OneWoodberry 2019

It’s official. OneWoodberry 2019 has just ended, and it was the biggest single day of Amici Fund support in Woodberry Forest School’s 130-year history.

We’ll need a few days to review the exact figures, but we can confidently report tonight that we raised more than we ever have in a day and from more donors than ever before. This incredible effort was led by the sixty parents and alumni who stepped up as challenge donors and pledged $500,000 if the Tiger nation made 3,000 gifts.

We met that goal and unlocked the challenge gift before 4:00 p.m. Eastern, and we didn’t stop there, closing the day with thousands of gifts from parents, alumni, faculty, and friends of the school. This incredible success is thanks to the hard work and dedication of more than 430 alumni and parent volunteers around the country and the world. As we’ve pushed through the final hours of OneWoodberry on campus, great photos were coming in from the fourteen events around the country. Thank you to the hundreds of folks who took time out of their day to gather together in support of Woodberry.

There are thousands of independent schools in the United States and hundreds of boarding schools. Woodberry boasts a level of alumni support — 65 percent of alums gave last year — that is unmatched around the country. Today, we raised the bar even higher, thanks to you all.

All of us on campus — faculty, staff, and students — are truly humbled by this outpouring of support. We’ll all be headed to class or work tomorrow with a renewed sense of pride in and gratitude for the amazing community that surrounds and supports us.  

Wow. What an amazing response from the Woodberry community! We’ve just surpassed our goal of 3,000 gifts and unlocked the $500,000 challenge gift from nearly sixty parents and alumni with 8 hours left until midnight.

We’ve already received gifts from forty-six states and a dozen countries. Our alumni answered the challenge - clearly. The response from current parents, along with the parents of alumni, has been incredible in these group’s first year joining OneWoodberry.

Students and faculty heard from volunteer Wilson Bonner ’05 this morning and were inspired by his message. He told the school community that thousands of you around the country stepped up today and ensured this experience thrives for the boys here now and the boys who will be here in the future.

There are fifty alumni and parents on campus making calls and spreading the word today, and we’re not done yet. They’re enthusiastic and will be working hard all the way until midnight. We just made Amici history, but let’s see where we land! If you’ve given, thank you so much. We hope you’ll call or text friends and urge them to join you in supporting Woodberry.

To our Woodberry Faithful,

We've just eclipsed the 2,000 donor threshold with over $1,130,000 raised! We're making outstanding progress and appreciate very much your support and enthusiasm as we make today the most successful day in Amici history. As the momentum continues to build, we encourage you to spread the word among the rest of our Woodberry alumni, parents, grandparents and friends. Sending you all of our best from campus and we look ahead to 3,000 donors. Stay tuned!