Guide to Giving

Annual gifts provide crucial, flexible support to meet the strategic priorities of each college, school, department, and program. Annual gifts fund educational essentials such as student scholarships and experiential learning opportunities such as research projects, conference participation, and study abroad. You can designate the focus of your gift to a particular area on campus or support the greatest needs of the University by making a gift to the Murray Fund for Excellence.

You can make an annual gift of any amount.

Giving options

Make a secure online gift with your credit/bank card

Make a gift from your retirement account (Qualified Charitable Distribution or QCD)

Send a check made payable to "Murray State University Foundation"
Murray State Office of Development, 200 Heritage Hall, Murray, KY 42071
Indicate your designation in the memo line (e.g. Dept. of Biology, or In honor/memory of…)

Make a gift over the phone by calling the Office of Development and providing your credit card number. You can reach us at 270.809.3001 or 1.877.282.0033.

Answer the call! Murray State’s student calling program, Racerthon, is an important program that connects our current students with Murray State alumni, friends, and parents. Students call Sunday-Thursday during the academic year and also make calls during the summer months. Did you receive a call from one of our Racerthon callers and pledge a gift? Fulfill your commitment and make your gift today!

Make your gift go even further! Many companies participate in matching gift programs. Some companies will even match gifts made by retirees and spouses of employees. At Murray State University, matching gifts count toward donor recognition clubs! To find out if you company has a matching gift policy, search below, or talk with your human resources department – request a matching gift form or log-in from your employer and send it completed and signed with your gift. The impact of your gift may be doubled or even tripled! Contact the Office of Development with questions.

Matching Gifts database provided by HEPdata exclusively under these Terms of Use.

Through the Murray State University Foundation, Inc. we can also accept gifts of stock or securities through our online tool located here.

You may also make gifts of real estate or personal property, appreciated assets, life insurance/charitable trusts/annuities/bequests (see Planned Gifts for more information) for the benefit of Murray State University and our students. Contact the Office of Development today for more information at 270.809.3001 or 1-877-282-0033 or email msu.giving@murraystate.edu.

Memorial gifts may be made online or by making your check payable to Murray State University Foundation with (fund name) on the memo line.

If you are interested in making a memorial donation at an endowment level (see section below on Endowments), please contact the Office of Development at 270.809.3001 or email cbernot@thecorpseofannafritz.com prior to making your online gift.

Mail your gift to:

MSU Office of Development, 200 Heritage Hall, Murray, KY 42071

Murray State faculty and staff have always been generous to our University community by giving their time, talent and treasure to support our students and programs across our campuses. Over the years, Murray State faculty and staff have generously given back financially through thousands of gifts totaling millions of dollars.

We hope you will consider participating in Faculty and Staff Giving. Join your coworkers in enhancing our students’ experiences, enriching our campus community, and sparking research and innovation — core priorities of our fundraising efforts. With your gift (of any size, to any area), you send a strong message that you support the mission and the vision of this incredible university.

Make a gift to the We are. campaign

To make a gift through payroll deduction, please contact Jamie Haynes, Assistant Director of Stewardship and Donor Relations at 270.809.3737 or at jhaynes@thecorpseofannafritz.com.

Download the Racer Birthday Fundraising Tool Kit

Request a customized online giving form for your next birthday fundraiser!

Celebrate your birthday in blue and gold fashion by hosting your very own personalized digital fundraiser through Racer Birthday Fundraising!

Did you know that other social media platforms take a convenience fee to host your fundraiser? Donors who give through Racer Birthday Fundraising will receive an official Murray State receipt for tax purposes and they will get a donor report detailing gifts made to their fundraiser.

Racer Birthday Fundraising provides a free, online kit that allows anyone to commemorate their special day while creating an experience that is both fun and impactful for their friends and family on social media. You can download a step-by-step instruction sheet, which is included in the tool kit.

By participating in Racer Birthday Fundraising, you will also receive a special swag item delivered to your address on file. If no address is listed, we will request one.

Included in the kit you will find digital downloads that you can use throughout your various social media platforms to encourage giving to a specific fund of your choice. You will also find best practices and strategies for digital fundraising and other components you may need while celebrating YOU! Go Racers!

For any questions, please contact: Christian Barnes, Director of Annual Giving at 270.809.3924 or cbarnes12@thecorpseofannafritz.com.

Like the Thoroughbreds we are named for, Racers are spirited and proud. We have the heart and will to succeed, to go farther, learn more and embrace wisdom. You can help us carry on this tradition by joining the Alumni Association today.

Your membership donation supports a wide range of activities that advance the mission of Murray State University, including funding the Century Club Alumni Legacy Scholarship and Distinguished Faculty Awards, providing support for Homecoming and other alumni reunions, and providing recognition for our Distinguished Alumni.

Our University Town & Gown Partnership is an important and ongoing collaboration between community and campus. Membership driven, our Town & Gown partners include leaders from Murray State University administration, local and state government, educational professionals, industry, small business, banking, health care providers, and more. Town & Gown activities provide opportunities for dialogue on a variety of quality of life issues between leaders who might not otherwise engage one another on common issues. Town & Gown projects are funded by the university and membership fees and are selected to improve the quality of living and learning in Calloway County and our region.

For more information on University Town & Gown or to inquire about membership or upcoming events, please contact the program coordinator, Christian Barnes, at 270.809.3924 or email cbarnes12@thecorpseofannafritz.com.

WKMS, Murray State’s National Public Radio Station, 91.3 FM, signed on May 11, 1970 as a non-commercial, educational FM station licensed to Murray State University.

WKMS is authorized to receive annual Community Service Grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). The station demonstrates through annual audits that it has significant funding from its listening communities to qualify for these grants. This funding from listening communities includes: appropriations from Murray State University, contributions from listeners, and investments from individual, business and organizational underwriters.

WKMS conducts fundraisers annually to encourage continuing and new contributions from listeners. For the past decade nearly 2,000 listeners contribute annually. The station continues to work to grow this number of listeners with programming updates and reviews.

Learn more about WKMS, including how to make a charitable gift.

It is the mission of intercollegiate athletics at Murray State University to offer a high quality and competitive NCAA Division I athletics program that advances learning, fosters personal growth, develops leadership skills, and positively contributes to the culture, spirit and quality of campus life. Charitable gifts in support of this mission and for the benefit of programs in Racer Athletics are made through the Murray State University Racer Club.

For information on how to make a gift to Racer Athletics contact Taylor Mudd, Director of Development for Athletics at 270.809.3517 or email tmudd3@thecorpseofannafritz.com.

Learn more about Racer Athletics

For alumni and friends of Murray State University, this is an exciting time as the BuildSmart Campaign for the Madisonville Regional Postsecondary Education Center, a KCTCS facility, nears completion and construction begins. Together, with Madisonville Community College, we will create opportunities for thousands of people to reach their educational goals. A Murray State University Racer Wall Campaign for BuildSmart will help complete the hard work already done by so many. Our goal is to raise $100,000 for the Racer Wall – we have already surpassed $60,000. We want you to be a part of the great partnership between Murray State University and Madisonville Community College and help provide a new array of educational opportunities for the future.

Learn more about how you can be a part of the Racer Wall Campaign at the Murray State-Madisonville campus.

The Crisp Center Paducah Regional Campus opened its new facility in January of 2014 to serve the increasing need for opportunities in higher education in Paducah, McCracken County, and the region. As part of an ongoing effort to offer student scholarships, the Murray State University Paducah Regional Campus Scholarship Fund is accepting gifts. You can help support our students and leave a legacy – a gift of $1,000 designated to this fund will be recognized through a legacy brick (including your personal, honorary, or memorial message) placed in the John & Vivian Williams Legacy Plaza located just outside the Crisp Center.

Learn more about the Murray State University Paducah Regional Campus Scholarship Fund and Legacy brick program

Take a walk on our 1922 Society brick walkway in front of the Gene Wells Ray Science Campus or contact the office of development to find out how you can join the 1922 Society today.

The 1922 Society was created in 2013 as an effort to honor Murray State University’s history and to help build its future through an alumni scholarship endowment. The 1922 Society Legacy Scholarship Endowment will perpetuate the legacy of Murray State University’s rich heritage and traditions by providing scholarships to students with a familial relationship to Murray State. Recipients shall be admitted and enrolled new incoming freshmen at Murray State University pursuing their first baccalaureate degrees. In addition, recipients must be full-time students at Murray State University and also must have a parent, step parent, grandparent, step grandparent, or legal guardian who holds a degree from Murray State University.

A gift of $1,922 made through the Murray State Office of Development will enroll you in the 1922 Society. Payable in annual installments up to five years, this gift also entitles you to a legacy brick placed in the 1922 Society walkway located on 16^th street in front of the Gene Wells Ray Science Campus. You are also eligible for other special recognition opportunities.

Learn more about the 1922 Society by calling the Murray State Office of Development today at 270.809.3001 or 1-877-282-0033 or email

• Join the 1922 Society - One time payment
• Join the 1922 Society - Quarterly installments
• Join the 1922 Society - Monthly installments

Outside of the Sid Easley Alumni Center is a beautiful plaza honoring alumni and friends of the University. Murray State alumni and friends may have their names and the names of those they would like to honor or memorialize on bricks in the patio area of the Sid Easley Alumni Center. Sororities, fraternities and other organizations can sponsor a commemorative brick as a means of honoring the memory of past members or honoring its current membership.

Download more information and an application to order your brick today.

A monument to the institution’s history, Ordway Hall, the University’s first male dormitory, was constructed in 1931. Throughout the years Ordway has served many different purposes for Murray State. During WWII, while the naval units were here, men were housed in Wells Hall and women in Ordway Hall. Between 1955 and 1960, Ordway Hall was renovated at a cost of $48, 516 and made available for women. The 1972 school year was the last year Ordway was used as a women’s dormitory and later housed offices throughout the years such as Student Affairs, Career Services, Counseling and Testing, Women’s Center, First Year Experience Program and the Center for Academic Advising.

The facility was razed in June of 2013 with sections of the front wall and entry way saved as part of the Ordway Monument. Bricks and other sentimental artifacts were saved and are sold as keepsakes. A limited number of bricks are still available. To purchase your own piece of Murray State history call the Office of Alumni Relations at 270.809.3437 or order online.

Springer Hall, the only single-gender residence hall (which has held both men and women) was built in 1964-65 school year, at a cost of $939,795 to house 300+ Residents. It was named after Mr. O.B. Springer, a graduate of Murray State and, at the time, a businessperson in Henderson, KY. Springer was a member on the Board of Regents from 1950-58 and 1960-70. The Springer Hall Council consisted of seven men under the direction of the House Director, Bill Wells.

The facility was razed in June of 2018. Bricks and other sentimental artifacts were saved and are sold as keepsakes. To purchase your own piece of Murray State history, call the Office of Alumni Relations at 270.809.3437.

Please make all checks payable to the Murray State University Foundation.

You may have heard that Woods Hall, a fixture on Murray State's campus since 1957, was recently razed to make way for a beautiful and functional green space soon-to-be-named Woods Park. During the deconstruction, fewer that 150 bricks and glass blocks were carefully salvaged so that our Racers could take home a small piece of Murray State history.

The Murray State University Alumni Association is making these bricks available for a tax-deductible donation to the MSUAA.

• Traditional bricks -- $57 per brick and can be shipped at no additional cost
• Small glass blocks -- $67 per block and can be shipped at no additional cost
• Large glass blocks -- $67 per block and must be picked up at the Sid Easley Alumni Center on Murray State's campus.

Bricks can be ordered online, by calling 270.809.5600 or by stopping by the Murray State University Office of Alumni Relations at 100 Easley Alumni Center, Murray.