Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College’s (SMWC) 11th annual day of giving, Woods Giving Day, will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 10, uniting the campus community, alumni and friends of the College for the most important fundraising day of the year.
Early donors include many alumni, friends and students. With 641 donors already committed with their gifts or pledges, excitement for the day is building.
“We are eager for the culmination of our Woods Giving Day initiative that began on December 1, 2025. There has been such tremendous participation already that I am confident we will be celebrating record-breaking responses to all Woods Giving Day 2026 (WGD ’26) challenges,” said Elizabeth Reel ’21, ’25MLD, advancement officer at the College.
Three challenges will culminate on Feb. 10 to help SMWC reach the goal of 1,200 Woods Giving Day donors. That day, volunteer students, faculty, staff and alumni will call donors to thank them for their support of SMWC. Calls will also be made to past donors who have not yet given this academic year, and there is special focus on new, first-time donors this year.
In total, $115,000 in challenge matches is available thanks to the generosity of alumni and trustee lead challenge gifts.
- 400 unique past donors secure a $20,000 gift from trustee, Nancy Payonk ’81
- 300 new, first-time donors secure a $25,000 gift from trustees, Tana Thompson Jaeger ’89 and Scott Jaeger
- 1,200 or more total unique donors to Woods Giving Day 2026 secure a $70,000 gift from trustees, Mary Kay Campbell Watson ’69 and Al Watson
Several local businesses will be supporting Woods Giving Day with special offers to promote the day and encourage the community’s participation:
- Bear’s Coffee & Roasting Co. will donate $1 from each Bear Bomb sale on Feb. 10
- Azzip Pizza (South location) will donate 20% of sales for those who mention the give back program when you order in-store and/or use the code “GIVEBACK02” when ordering online.
Other community partners include:
- Bright Ideas
- Chick-fil-A
- Refreshment Services – Pepsi
- SMWC Dining
- Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce
Donors of $50 or more not only support Woods students, in appreciation they will receive a pair of limited edition SMWC car coasters, sponsored by Bright Ideas, while supplies last.
There are multiple ways to make a gift on Woods Giving Day on Feb. 10:
- Call 888-769-0013 or 812-535-5270
- Give online at giving.smwc.edu
- Mail a check with “Woods Giving Day” in the memo line to P.O. Box 70, Saint Mary of the Woods, IN 47876. It must be postmarked by Feb. 10
Giving kicked off last year with an Early Giving Challenge that helped raise $1,646,035 between Dec. 1-Jan. 31. This allowed SMWC to receive a $450,000 challenge match from two generous alumni.
“Thanks to the overwhelming response to our Early Giving Challenge, our team and volunteers are now focused on growing our donor pipeline throughout the rest of our WGD ’26 efforts,” said Reel. She explained it is imperative for SMWC, with approximately 10,000 alumni, to increase the number of alums who give annually.
Although the generosity of donors to SMWC has repeatedly set new giving records in recent years, the number of alumni donors has been in a steady decline for the past five years. As of June 30, 2025, the alumni donor total dropped by 22% since June 2021 with 1,329 alumni donors compared to 1,712 alumni donors only four years prior.
“Thanks to the trustees and their leadership challenge gifts, we hope to see the number of new donors increase significantly this year and that past donors will include The Woods in their giving this year – and every year,” Reel emphasized.
For more information, visit https://www.smwc.edu/giving/wgd-2026/