Giving Day.

The total funds raised represent an increase of nearly $160,000 from the then-record $523,257 contributed during Giving Day in 2021.

“Providing an unrivaled student-athlete experience is only possible with the generous support of the entire Spider Athletics community, and we are grateful for the contributions we received from Spiders everywhere during Giving Day,” said Vice President and Director of Athletics John P. Hardt. “Thank you to the hundreds of our family, friends, fans, and more who chose to support our goal of making Richmond among the nation’s best places to be a student-athlete.”

Athletics accounted for more than 40 percent of all contributions to the University during Giving Day and nearly half of all donors, with 49.5 percent of the more than 3,000 individual donors contributing to Athletics. The 1,487 individual donors to Richmond Athletics represented a 46 percent increase in the number of individual donors from Giving Day 2021.

“We continue to be blown away by the support from Spider alumni, friends and families,” said Associate Athletics Director for Development Chris Schaefer. “Since I arrived to campus in March of 2020, it has been clear to me that Spiders everywhere are invested in our student-athletes and, through their generous philanthropy, provide the resources necessary to maintain and evolve what is one of the premier student-athlete experiences in the country.”

Richmond’s 15 varsity programs competed against each other to earn an additional $25,000 in incentives provided by alumnus Rob Goergen ’93. The women’s lacrosse team earned a $10,000 bonus by attracting the most individual donors, with 200.

The men’s basketball team earned the three remaining $5,000 bonuses as a result of raising the most total contributions, $103,457, as well as the greatest percent increase in both dollars raised and number of contributors from last year’s Giving Day.

Eight teams were supported by at least 100 donors, with men’s basketball (160), swimming & diving (158), baseball (154), men’s cross country (110), football (107), men’s golf (104), and men’s lacrosse (100) joining women’s lacrosse. In addition to men’s basketball, three other Richmond teams raised at least $50,000: baseball ($80,563), football ($80,048), and women’s lacrosse ($57,489).