This is the first year we have incorporated a philanthropy committee to R.E.A.L Bears. The purpose of the committee is to educate students on the importance of giving back to the University, show appreciation for our donors and, possibly even assist our school with recruiting future donor support. This year the organization focused on showing the importance of donor contributions to Missouri State University. The organization also wants students to realize that one day they might be able to contribute to this University as other have done so in the past.
Over the past couple of months, the philanthropy committee has been especially busy, that is mostly due to the fact that February was the Council for Advancement and Support of Education Affiliated Student Advancement Programs’ (CASE ASAP) and Student Philanthropy Education Month. R.E.A.L. Bears’ philanthropy
committee has been working hard to implement two new programs: the student philanthropy education event and Giving Tuesday.
Giving Tuesday was organized by the philanthropy committee in order to show appreciation towards the donors the University has had over the past years. During the event, students wrote a personalized message on a board to anyone at MSU, like a scholarship donor, that had impacted their lives in any way. A quick picture of the messages was taken and in appreciation of their participation they were given hot chocolate. Giving Tuesday is not something celebrated just by this organization, but is celebrated worldwide. It is celebrated on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving by anyone who wishes to acknowledge the generosity of others and it is aims to take the focus off ourselves, through an “unselfie,”a picture that focuses on teh message rather than the person. Many other universities have also been attracted to the idea and have participated in Giving Tuesday. Many have found the same success and enjoyment as the R.E.A.L. Bears did. Giving Tuesday is something R.E.A.L Bears plans to be a part of for next year and is looking forward to as well.
The Philanthropy committee also arranged a student philanthropy education event, which aimed to educate students on the importance of donors in our school and increase understanding of the term philanthropy. At this event students were provided with an educational pamphlet that included the exact amount of funding that came from donors over the past year and the purpose of our committee. To provide a visual representation and to promote student involvement we allowed students to guess how many M&M’s were in a glass jar. The number of M&M’s in the jar was equal to the amount of students who received a Missouri State Foundation-funded scholarship in 2015. The person who was closest to the actual amount received a newly designed R.E.A.L Bears shirt and a $25 gift card to the bookstore. The turnout rate was very good and everyone had a lot of fun at this event.
For both events, the philanthropy committee engaged and informed the Missouri State students about how much the University is cared for by alumni. Because this is the first year for the philanthropy committee, there are many improvements and changes they plan to make next year; however, they have high hopes and plans for the future. The committee aims to put on bigger and better events, increase awareness, and create scholarships for students and donate back to the University in years to come.