POWERED BY PURPOSE CAMPAIGN PREPARES TO ENTER NEW PHASE

Progress in Darden’s Powered by Purpose campaign stands at $382 million (excluding matching funds and gifts made to other foundations on behalf of Darden), just shy of the initial milestone of $400 million that will mark completion of the campaign’s first phase. The latest campaign progress was driven by strong fiscal year 2022 fundraising, which totaled $40.5 million in new commitments and a record number of major gifts.

Fiscal year 2022 fundraising highlights included:

• $11.6 million from alumni who celebrated a Darden reunion, up 19 percent over the five-year average

• $5.7 million raised for the Darden Annual Fund

• $5 million in new Planned Giving commitments

• 13 new members of the Principal Donors Society, which recognizes donors at the $1 million and above level

• 50 major gifts of more than $100,000, a Darden record

Thanks to our generous campaign donors, the School can now pursue additional funding priorities that help Darden do even more to improve the world by inspiring responsible leaders.

The campaign runs through 30 June 2025. In its next phase, Powered by Purpose will seek to fund new initiatives and emerging opportunities to support faculty excellence, scholarships and the student experience, Grounds, and the Darden Annual Fund.

Third-Largest Gift in Darden History to Advance Faculty, Research, Grounds

Darden announced the third-largest gift in its 67-year history in October: $44 million from Risk Management Technology

Founder David M. LaCross (MBA ’78) and his wife, Kathleen O. LaCross. With $6 million in matching funds from the University of Virginia, the total impact of the gift to Darden is $50 million. The impacts include:

■ A $6.5 million bequest toward a future Darden research center or initiative on artificial intelligence

■ $18 million in current funding to endow and name the dean’s chair at Darden, composed of a $12 million gift from the LaCross family and $6 million in matching funds from the UVA Bicentennial Professors Fund

■ A $20.5 million lead gift and seed funding to catalyze the construction of on-Grounds residential housing at Darden in support of the Darden Master Plan

■ $5 million to name the botanical gardens at Darden, now under construction

“I RECOGNIZED WELL BEFORE GRADUATING THAT I OWED A TREMENDOUS DEBT TO DARDEN FOR ITS EFFECTIVE USE OF THE CASE METHOD, AN EXTRAORDINARY FACULTY THAT KNEW HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF A CLASS AND MY CLASSMATES. I HOPED FROM THE OUTSET THAT I WOULD BE IN A POSITION TO GIVE SOMETHING BACK SOMEDAY.”

— David M. LaCross (MBA ’78)