Award: Gold

Institution: Miami University

Title of Entry: Miami University COVID Engagement Strategies

About this Entry: When we were faced with the impending fate that our Miami community would likely be sent home mid-semester last March, our Stewardship and Donor Relations team immediately put a distance engagement plan into action. In one of our strongest collaborative efforts with the development team, we were able partner with development officers to offer experiences and training that brought the essence of Miami, met our donors where they were, supported alumni owned businesses, and lead to major gift conversations in a time where fundraising was at a near standstill. We engaged volunteer boards and reached donors -- nearly 300 total received physical care packages and over 6,000 ThankView updates sent. Additionally, in a year where we weren't able to coordinate our #MoveInMiami day of giving, we not only broke participation and donations records, but also for the first time ever, utilizing a division-wide effort and capitalizing on friendly competition, we were able to send every donor their very own personalized ThankView video.