Supporters of The University of Alabama had a unique opportunity to double their charitable investments in University of Alabama endowments through an unprecedented $25 million matching gift commitment from UA alumni Mike and Kathy Mouron in February 2024.
Qualifying gifts to endowments through the Mike and Kathy Mouron Rising Tide Matching Gift Challenge will be matched dollar for dollar through a planned gift from the Mourons’ estate.
In all, 135 gifts to endowments were matched across campus, from scholarships and faculty endowments to program support. Nine gifts of $1 million or more were matched, including endowed professorships in the Styslinger College of Engineering, the Capstone College of Nursing and the Barefield College of Arts & Sciences.
The Mourons, co-chairs of The Rising Tide 2.0 Capital Campaign, said their decision to fund a matching gift challenge aligned with the priorities for the Capital Campaign, and they’re honored to have fulfilled that need for the University.
“We believe there is wisdom in the expression, ‘to whom much is given much is expected’ – and we have certainly been given a great deal,” Mike Mouron said in 2024. “That said, one receives incredible emotional satisfaction in charitable gifting to worthwhile causes of some capital earned during a lifetime of hard work.
“We are graduates and advocates of The University of Alabama, and we can enthusiastically support many of the vast number of programs and initiatives offered on campus. Structuring our gift to the University as an integral component of our estate planning was an easy decision for us and one we would recommend others consider.”
Mike holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from UA, and Kathy is an alumna in special education. They reside in Mountain Brook and have made significant philanthropic investments to the Capstone, totaling more than $41 million during The Rising Tide 2.0. The Mourons made the lead gift that funded the construction of the Stran-Hardin Arena for the UA Adapted Athletics program. They also established the Kathy Mouron Endowed REACH Scholarship, which supports UA students who are current or former foster youth, legal orphans or raised in kinship or guardianship, and the Mike and Kathy Mouron Endowed Chair in Business, among other areas of support across campus.
Mike and Kathy were recognized as the William M. and Virginia B. Spencer Outstanding Philanthropists for 2022 by the Alabama Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, based in Birmingham.
Like the Mourons’ steadfast support of UA, the matching gift challenge had a far-reaching impact across campus, supporting eight types of endowments in seven colleges and 15 different programs and units.
The Rising Tide 2.0 Capital Campaign
The Rising Tide 2.0 Capital Campaign concluded on Oct. 1, 2026 with more than $2.1 billion raised during its 10-year, comprehensive fundraising mission. Through the Campaign, donors helped establish 1,212 new endowed scholarships, 84 new endowments to support faculty and more than 800,000 square feet of new and renovated facilities.