When members of the advancement team at Harper College in Palatine, Illinois, wanted to capture new donors for #GivingTuesday last November, which coincided with the school's 50th anniversary year, they ended up doing something entirely new. "We stepped out of our comfort zone and it really paid off in the end," says Heather Zoldak, associate executive director/major gifts.

Harper's #GivingTuesday strategic marketing campaign went from being a ho-hum fundraiser to a "sparkler project" done in partnership with the marketing department in 2017 and again this year. And it's all because of a little ditty.

#GivingTuesday, for those unfamiliar with the phenomenon, is the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, when people are encouraged to give online to charity before the frenzied holiday shopping season kicks into high gear. It was begun in 2012, and Harper got in on the action in 2015. But, Zoldak says, it turns out they weren't getting new donors, just their usual donors who chose to redirect their funds.

That's when Kevin Prchal, the college's digital content specialist who doubles as a professional musician, took things into his own hands. Literally. He wrote and recorded a song called "Harper College — Believe" to be used for #GivingTuesday and then sought out students, staff, and faculty volunteers to be in a music video, singing along to his tune.

"Everyone in the video is from the Harper community," Zoldak says. "We ended a management meeting saying if people wanted to be in a video, they were welcome. There were a lot of groans, but then we played the song and they really got into it. Even the president is in the video!"

Thanks to this creative approach, Harper's 2017 #GivingTuesday campaign saw an 86 percent increase in donors over the previous year's campaign, a 77 percent increase in new donors and a 256 percent increase in donations from alumni. The music video has gone on to get more than 22,000 views—and counting.

"We're refreshing it this year, with different versions of the song sung by members of the community," says Kristyn Meyer, manager of annual giving and events.

The lesson of this experience was an important one, says Zoldak. In addition to sparking excitement and creativity, "This has opened up our doors to say we don't have to keep doing things the way we've always done them. We can tap into what our staff and students and faculty have to offer and find ways for them to sing their songs going forward."

This article is from the November/December 2018 issue of the Community College Advancement News.