By Cady Inabinett, Editor in chief 

Montevallo Athletics has announced that it will be hosting its second annual Falcon Victory Fundraising Campaign throughout the month of September.  

The campaign, which officially kicked off on Sept. 6, aims to raise funds for UM’s athletic teams’ expenses—such as travel and equipment costs. 

Director of Athletics Mark Richard pointed towards connection and progress as underpinning the Falcon Victory Campaign, saying the main goals of the fundraiser, “are to create awareness with our alums, our former student athletes, and let them know that they, you know, they have an opportunity to help out our student athletes as they grow with their programs, their sports, everything we do to make this athletic department move forward.” 

UM Athletics first held the Falcon Victory Fundraising Campaign in 2022, when it raised $81,000 from 933 donors. 

Richard said the fundraiser was the “brainchild” of Director of Advancement Strategic Initiatives Lizbeth Juarez. 

“It was her idea and, working very closely with her, we launched it, and it was very, very successful. It was awesome,” said Richard about the launch of the campaign last year. 

He added, “Of course, once you do it once, you want to do it again.” 

Falcon Victory Campaign donations can be specified for specific UM teams. This way, each coach and team can decide how the money they raised will be used, according to Richard. 

“Each sport has different needs and different ideas and those are what they project or ask the alums for,” Richard said. 

This also helps cultivate a healthy sense of competition between UM’s teams to outraise each other, with the winning team receiving a pizza party and an extra stipend. 

“We had teams competing last year, trying to be the number one team as far as the number of donors, number of money,” said Richard. “So, it really got contagious there for a while, especially down at the end of the campaign where we’re going to have a winner and it was bouncing back and forth, different teams.” 

During the 2022 fundraiser, UM’s softball team raised the most funds with the largest number of donors—raising $13,728 through 236 donations. 

Fundraising efforts don’t stop with student athletes, however. Richard pointed out that the Falcon Victory Campaign is a department-wide effort. 39 of the 49 Athletics Department employees donated during last year’s campaign. 

When asked why people should donate to the Falcon Victory Campaign, Richard highlighted the opportunity it provides for donors to connect with UM Athletics. 

“You got a chance—whether you were a student athlete here, a donor—but a chance to connect with our athletic department. You have a chance to make a difference in student athletes’ lives,” he said. “And it’s a chance for you to feel good about your money going to a good product, and the product being, you know, student athletes becoming good people, leaders, getting their degrees and being productive.” 

Those interested in donating to the Falcon Victory Campaign can do so on the campaign’s GiveCampus site, which accepts payments by card, Venmo and PayPal. Donations can also be made by mailing a check accompanied by the form available on UM Athletics’ website. 

The Falcon Victory Campaign runs through Sept. 20.