Best of CASE District VI Award
 

Institution: University of North Dakota Alumni Association & Foundation

Title of entry: Notes from the Nest

About this entry: Our first-ever Notes from the Nest gratitude event drew eager students to a central location on campus to thank their scholarship donors the old-fashioned way: through hand-written thank you notes.

At the two-day event, students took full advantage of the chance to show their appreciation, often filling cards top-to-bottom with introductions, updates on their UND experience, future plans and fun facts. The event was made possible through a campuswide partnership among the UND Alumni Association & Foundation, UND Student Finance, and several colleges, schools and departments.

After the notes were turned in, students enjoyed free pizza and donuts, and entered their name for a scholarship drawing.

The results were extremely positive. Students expressed appreciation for having a time, space and resources provided to show their gratitude. Campus partners expressed gratitude for being relieved of a burden. Development Officers have received calls and emails from donors who were impacted by the notes paired with pictures.

Results:

3,650 total notes written (this includes 600+ emails)
2,361 total students participated
630 donors/organizations thanked
62% of total thank you notes needed were completed.
59% of scholarship recipients participated in the event
70% of the donors/organizations were thanked a specific scholarship recipient

Three out of our eight colleges opted out of this event for various reasons this year. After seeing the results form this event, one college decided to opt in for next year.