Best of CASE District VII Award
 

Institution: California State University San Marcos

Title of entry: Alumni Week of Service 2021

About this entry: The California State University San Marcos (CSUSM) Office of Alumni Engagement is constantly looking for unique ways to engage our alumni. In previous surveys, we learned our alumni would like us to offer more opportunities for meaningful volunteer engagement. In response, we launched a Day of Service in 2019. Due to its success, we planned to expand upon that initiative in future years. The Covid-19 pandemic derailed those plans in 2020 and when we still found ourselves without in-person events in 2021, we knew we needed to bring back some semblance of the event.

During an office brainstorming session, the idea of an Alumni Virtual Week of Service was born. Individuals provided insight to local non-profits in need of volunteer support. Our campus was not allowing in-person gatherings at the time, so we sought alternative opportunities for our alumni to participate.

Our Alumni Virtual Week of Service was held during National Volunteer Week in April 2021. We promoted local organizations in need, ranging from flexible no gathering community cleanups for I Love a Clean San Diego, to writing letters for a local organization called Serving Seniors, to requesting tangible items for Interfaith Community Services, who serves those experiencing homelessness. While we promoted these specific projects, any volunteer service was encouraged.

Knowing participation in these activities were up to each volunteer and we would not have a way to quantify results, we encouraged participants to wear CSUSM gear during their volunteer activity, post photos to Instagram and Facebook, and tag #csusmalumni.