The Student Philanthropy Committee will host Sponsors Making a Change Week from Jan. 29 through Feb. 2.
Shannon McKenrick, entertainment business senior and Stu Phil president, said the point of the committee and the event is to educate students about the importance of donors and donor money to the university. She also said this is the first time Stu Phil has ever hosted the event.
Stu Phil will put gift tags all over campus so students can see what was provided by donor money, McKenrick said.
“It will be a visual reminder of everything that donors do for the university,” she said. “Not just our big donors, like when you see names on buildings, but even those people who donate $50. Well, that $50 helps make our campus look pretty.”
McKenrick said the tags will stay up throughout the week. There also will be a social media scavenger hunt with clues to where the tags are. Students who post pictures and hashtag #OCUSMAC can win a prize.
There also will be a speaker panel called “Voices in Philanthropy” about careers in fund raising, development and nonprofit in the corporate world. The panel will be at 7 p.m. Jan. 31 in the Great Hall in Tom and Brenda McDaniel University Center.
“That’s one field a lot of people don’t think of going into. They think, ‘oh, in nonprofit, I won’t make a lot of money, it’s not really lucrative,’ but that’s not always the case,” McKenrick said.
The panel will feature Kristin Holland, corporate giving officer of Boeing; Whitney Cross Moore, director of development at Oklahoma City Ballet; Robyn Hilger, executive director of El Sistema; Lindsay Dyer, executive director of United Way of Pottawatomie County, and Rachel Durham, development officer of Positive Tomorrows. Bob Spinks, director of OCU’s Nonprofit Leadership master’s program, will moderate the panel.
McKenrick also will conduct a presentation titled “Get the Scoop on Philanthropy” about donors in Oklahoma City.
The presentation will be at 11:30 a.m. Feb. 1 in the Great Hall.
Stu Phil will have a table set up outside the caf during lunch with information about the importance of philanthropy on college campuses and how students can get involved.
Carolann Stout, acting sophomore, said it’s important to have a week to recognize the people who contribute to the campus.
“I think it’s really great that the Student Philanthropy Committee is raising awareness for donors. The donors do so much for our campus that normally goes unrecognized,” Stout said.
McKenrick said Stu Phil also organizes the senior gift, an amount of money graduating seniors give back to the university as a thank you.
“Some ideas we’ve had are scholarship funds, study abroad scholarship funds, campus beautification projects, and someone even suggested a campus art project, like we paint a whole side of a building dedicated to the class of 2018, which would be really cool,” she said.
McKenrick said, during SMAC week, seniors will receive a poll to vote where they want the money raised to go. At the end of the week, Stu Phil will reveal the winners of the poll.
McKenrick said she hopes many people will attend SMAC week so they can learn more about the importance of donors to the campus.
Last year, the university received $1,600 in donation from the senior class of 2017, which totaled more than $3,000 after a match from President Robert Henry.
Students may email McKenrick at tsmckenrick@my.okcu.edu for more information about the event or how to get involved with Stu Phil.
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