The game was students versus parents, and it was close. In Florida Institute of Technology's esports arena on the institution’s November 2021 giving day, the two teams battled through a live “Family Feud” game of campus trivia. On the line: a donation to the winning team’s Florida Tech cause of choice.
This was all part of the U.S. university’s 2021 strategy to gamify its giving day. With the tagline, “Make an impact. Make a gift. Come play on giving day,” the 24-hour, in-person and online event included games from Feud to a rock-paper-scissors tournament to the Alumni Rocket League (an esports mash-up of soccer and car racing).
Many institutions today host giving days, but Florida Tech’s approach put a fresh, interactive twist on the activity. The project won a bronze Circle of Excellence Award for flash campaigns—and it wasn’t the only 2022 awardee that put a new spin on the typical tactics in a development team’s toolkit. In COE judges’ comments about the 91 award recipients across fundraising categories, creativity came up most often as a descriptor (followed by terms like great, effective, and impact).
Here’s a look at six essential practices advancement teams around the globe used to give fresh, impactful, award-winning twists to fundraising campaigns, events, and appeals.
