The 2023 Phonathon Team worked the phones for the past two weeks and raised over $172,000 for The Academy Fund, greatly exceeding their goal of $125,000. Twenty-two cadets participated on the team that worked each evening making a total of over 3,500 phone calls from February 27th through March 9th contacting parents, alumni, and other supporters of Fork Union Military Academy, to raise donations to the school's Academy Fund.
The total of $172,000 raised by the Phonathon so far this year is the second highest total raised by the annual Phonathon in the more than three decades the fundraising event has been held. The record for the highest amount of gifts received in the annual Phonathon is $188,000.
The first and greatest need of the Academy is to fund the school's operations each year: paying staff salaries and benefits, covering the costs of electricity and other utilities, gas and transportation costs, educational supplies and expenses, and financial aid. Tuition only provides part of the costs to operate the school, and only a small percentage of families are paying the full tuition amount to begin with. The rest of the money required to operate the school much come from donors. Each year, part of the Academy's annual budget must be provided by annual giving to The Academy Fund. To meet expenses, the Academy must raise $500,000 for The Academy Fund between July 1, 2022 and June 20, 2023. The annual Phonathon is one of the important fundraising activities that raises about 25% of the donations required for The Academy Fund each year.
Although the active schedule of phone calls has ended, the 2023 Phonathon will continue accepting gifts online and the cadets on this year's team are hopeful that a new fundraising record will be set this year.
You may make your gift to the 2023 Phonathon at https://www.forkunion.com/phonathon.