The Young Alumni Council and the Office of Development and Public Affairs have joined forces to find new ways to connect with the University's young alumni base, recently launching the "Contest to Change" competition.
The contest, also known as C2C, seeks to develop a plan to increase young alumni giving by incorporating the best ideas from current students, alumni, faculty and staff, Young Alumni Council President Brian Johnson said.
Members of the University community can submit proposals for project ideas through the contest's Web site until April 22 in the medium of their choice, Johnson said. An AccessUVA scholarship will be named in honor of the contest's winner, and the idea will be run as a pilot program during the upcoming summer months, he added.
"There are a lot of great ideas are out there," Johnson said, noting that many recent University graduates, though not always equipped with a fundraising background, have the ability to generate worthwhile concepts. "It's very exciting."
The term "young alumni," according to Johnson, refers to the University's youngest 12 graduated classes. While alumni giving currently comprises about 26 percent of the University's funding, only a small part of those donations are from young alumni, he noted.
Even though the University has funding from a number of different sources, "we can always do better," Johnson said, noting this is especially true if the University is on its way to becoming a privately funded public university.
"The message is to give whatever you can give," Johnson said, acknowledging that many recent University graduates do not have the spending power of older alumni.
The ultimate goal of the C2C, according to Bob Sweeney, senior vice president for development and public affairs, is to "motivate our alumni to be more involved and engaged in the University."
Sweeney was particularly involved in developing the contest, working closely with members of the Young Alumni Council to launch the program this year, Johnson said.
Having young alumni come up with ways to approach their peers is a new approach designed to encourage increased financial giving, Sweeney explained, noting the University is one of the first institutes of higher education to organize a project like this one.
"We are charting new territory," Sweeney said.
Changes in recent technology can pose a challenge for the University when it comes to staying in touch with its young alumni.
"Young people communicate much differently than they did even five years ago ... How do we take advantage of new technology?" said Mark Jones, senior director of strategic communications.
Part of the C2C, therefore, is focused on "crowdsourcing," or the use of social networking outlets to solve a problem, Jones said. In this case, it is important to find ways to reach young alumni and encourage them to consider giving to the University, he added.
As a result, the University has begun to use Facebook in addition to e-mail in order to reach out to young alumni, Jones said.
Though the contest has only been open since Wednesday, the University is pleased with the response from eligible contestants, Sweeney said.
More than 20 proposals have already been submitted, Sweeney said, with several hundred more underway.
Johnson said a panel consisting of faculty, alumni and members of Sweeney's office will review submissions and select five proposals deemed potentially viable after the April 22 deadline. He added that during the summer, these top five proposals will be tested and presented again before the same panel of judges to decide the winning proposal.
"We don't know how this is going to work out," Sweeney said, but, "no matter what, we're doing to learn a lot"
Read More
From the Archives: Celebration and Reflection (4/28 - 5/4)
By Clara Franklin and Annabelle Nee | 10 hours agoFrom The Purple Shadows breaking into the Dean of Students’s office to multiple student athletes accused of honor code violations, the graduating class’s four years were a wild ride.
PBS NewsHour correspondent speaks on bringing humanity to international conflict
By Grace Little | YesterdaySchifrin's work exploring Putin’s Russia, his coverage of COVID-19 and his reporting in Afghanistan and Ukraine have earned him various accolades.
Spring meal swipe drive aims to tackle food insecurity at the University
By Nicolas Biernacki | YesterdayU.Va. Dine facilitated the drive by converting each meal swipe donated by a student into one pound of food that is then donated to the CFP.
