Eastern Michigan University has set a goal for #GivingTrueday, the annual social-media-based fundraising campaign dedicated to supporting students, faculty and special projects on campus.
The 2024 campaign also has a new component — seven student organizations earned the right to create and include their crowdfunding effort in #GivingTrueday with guidance and support from the Eastern Michigan University Foundation staff.
As for the goal, the number is 1,000. But it’s not about dollars. Celia Murkowski, the foundation’s director of alumni engagement, said the 2024 goal is for 1,000 unique donors to join the EMU community in a single day.
“We’re not so concerned about the monetary amount,” Murkowski said. “We’re hoping to get more people interested and passionate about all of our efforts here on campus.”
Katie Batt-Hayes, the foundation’s director of annual giving, said she loves focusing on the number of donors because it emphasizes the purpose behind the campaign.
“It’s a really great tool to get people engaged with the university,” Batt-Hayes said. “It doesn’t matter the size of your gift. Every gift counts, and every gift makes a difference.”
The 2024 #GivingTrueday launches Dec. 3, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. The campaign aligns with the international Giving Tuesday movement, which encourages people to mark the holiday season by donating to their favorite charity on Giving Tuesday.
The university’s campaign is designed around people too, around the personal relationships and social networks of students, staff, faculty, alumni and friends of the university. Because it’s based in social media sharing, Murkowski said, its success lies in people sharing projects and efforts they believe in with people who might not have been part of the university community previously.
“It’s really a great way for all of us on campus to come together to really spread awareness about how wonderful this institution is,” Murkowski said. “It’s such a great day to spread pride about our institution. All of these different efforts of fundraising all go toward improving and enhancing the amazing environment that we already have.”
#GivingTrueday started in 2013, with a handful of crowdfunding efforts that had previously been scattered through the year pulled together into a single day. Ten years later, in 2023, the event saw in a single day about 950 donors and more than half a million in gifts to dozens of projects.
The 2024 campaign includes two basic components: a general appeal and the crowdfunding projects. Donors can choose the general appeal to give to the university foundation or some specifically targeted scholarship funds.
With the second option, donors can select a specific crowdfunding effort from a field of about 30 that are introducing their projects with photos, videos and testimonials on the #GivingTrueday web pages.
“They can give to really anything that excites them,” Murkowski said of #GivingTrueday donors.
The choices include the Mock Trial and Esports teams. Other efforts include the EMU Career Closet, which provides professional attire for students at no cost so they can get dressed for successful interviews.
University President James Smith and his office have a crowdfunding effort to raise money for the annual Thanksgiving food distribution. And The Eastern Echo has a campaign seeking operating assistance to help with purchasing AP Stylebooks and reporter’s notebooks. The campaign funds will also go towards the costs of printing the newspaper and managing its website. (See the full list of options at the bottom of this article.)
The seven student organizations involved in the pilot project with the foundation also are among those numbers. They include the Videographers at EMU, the Black Student Union and EMU DECA.
Now, student organizations must handle their finances and fundraising through off-campus sources, but Murkowski said she and the foundation wanted to find a way to help them get the money they need.
“The only way to educate a student on philanthropy is to get them involved in it,” Murkowski said.
So, this year, the foundation invited student organizations to pitch their ideas. Through a competitive process, the seven were selected. The foundation staff then provided advice, fundraising tool kits and guidance in creating videos, artwork and letters to potential donors. If the organizations meet their goals, the foundation will continue to help.
“They don’t know how to fundraise, so a part of that project is educating them on how to ask for money,” Murkowski said.
However, she said, the students know a lot about the key driver of #GivingTuesday.
“Social media is so crucial,” Murkowski said, “and students really know how to work social media. We just have to educate them on how to make social media work for a gift.”
#GivingTrueday campaigns depend on word of mouth, the sharing of ideas and the need and the gifts from one person to another — particularly through social media. When someone makes a donation, they are asked to share the idea — and the donation website —with family and friends who might also contribute a dollar or two. It’s the key idea behind the growth of crowdfunding.
On the campaign website, #GivingTrueday organizers explained it this way:
“Whether you're contributing $10 or $1,000, your donation will help propel EMU forward, creating new opportunities for students and programs across campus. By joining us on #GivingTrueday, you’re becoming part of a collective effort to transform lives. Together, we can show the world the strength of the EMU community and the incredible impact we can achieve when we all give a little.”
The campaign launches Dec. 3, 2024. The #GivingTrueday website is: https://www.emich.edu/foundation/giving-trueday/on/giving-trueday, or point a cell phone at the following QR code.
Student Organizations Fundraising on #GivingTrueday
- African Student Association
- Videographers at EMU
- Adoptee Club at EMU
- Kings of Color
- Black Student Union
- ETA Sigma Gamma
- EMU DECA
Campus Fundraising
- Women's and Gender Studies
- EMU Career Closet
- Social Work
- Philosophy
- Center for IPE
- Swoop's Food Pantry
- Teacher Education
- YpsiWrites
- Geography and Geology
- Construction Management
- Physics and Astronomy
- Honors College
- President's Office
- Africology and African American Studies
- MAGIC
- EMU Marching Band
- Moot Court/Mock Trial
- ESports
- School of Music and Dance
- GEM Scholarship
- Faculty Development Center
- The Eastern Echo
- Welcome Corps Program
- Model UN
