Essex graduate inspires launch of US alumni giving club

Last year, we were very proud to launch the University of Essex US Alumni Giving Club. The launch of this new club was the culmination of a year’s work which first sparked after an alumnus living in the San Francisco bay area got in touch with an interesting proposal.

David Plomgren, who graduated from Essex in 1991 with a degree in History, had offered to donate stocks to the University and wished to do so via a 501(c)3 entity. Soon after, we partnered with the British Schools & Universities Foundation, and David is now the founding donor and Trustee of our Alumni Giving Club.

David is now a three-time donor to the Club and has helped encourage others to follow suit. You may have received an email from him last year, launching our first ever US Alumni Telephone Campaign (Google says telethon is a live TV fundraising thing). The campaign was a very exciting moment for us and we had some great conversations with alumni based all over the country – even if it was 2am for us in the UK!

The aim of the University of Essex US Alumni Giving Club is to bring together philanthropically minded graduates that wish to support Essex in a tax-efficient way. Charitable giving is a great way to reduce your tax liability, and donating stocks and shares in particular is a good way to mitigate for any potential future rises in Capital Gains Tax.

Over the next year, our focus remains on the Hardship Fund and we encourage alumni living in the US to make a gift to help support our students through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Make a donation, via credit card or of stocks, through our US giving page.