Canines on campus
Engaging two- and four-legged friends
When your institution is known for its 5 miles of parkland and paths, why not showcase it for pet owners? For its September 2015 Woodland Walkies event, University College Dublin invited alumni and community members to campus for a day of guided walks, animal behavior talks, pet care tips from practitioners and students at UCD's School of Veterinary Medicine, and contests such as waggiest tail and best bark. There was even a dog agility course. The result: 250 dogs and 600 pet owners and their family members attended, exceeding the alumni relations team's goal by 100 people. UCD is aiming for 1,000 attendees in 2016.
University College Dublin fetched a Circle of Excellence Award, Silver, for alumni relations programming for special constituencies.
Decked-out design
Giving is in the cards
Incentive gifts for fundraising challenges are a tricky business. To spur excitement for its June 2015 "52 Hours of Giving" annual fund campaign challenge, Wake Forest University opted for an item that can be used to perform tricks: a limited edition deck of playing cards. The first 2,500 donors who gave $52 or more received the hand-illustrated set, which features face cards filled with drawings depicting the North Carolina institution's lore, such as the plunger-twirling antics of the Demon Deacon mascot and the tradition of covering the quad in toilet paper after a big victory. The decks helped raise more than $500,000 for the Wake Forest Fund.
CASE dealt Wake Forest University a Circle of Excellence Award, Gold, in the specialty pieces design category.
Social experiment
Fun with the zombie apocalypse
Imperial College London relied on braaaiiins for its October 2015 Imperial Apocalypse social media campaign, which mixed Halloween spirit with the U.K. institution's expertise in the hard sciences. Posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram encouraged students to submit scientific tips for surviving a zombie apocalypse. Nearly 100 students, alumni, and university community members offered creative advice. Participants won a zombie T-shirt that humorously highlights the institution's focus on science, engineering, medicine, and business.
Imperial College London captured a Circle of Excellence Award, Silver, for best use of social media for student life.