Profile in Giving
A simple plan that provides boundless results
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| Michael DeMayo |
Michael A. DeMayo ’90 (JD) sees no problem in having two alma maters to support. “It’s like having two sisters instead of one,” the Charlotte attorney says. “Obviously you want them both to succeed and prosper and as such you encourage and support each one without preferential treatment.”
Having graduated from Wake Forest University before receiving his J.D. from UNC School of Law, DeMayo says his formula for allotting support is easy. “I contribute where I feel my support will accomplish the most good. As an alumnus, I think I have some valuable insight into the respective schools’ needs and each year I do my own assessment.”
For DeMayo, that choice comes down to “helping someone who might otherwise not get an opportunity to attend such a prestigious University.” To that end he has established the Michael A. DeMayo Scholarship Fund to support a need-based scholarship to the law school.
“My family and I have been blessed and we felt an obligation to give back,” he says. “The cost of an education today can be a challenge and for many people it can dissuade them from pursuing their goals. This scholarship gives someone who may have the academic credentials but not the financial ability to have the opportunity to attend a nationally ranked law school.”
DeMayo credits his law school classmates for their mutual support throughout his law school experience as a major contributor to his success. Many of his former classmates are now the attorneys, judges and community leaders that he interacts with on a daily basis.
And he speaks highly of the faculty at the law school, saying they created an unspoken pact with the students, “We will teach you how to think like a lawyer, and then it is your job to go out and apply what you have learned.”
That practical way of approaching issues and cases can be traced to how DeMayo approaches his support of the university. “It may sound simplistic, but I advise everyone to have a yearly giving goal,” he says. “I sit down every year and set out my charitable contributions budget for the year. Like anything else, you have to have a goal. It can be a percentage or a defined amount, but you have to make the gift once it is part of your plan. If you make the commitment, after a while it becomes a habit,” he advises.
Probably most importantly, you should give for the right reason. “My thought is if everyone in the world helped just one other person, in some way, what a wonderful world it would be. So I guess my desire to help a student, that I will probably never meet, still makes a lot of sense to me.”
“I credit my legal education and the opportunity I was given as one of the primary reasons for my success. My hope is that our gift will continue to provide that opportunity to others.”
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