UC San Diego Earns 13 Awards from CASE

Invent the Future Thank You Postcards, photos by Erik Jepsen/UC San Diego Publications

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) has awarded UC San Diego top honors for outstanding alumni engagement, donor outreach and philanthropy initiatives. The collaborative efforts of UC San Diego’s Alumni and Constituent Engagement, Advancement and Central Programs, Foundation and Advancement Services, Student Affairs, Student Foundation, and University Communications and Public Affairs resulted in 13 honors—including four gold awards—in the prestigious 2013 CASE District VII Awards of Excellence, recognizing best practices at educational institutions in the western United States.

“We are proud of the outstanding achievements and award-winning contributions of our UC San Diego staff members,” said Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “Our dedicated professionals support our mission and the daily operations of our campus. I’m pleased they are being recognized for their efforts to foster ongoing relationships with alumni, recognize and steward donors, and share our fundraising efforts with the community.”

UC San Diego’s 2013 CASE District VII Awards of Excellence winners include:

ADVANCEMENT SERVICES PROGRAMS

Advancement Services Programs – Donor Relations

Gold: “Invent the Future Thank You Postcards”

Collaborating with Foundation and Advancement Services, University Communications and Public Affairs created postcards featuring “thank you” messages from scholarship and fellowship recipients which were mailed to those who had made a gift to the $50 million Invent the Future student support campaign.

Bronze: “Stewardship Impact Reports”

Donor Relations and Stewardship created templates, tutorials and the training workshop, Stewardship Reports 101, to equip development staff with the tools needed to design customized stewardship reports for donors to demonstrate the positive impact of their philanthropy on faculty and student programs.

ALUMNI RELATIONS PROGRAMS

Alumni Relations Programs – Innovative Use of Technology

Gold: “Commencement 2012: Tweetwall”

Alumni, family, friends and graduates were invited by Alumni and Constituent Engagement to tweet a celebratory message, which was displayed on large-scale stage screens, or “tweetwalls,” between graduation ceremonies.

Silver: “Increasing Alumni Engagement Through Facebook Giveaways”

Through a partnership program, Alumni and Constituent Engagement was able to offer alumni and students the chance to win a prize every month by submitting an entry through the UCSD Alumni Facebook page, a highly effective method of increasing page “likes.”

Alumni Relations Programs – Marketing and Branding

Gold: “Engagement Kits”

Alumni and Constituent Engagement created a modular tri-panel engagement kit for its regional outreach team to use when meeting alumni. The initial kit included three inserts focused on the core messages of Network, Volunteer and Give Back.

Silver: “We Are Tritons”

The “We Are Tritons” campaign produced by Alumni and Constituent Engagement features a series of vibrant banners highlighting the university’s up and coming alumni in the arts, humanities and sciences, which can be seen across campus and as part of the mobile walking tour.

Bronze: “Commencement 2012: The Journey Continues”

Through a partnership with Student Affairs, Alumni and Constituent Engagement created a moment, or rite of passage, to symbolize the transition from student to alumni by leveraging its tagline, “The Journey Continues,” as the event’s central theme.

Alumni Relations Programs – Student Alumni Initiatives

Bronze: “Student Engagement, Loyalty and Philanthropy at UC San Diego”

The UCSD Student Foundation re-imagined its campaign focus, adjusted its long-standing stewardship model and leveraged student engagement opportunities with alumni and campus partners to boost its campus-wide philanthropic efforts beyond graduating seniors.

COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING PROGRAMS

Digital External Audience Newsletters

Bronze: “Giving Impact”

Giving Impact is a monthly digital newsletter managed by University Communications and Public Affairs, which shares inspiring information including donor spotlights, the impact of gifts and news and events tailored to UC San Diego donors and friends with varied giving capacities.

Video General Information Features

Bronze: “Alumni Celebration Video”

A video tribute themed “Making Waves” was produced by Alumni and Constituent Engagement for the annual Alumni Celebration event during Alumni Weekend, featuring the stories of several distinguished alumni and the impact of the university on their lives.

FUNDRAISING PROGRAMS

Fundraising Programs – Annual Giving Programs

Bronze: “An Extraordinary Outlier: UCSD Alumni Giving”

Alumni and Constituent Engagement implemented innovative strategies to encourage alumni giving including enhanced solicitation efforts and stewardship pieces and providing value for making a gift, which resulted in increasing alumni donors by 14 percent and alumni giving by more than 25 percent.

Fundraising Programs – Stewardship

Gold: “Stewardship Impact Reports”

Donor Relations and Stewardship created templates, tutorials and the training workshop, Stewardship Reports 101, to equip development staff with the tools needed to design customized stewardship reports for donors to demonstrate the positive impact of their philanthropy on faculty and student programs.

Silver: “ArtPower! at UC San Diego Stewardship Program”

To increase annual funding, encourage continued giving and spark more active donation participation, ArtPower! initiated a stewardship program for donors and 20+ Club members: individuals who have donated to ArtPower! and its predecessors for over 20 years.  A year-end impact report was mailed or personally delivered to donors, donors were appreciated at the Founder's Concert honoring 20+ Club members and were encouraged to participate in The Big Bang at ArtPower!, an event benefitting the Hamburger Chamber Music Series Endowment and honoring 20+ Club members Robert & Sonia Hamburger. 

For a complete list of 2013 Awards of Excellence for CASE District VII, please visit

http://www.casevii.org/Documents/Districts/DistrictVII/2013_DVII_Awards.pdf