Day of Giving Project Application

The Washburn University Alumni Association and Foundation is now accepting projects for its annual Day of Giving to be held Thursday, February 1, 2024, to celebrate Washburn's 159th birthday.

A Day of Giving is an “all in” initiative that asks alumni, friends, faculty, staff and students to give to a department, organization or cause they care about at Washburn University. This year, we are once again asking departments and organizations to submit proposals to be considered for the Day of Giving.

Requests to host a project on the site may include equipment or technology, travel expenses to competitions or conferences, general use funds for a department or organization, campus initiatives, and so forth. Fundraising goals for the projects should be up to $5,000. The goal is to raise funds for specific projects or general use funds that will have a positive impact on Washburn’s campus and students’ education. The more ambassadors the project involves, the more it will be successful at reaching its fundraising goal.

All approved Day of Giving initiatives and projects will be listed on a website that includes real-time counts on number of gifts and amount of money raised for each project to help build momentum throughout the day. Projects will be chosen to be featured on the site based off of the fundraising potential.

Once approved, project owners will receive a web page featuring their cause, WUAAF will send out direct mail leading people to the website to view the projects, make phone calls and send emails to alumni, and promote the projects on social media. WUAAF will also send tax receipts and thank you letters to each donor.

Project owners and ambassadors will also be responsible for pushing out their project on via social media and email before and on the Day of Giving to their contact lists, professional groups, alumni advisory boards, etc. WUAAF will provide trainings on best practices to do this. 

This year, we will host one virtual training session, which will be recorded for anyone who can't join us:
Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024 - 12 p.m. - 1 p.m. -  Zoom

Important information

• All proposals must be submitted to the Washburn University Alumni Association and Foundation no later than 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2023. For questions, please call Gemima Joseph or Sarah Towle at 785.670.4483.
• You will be asked to submit photos and/or a video to dayofgiving@wualumni.org of your organization or activity for which you will be raising funds on Day of Giving.

Items to consider

• You do not need to have a fundraising goal, but it is nice to help give the project momentum.
• If you are submitting an application to raise funds for scholarships, those scholarship dollars will not be available until Fall 2024 because of the financial aid process. This should not discourage you, but please be mindful of it. 
• You are not limited on the amount of money you raise, but set your expectations appropriately. It takes a lot of work and planning to raise $5,000 in 24 hours from small gifts.
• Not all projects have fundraising potential. Increase that potential by making sure the project isn't too narrow and many people will benefit from it. 
• The more people who serve as an ambassador to your project - send emails, make phone calls, and promote on social media - the more likely you are to be successful. 
• View last year's website: www.washburndayofgiving.org