From the Nominator

"In November 2021, the alumni and community engagement team launched the inaugural University of Queensland (UQ) young alumni Party with a Purpose (PWAP). According to the Deloitte, over 50 per cent of Gen Zs and Millennials have given to charity in the past two years. However, we are not seeing the same trend in giving at the university. In 2019 (pre-pandemic), only 438 of our young alumni (0.3%) donated to the university.   

PWAP was designed to embrace the concept of giving back while having a fun night with friends--hence the name, ‘party with a purpose.’ In addition, PWAP is a way to normalise giving to UQ causes and position UQ as destination of choice for this age group.    

In 2021, the chosen beneficiary was Professor Christel Middledorp, whose research focuses on mental health challenges in children, including depression, anxiety, and autism at the Child Health Research Centre. A portion of ticket sales ($10) and 100 per cent of the raffle proceeds were donated to this research.    

The event sold out with 238 attendees (165 alumni and 73 guests) and it raised $5,160 for research, with 91 per cent of attendees being first time donors to UQ. Of the 238 attendees, 76 per cent had never attended a young alumni event before. This clearly exemplifies that we were able to identify a need and desire to give back within the young alumni community and fulfilled that need through event planning, promotion, and execution."

From the Judges

This event is a great idea. They achieved their goals. It was creative and well-executed and they clearly delivered an event that taps into an important societal issue. It also was very good value for money. Great ideas for engaging young alums.