The University of Georgia is the reigning football champion of the Southeastern Conference, and loyal Bulldog supporters are hoping to have the same success in this year’s “SEC Challenge” fund raising competition.

UGA will be calling on all graduates of the past 10 years to compete against nine of the 12 SEC schools. Dollar amounts won’t determine the champion, the competition is based on the percentage of undergraduate alumni since 1997 making gifts to their alma mater.

Any gift amount to UGA will help boost the percentage of givers and win the competition. UGA has roughly 45,000 undergraduate alumni from the past 10 years. Last year, that group had a participation rate of 5 percent, while the percentage of giving from all alumni to UGA was at 17 percent.

At a time when private support is crucial to UGA, young donors will have the opportunity to take part in the competitive spirit that exists between the conference rivals.

UGA hopes to win the competition, which runs from July 1, 2006, until June 30, 2007, but more importantly hopes to bolster alumni giving rates, particularly among recent graduates.

David Jones, director of annual and special giving at UGA, said the stakes are high for the competition. The young alumni of the winning school will have bragging rights for an entire year.

“When you consider the value of increased participation from this crucial group of alumni—how can any of us lose?” Jones said. “This is the future of philanthropic support for our universities.”

This year’s SEC Challenge includes nine of the twelve universities in the SEC, including: University of Arkansas, Auburn University, University of Florida, University of Georgia, University of Kentucky, Mississippi State University, University of Mississippi, University of South Carolina and University of Tennessee.