About the Parents’ Campaign of The Wake Forest Fund

The Parents’ Campaign of The Wake Forest Fund is the annual campaign to raise unrestricted money for the University’s current operating budget.

When parents and families make gifts to The Wake Forest Fund, the money is used this fiscal year for the University’s most pressing priorities – from recruiting and retaining top faculty, to providing leading edge technology in the classrooms and library, to our expanded and outstanding career development program. Gifts to the Parents’ Campaign make an immediate impact on Wake Forest students!


Why does Wake Forest have a Parents’ Campaign?

Most private schools have three main sources of funding: tuition, income from the endowment, and annual gifts. Tuition does not cover the full cost of running a private university. Without the generous support of current and past parents and families – along with alumni and friends – tuition would have to be higher than it currently is to maintain the full Wake Forest experience our students enjoy.

When a parent or family member makes an endowment gift, the principal is not spent; it is invested. The resulting earnings from those investments help the institution grow.  Annual, unrestricted gifts to The Wake Forest Fund are not invested – they are used right now to sustain current year operations and activities. Annual gifts are the lifeblood of the institution by providing a source of unrestricted operating support. As foundations and corporations consider grant applications, they frequently ask about the percentage of participation in giving from Wake Forest alumni, parents and families, and friends.


How much are families asked to give?

The decision as to the size of your gift is a personal one – the important part is that parents participate in the Parents’ Campaign, no matter the amount. Families give from $10 to $50,000; gifts at every level are needed and appreciated!

When you make a gift to the Parents’ Campaign, it will be joined with the gifts of other families, and those gifts add up to a remarkable total. In the 2022-23 academic year, 3,402 current and past Wake Forest parents and families donated more than $6 million to the Parents’ Campaign of The Wake Forest Fund. This is a significant endorsement that Wake Forest parents and families believe in the mission and direction of the University and support it with their own giving above tuition.

You can designate your gift to any of the following areas of the Wake Forest Fund and it will count in the Parents’ Campaign – Beautiful Campus, Career Readiness, College, Student Aid, Student Experience, ZSR Library, School of Business, School of Divinity, School of Law, Graduate School, or School of Medicine.


Ways to give

Give online now via our secure website. This site also has information on how to make a stock gift, or to make a gift by phone or mail.

If you work for a matching gift company, you may be able to double or even triple the value of your gift. Forms are available through your company’s Human Resources department. All gifts to the Parents’ Campaign are tax-deductible.


Are there other ways to give to Wake Forest?

The leading areas of restricted support for parents and families have been as follows:

Access and opportunity

  • Wake Forest Scholars
  • Magnolia Scholars/First in the Forest
  • Merit and Presidential Scholarships

Campus life

  • Thrive
  • Campus Life Program Funds
  • International Service

College and academic life

  • Academic Department Funds
  • Center for Entrepreneurship
  • Center for Leadership and Character
  • Endowed Chairs and Fellowships
  • Library
  • Wake the Arts

College to career

  • Office of Personal and Career Development

For More Information

To learn more about how you can support these efforts, contact Brad McIlwain (P’06), Director of Family Giving, Office of Family Engagement, at mcilwajb@wfu.edu or 336.758.3527.