The Personal Touch: Videos, challenges put a unique stamp on UWSP’s Day of Giving celebration
By Jeanne Nagle | April 2024
For anyone who has ever given to a worthy cause, only to wonder if and how your gift truly makes a difference, the UWSP Day of Giving (D.O.G.) website has a heartwarming and entertaining treat in store for you.
Active now through May 7, the site features videos recorded by students, alumni and others highlighting the virtues of, and benefits derived from, several individual fundraising campaigns. Video “stars” have been chosen for their personal connection to each school, college, fund or program represented.
Some of the recorded messages serve as straightforward testimonials. Others have a more creative bent. With the click of a mouse, you can:
- watch as spouses Sarena Melotte ’00 and Bill Schierl engage in multiple activities that conceivably could be part of “A Day In the Life of a COFAC Student.”
- be privy to a conversation between retired faculty members John Munson and Terry Aittama that underscores the importance of gifts to the School of Health Sciences and Wellness Excellence Endowment.
- enjoy a short, quick-cut travelog highlighting one student’s extracurricular experiences during his semester abroad in Europe.
Regardless of content and tone, each video concludes with a respectful request for viewers’ pledge of support.
“The videos add a fun and exciting personal connection to the Day of Giving celebration,” says alumni relations specialist for annual giving Emily Johnston, who is overseeing the D.O.G. campaigns. “Reading on the website about how gifts support student scholarships and several areas of campus is great. But hearing directly from those impacted by the generosity of Pointer family and friends really drives that message home.”
Another personal touch evident on the site involves challenges attached to individual campaigns. Several donors have stepped up and made pledges to match gifts dollar-for-dollar, up to a set limit, in support of a cause or area of the university that is special to them. Some matches have been made in honor of the legacy of a loved one, while others belie an issuer’s attachment to a particular college, school or program at UWSP. Fittingly, Kroger and Walmart are matching donations made to The Cupboard student food pantry.
Alumni and friends are invited to get personal themselves by rising to the Chancellor’s Pointer Photo Challenge. Chancellor Thomas Gibson will donate $1 toward student scholarships for each photo featuring an individual or group taken in/with Pointer gear and posted to social media using the hashtag #UWSPGivesBack. Suggestions for image composition include wearing a Point-emblazoned hat or hoodie, waving a university pennant or posing with a Stevie cutout.
“This is an opportunity to support the university while expressing Pointer Pride in a way that is unique each person,” says principal alumni relations officer Laura Gehrman Rottier. “We ask only that photos be tasteful, and that the hashtag #UWSPGivesBack is attached when posted to social media channels.”
D.O.G. organizers have set a goal of 1,000 posted images by May 7. So post now, and post often!
The D.O.G. at UWSP runs April 2 through May 7. In honor of the university’s 130th anniversary this year, the goal is to raise at least $130,000 over the course of the event. Make your celebratory—and personal–gift Today. Thank you!
