Frequently Asked Questions


Together UW is UW’s official peer to peer fundraising platform. It’s an online tool to help staff, faculty, students, and family members of UW Medicine raise money for everything from memorial and honorary giving, research projects, and class trips, to competitions.

It is a method of raising funds through the collective efforts of friends, family, and individual donors. This approach taps into the collective efforts of a large pool of individuals (crowdfunding) – primarily online via social media and platforms like Together UW.

You are given access to the technology, taught how to use it, and then you and/or your team raise funds from your own network.

Successful campaigns typically are community focused and are led by passionate campaign creators who are fearless in their quest to make a difference. This includes setting a monetary or donor goal as a way to create a sense of urgency and drive page activity.

Does your project have these three elements?

  1. CATALYST: what is the inspiration for this project? Example: remembering a loved one, honoring a faculty member, or a new project.
  2. CAUSE: what area of UW best connects with the catalyst of the project?
  3. (NET)WORK: will the project lead put in the effort to share this project with their social and professional networks?

All UW staff members, development officers, full-time faculty, schools, colleges, departments, friends and family of UW, and registered UW student organizations that would like to raise funds for the UW Foundation and UW Medicine.

Typically, you should set aside 30-45 days to plan and prepare prior to your campaign launch. A good rule of thumb is to apply 90 days before donations will begin. That gives you and your team time to apply, be approved, plan and implement your campaigns.

For a tribute campaign, you should allow 1-3 days for preparation of your campaign page and launch.

All Together UW fundraising campaigns must benefit an existing UW fund, program, school, or college. This platform cannot be used to collect funds for an outside organization or campaign that is not part of the University of Washington.

Perks are incentives offered to donors in exchange for their support. Common examples of perks include items (e.g. t-shirt, socks, etc.), experiences, personal recognition, or anything that a donor would receive in return for their donation. For perks that hold value, their Fair Market Value will be used to determine what portion of a donation is considered tax-deductible.

What is Fair Market Value?

Fair Market Value (FMV) is the reasonable amount someone would expect to pay for service and/or goods in the open marketplace. If you have additional questions or need assistance with determining Fair Market Value, please reach out to the Gift Services team at giftdata@uw.edu.

Checks only, made payable to:

University of Washington Foundation
Box 359505
Seattle, WA 98195-9505

Contact us via email at give2uw@uw.edu or phone 1-800-326-7566 or 206-685-1980. We are here to help!