Giving CMU Day and every day after: Engaging the next generation of donors at Carnegie Mellon University

Student engagement is crucial to building the next generation of donors at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). With the return to campus in the post-pandemic period when student donor numbers decreased, there was an opportunity to rethink student engagement at CMU, testing new strategies to drive the creation of new traditions. Acknowledging the opportunities that the collaborative CMU environment provides, teams from across the institution worked together to research donor behaviour and assumptions and implement a student strategy. CMU’s annual day of giving, Giving CMU Day, pivoted to become the main opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students to both make a gift to CMU and fundraise on behalf of the university organisations and causes important to them, thus strengthening the culture of giving on campus and educating the next generation of donors about the importance of philanthropy throughout the rest of the academic year. This how-to guide outlines the resources, successes and pitfalls of executing this ambitious institution-wide change. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.