One week into Rice’s annual United Way fundraising campaign, the campuswide effort has already raked in $97,265, nearly 40% of its $250,000 goal.
The Rice United Way Campaign supports a wide variety of community initiatives, many of which are helping lift up Houston-area residents hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
The School of Natural Sciences currently leads the way in sheer dollars raised with over $18,000. Public Affairs has the most employees who have chipped in thus far (14), while the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies leads the university in total participation rate with 88.9% of its employees having made pledges.
Rice Board of Trustees Chairman Rob Ladd has vowed — for a limited time — to match pledge increases from those who contributed last year and to also match the full donation amounts of first-time donors. During the first week of the campaign, Ladd contributed $6,658 in matching funds.
Campaign pledges can be made through automatic payroll deduction through imagineOne, which are spread across all of an employee’s 2022 paychecks. Those interested in contributing any amount via cash, check, credit card payment or payroll pledge can get started by filling out the pledge form on the Rice United Way Campaign website, unitedway.rice.edu. The campaign’s website also includes details on how to designate donations to be steered toward specific United Way agencies and initiatives.
