"The crowning achievement of One Ball State Day isn't having raised $1 million in one day, it's the engagement of the campus and our alumni. As a foundation, we set our sights on uniting alumni, students, employees, and other constituents in a day to help Ball State fly. We encourage passion giving. Everyone has an area they particularly love on campus—and chances are, we have a fund for that. We saw an increase in giving by constituency, an increase in campus and alumni ambassadors (and how much they raised), and 100 percent participation from our deans/cabinet/coaches issuing personally funded challenges or matches. We raised our first giving day $1 million and received more than 8,100 gifts from donors around the world. Just four years ago, we'd not received more than 250 gifts in a single day.
One Ball State Day is now one of the university's favorite days. Colleges have increased support from alumni, parents, employees, and students, and we have highlighted their programs in new ways. Campus partners start meeting months ahead of time, creative challenges are dreamed up, students plan the on-campus activities for the day, and participating is just something we Cardinals do."
From the Judges
Ball State did a great job producing a comprehensive campaign with total integration. They involved the entire community—faculty, staff, alumni, students, and local businesses—and had a lot of fun doing it. There are great ideas here that other institutions can learn from. And they made it very unique for their school.
