Poly Gives 2026 Challenge Gifts -- College of Architecture and Environmental Design
In 2026, the College of Architecture and Environmental Design is back to compete on the Poly Gives leaderboards, with inspiring matching challenges to motivate supporters to give back and see their gifts matched dollar-for-dollar! Read on for more information about each challenge:
Dean's Challenge
Help the CAED break its previous record and raise $150,000 for student success! When the record breaks, Dean Marc Swackhamer will give an extra $7,500 to the college’s departments— $1,500 per department!
Architecture Department — $20,000 Match
For the third year in a row, alumnus David Gilmore (Architecture, '76) is matching gifts to the Architecture Department Fund for Excellence, up to $20,000!
Gilmore said he hopes his gift will once again inspire alumni, parents and supporters to step up and get more involved with their alma mater.
“I hope I can inspire people to step one: become more engaged with the school and remember all that Cal Poly gave you,” he said. “And then step two: find a way over time to start small then migrate up, and as you get more successful within the profession, to give more. It's not about yourself. It's about giving to the future.”
“Every dollar counts. It doesn't matter how big or how small, it counts,” he added.
Architectural Engineering — $10,000 Match
For the second year in a row, alumni Donna (Architectural Engineering, '87) and Kurt (Architectural Engineering, '87) Clandening are matching gifts to the Professorship in Architectural Engineering Excellence Endowment, up to $10,000.
Cal Poly's Architectural Engineering program is one of only few in the nation that offers a dual-track path where an experienced practitioner can become a tenured member of the faculty. Practitioner faculty are a key reason why ARCE graduates are ready for industry upon graduation.
This endowment supports the hiring, professional development and innovative activities of a named practitioner faculty member and ensures that the ARCE program will have practitioner faculty in perpetuity.
City and Regional Planning — $10,000 Unlocking Challenge
When giving reaches $5,000, it will unlock a $10,000 gift from Wally Gordon (Architecture, '79, BAR Architecture, '80).
Gordon is a stalwart supporter of the College of Architecture and Environmental Design and Poly Gives. In 2023, he made the college's first Poly Gives matching gift challenge gift, a $25,000 match to the college's fund for excellence, inspiring others to follow in his footsteps and directly contributing to the college's fundraising success during Poly Gives.
Landscape Architecture — $15,000 Match
Wally Gordon (Architecture, '79, BAR Architecture, '80) and Matt Daley at McGuire and Hester have teamed up to match gifts to the Landscape Architecture Department up to $15,000.
Gordon and Daley hope to inspire Landscape Architecture alumni and parents to give back and support student success!
Interdisciplinary Studios Fund — $25,000 match
For the third Poly Gives in a row, Scott Gaudineer (BA Architecture, ‘79, BAR Architecture, ‘80) is matching gifts up to $25,000 to the College of Architecture and Environmental Design’s Interdisciplinary Studios and Labs & Student Support Fund, a new initiative focused on providing funding for interdisciplinary projects and activities that encourage students from all five departments within the CAED to work together to design, collaborate and innovate.
“Poly Gives has started to become a friendly competition amongst the colleges which is exactly why I wanted to up the ante, so to speak,” Gaudineer said. “I am a strong believer that you have to make the opportunity to give worthwhile and, if possible, fun. Having multiple matching gifts on our part shows that the idea is catching on. In the end, everyone wins.”
