To My 2021 CLASSMATES
Our great and special class has a GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY. Thanks to the class of 1971, our Link in the Chain class, we have an opportunity to support those we are leaving behind AND take over the two-legged mascot goat that appears at all the football games.
The class of 1971 has sponsored this goat for years and they are willing to give it to us at our 10-year reunion. When we come back for our 10th reunion and beyond, the goat will be wearing #21, forever! Well, at least until we turn it over to our Link in the Chain class, 2071. YIKES! I know it is hard for any of us to think that far ahead but imagine how great this will be. We will make trips back here with our families, our kids, and we will point to the goat and say, yup, that’s ours.
Please, we only need 500 of us to commit to our First Gift program. Honestly, we should have 100% participation, but with only 500 participants we ensure the goat is ours.
We are asking for a small recurring monthly gift, but any gift will do. Please, help us achieve this goal and let our legacy begin NOW!
V/R,
Cameron Kinley, class president, 2021
Your donation will be split three ways as shown below and will help support:
50% TO Athletic Excellence
35% To Midshipman Activities
15% To the Naval Academy Fund
Click on links above for more info!
Overview of the First Gift Program
- Philanthropy has been a part of the Naval Academy since its inception. Midshipmen funded the Mexican Monument in the late 1840’s, and in the 1890’s Robert Means Thompson, USNA 1868, hired and personally paid for architect Earnest Flagg to design the Naval Academy that we know today.
- The Naval Academy Foundation helps to fund many of the programs that benefit midshipmen through charitable gifts from alumni, parents and friends. Programs such as the Academic Center, Midshipmen Activities Fund/ECAs, International Programs and Cyber programs are all partially funded through charitable gifts. Private gift support also paid to renovate the stadium, build the Brigade Sports Complex, and partnered with federal funding, built Alumni Hall and the new Cyber building.
- All classes embark on a major fundraising project supporting the Superintendent’s priorities that culminate with each 10-year reunion period. The “First Gift” program gives the graduating class a running start on this project.
- Prior to the First Gift program, donor participation among young alumni - classes within 15 years of graduation - was less than 7%, now the average is near 50%.
- First Gift replicates a long-standing initiative at West Point that encourages and facilitates charitable giving for a graduating class through small, recurring monthly gifts. The recommended gift for ’21 graduates is $21 per month, and the minimum is $5 per month.
- $21 might buy two burgers and a beer—not a big impact on an individual, but a huge impact on the Academy when multiplied by 12 months and 10 years and hundreds of classmates!
- All gifts to the Naval Academy Foundation are 100% tax-deducible, and all donors receive a tax receipt in January following the close of the prior tax year.
- Unless otherwise directed, your gifts will be split as follows:
50% - Athletic Excellence
35% - Midshipman Activities Fund
15% - Naval Academy Fund
