Giving Day 2025

Tuba parade! (MV Online Content)

In preparation for our annual Giving Day, here’s a little bit of history about the Marching Virginians and our fundraiser! This year’s Giving Day will be on February 19th, and at noon, there will be a 24-hour window to help hit our goal of $50,000 to go toward our incredible organization.

Giving Day is a university-wide celebration that lasts for just 24 hours, and it is a chance to give back to Virginia Tech. The Marching Virginians are celebrating our 50th Anniversary this year, and we are so excited to be a part of such a special tradition of Hokie Nation. Contributions from our supporters across Virginia Tech, Virginia, and all over are invaluable to each of us as musicians and marchers. Your support for the Marching Virginians comes in the form of instrument purchases and upkeep, uniform maintenance, food during game day, travelling to and from away games, and even bowl game trips!

Happy Game Day! (MV Online Content)

Each rehearsal we are able to practice our music in an incredible facility, the Marching Virginians Center, using high quality instruments and lyres, along with the equipment required for our rehearsal to run smoothly. On game days, we utilize our wonderful uniforms and each of their parts, our instruments, food, and many more aspects that are needed for a successful game day in Hokie Nation.

Every MV is eternally grateful for the support for Hokie fans and families that are dedicated to the success of the band and our endeavors. We hope that you will contribute to Giving Day on February the 19th, opening up at noon!

Giving Day Recap!

Virginia Tech’s annual Giving Day fired off at noon on February 21, and for the following 24 hours the many schools, departments, and groups ‘competed’ in raising funds. The inaugural Giving Day event occurred in 2018, where 4,300 donors raised an unbelievable 1.62 million dollars. Giving Day has continued every year, save for 2020, and each year the number of donors and total funding has skyrocketed even higher.

So, what happened on Giving Day 2024? A total of $13 million was raised, just over $3 million more than the previous year. This is the single greatest jump in funding between years. Similarly, there was a massive increase in donors: 18,900 from the 17,000 of the previous year.

These are certainly impressive numbers, but we all want to know is: How did the Marching Virginians do? The total fund numbers for the amount the MVs raised is unavailable. However, we can see the donor numbers!

This year, 521 friends of the MV family contributed on Giving Day. This is a remarkable number; 171 more than the previous year. Much of this was possible due to the efforts of our very own MVs who, over the 24 hours, reached out to friends, family, and alumni. On nearly all social media websites there were calls to support the MVs, by both current members and alumni.

Through the College of Architecture, Arts, and Design, the Marching Virginians sought to knock down several funding challenges. One, the aptly named ‘Spirit of Tech Challenge,’ asked the band to reach over 425 donors, which unlocked the Jim Sochinski Spirit of Tech Award. Jim Sochinski was the second director of the MVs (1976-1981) and arranged many beloved pieces for the band. The MVs were also the recipient of the Ambassador Donor Challenge, which was awarded to the group with the highest number of donors! 

For Giving Day, the Marching Virginians set up several giveaways. For those donors first in line, 10 MV swag items were given away. This included MV beanies, gameday baseball caps, or a bag of merch! After the first hour, drawings commenced for more item giveaways, most notably some retired MV uniforms. By the conclusion of Giving Day, 16 swag items and 9 uniforms were given to our amazing donors! The director of the MVs, Dr. Polly Middleton, posted a short video on the MV Facebook page thanking everyone who was a part of Giving Day 2024.

MVs4Lyfe is an expression the band uses to say that a person will always be an MV, even after their time in band. The display of gratitude seen on Giving Day shows that MVs4Lyfe is more than words we say, it is in the actions we take. Thank you to everyone who made Giving Day a success for the MVs.