Questions and Answers
Below you will find answers to many common questions about UCI Giving Day 2024.
What is Giving Day?
Giving Day is a 24-hour online giving campaign that began in 2017, giving you and the entire UC Irvine community — alumni, parents, students, faculty, staff, and friends — the chance to come together to support your favorite schools and programs.
What areas can I support?
You have the opportunity to support any particular area on campus that you choose. You will find the list of highlighted schools and units participating at the bottom of each page of the Giving Day website where we encourage you to choose your area of greatest passion and interest. If you do not see a specific fund you would like to support, you will have the option to enter your chosen designation.
How do I donate?
The easiest way to make your impact is through our Giving Day website - https://givingday.uci.edu/. The Giving Day website will track gifts in real time so that everyone can see the progress of giving for each of the schools and units and various projects as well as updates for matches and challenges throughout the 24-hour period.
To give by check, make it payable to “UCI Foundation” with Giving Day and the area you'd like to support in the Memo and mail it to:
UCI Office of Annual Giving
Attn: James Yokelle
5141 California, Suite 250
Irvine, CA 92617
**Mail gifts must be postmarked by April 16 to count toward Giving Day.**
If you have any questions, you can call our Giving Day hotline at (949) 824-6136 or email ucifund@uci.edu.
Will my contribution be tax deductible?
The UC Irvine Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation. Your gift qualifies for tax deduction in accordance with IRS regulations during the calendar year that you make your gift. Consult your tax professional for more information.
What are matches and challenges?
Matches, created by donors, create an incentive for others to give. When someone makes a gift, the donor matches it 1:1 up to the stated amount. For example, when you make a gift of $100 to a project with a pledged match of $1,000, an additional $100 will go to the project. That 1:1 match continues until the full amount of the pledge ($1,000 in this example) has been reached.
Challenges allow donors participating in Giving Day to unlock gifts based on a set of criteria. For example, when a school reaches 50 gifts, $5,000 in additional funding will be awarded to the school.
Can I sponsor a match fund or challenge?
Yes! If you would like to sponsor a match or a challenge, we'd love to hear from you and work with you to make the match or challenge a success. Please contact James Yokelle at james.yokelle@uci.edu.
Is it safe to make a gift online?
Absolutely! UC Irvine takes significant measures to ensure that all donor information is safe and secure.
Can I give more than one time or to more than one project?
Yes. Donors can also support any campus fund they choose even if it is not one of the projects featured on the Giving Day website. You can visit our UCI Giving website at give.uci.edu to learn more about all of the giving opportunities available to you at UCI.
What is a "leaderboard"?
Leaderboards will be visible on the Giving Day website during the 24-hour giving period, and they provide a way to build challenges around healthy competition between groups, schools and units during a set period of time.
How do I spread the word?
Spreading the word about Giving Day is key in making the 24-hour campaign a success. Talk about Giving Day to your friends, colleagues and anyone you think may be interested in supporting the many exciting opportunities available at UCI. Reach out directly to prospective supporters on Giving Day. We highly encourage you to share early and often on social media leading up to Giving Day, and especially throughout the day. The more you share, the more people will be aware!
Becoming a Giving Day Ambassador is also a great way to get involved and help spread the word!
Who do I contact for other questions that were not answered on this page?
For any questions pertaining to Giving Day that you have not been able to find an answer to, please email james.yokelle@uci.edu.
Where does my contribution go?
The UC Irvine Foundation directs all gift exactly as the donor specifies. This campus depends on private support so that it can continue to deliver the local impact, national influence and global reach UC Irvine has achieved as the region’s leading research university.
Are gifts tax deductible?
The UC Irvine Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation. Your gift qualifies for tax-deduction in accordance with IRS regulations during the calendar year that you make your gift. Consult your tax professional for more information.
Will I get a receipt for tax purposes?
You will receive a gift receipt via email.
Still have questions?
Contact us at james.yokelle@uci.edu