From the Nominator

"This stewardship video was produced for the inaugural on-campus celebration of a new Princeton giving society, the President's Circle, which honors donors who have reached lifetime giving of $1 million and higher. Working with colleagues in donor relations, we centered the concept for the video on thank you letters to scholarship donors written by students over the past several decades. We decided to have current students read these words of gratitude as narration over footage of them on campus, walking between classes, studying, meeting friends in the dining hall. In the end, as each student signs off in their letter, it is revealed that the words were written by students from the 1990s, the 2010s, and a new graduate, offering a universal message of gratitude to all members of the President's Circle for all they have made possible for students through the years. 

The video was met with heartfelt applause and words of praise from those who attended the event. After being shown at the October President's Circle event, the video was repurposed as a resource for capital giving fundraisers to support a year-end financial aid matching initiative. Working with our fundraising initiatives group, we created a private link for the video and crafted email language that fundraisers could customize. Our capital giving colleagues expressed their thanks for having the video as a reason to reach out to donors, and metrics showed video views during the month of December from across the United States and Hong Kong."

From the Judges

The judges like this unique approach of bringing together past and present with the use of past stewardship letters with visuals of current students. It covers both a nostalgic and current approach that connected with a large set of donors. Very creative.