PSE Intern “Advancing” with Day of Giving

—Kathryn Bonsted, Freshman PSE intern in College of Natural Resources, Advancement

North Carolina State University annually holds a Day of Giving; the Wolfpack comes together to donate to help students receive more scholarships, provide more opportunities for research, and many more. To encourage the giving, NC State’s ten colleges hold various competitions over social media such as posting pet pictures or reposting images with a certain tag. As a student intern within the College of Natural Resources Advancement Office, I have had a unique opportunity to see the inside of this large event. 

Being a first year student, I have never experienced NC State’s Day of Giving and wasn’t sure what to expect. As a student intern, one of my first projects for this event was packaging pet bandanas to ship to alumni across the country. Like you, I was first confused with the idea – why pet bandanas? As previously mentioned, to entice giving, NC State holds competitions between the different colleges – one of them followed the following rules: post a pet picture in NCSU gear, use the hashtag #givingpack, and tag NC State and College of Natural Resources. The thought process was that by providing alumni, ones who requested, with a pet bandana, not only would it spread the word about the Day of Giving; but we would also get money from the University that would go straight back to the students. Through different social media challenges such as this one, the College was able to get an additional $6,500! 

Although I wasn’t able to work on the actual Day of Giving due to class conflicts, I was able to thank the donors by handwriting cards. The projects that I have had to complete regarding the Day of Giving may seem mundane and unnecessary, it is evident that the College of Natural Resources is doing something right through advertising this event because of our success. In addition to the $6,500 from the university for social media contests, we also raised over $2,200,000 and received over 1,000 gifts – these statistics are exponentially larger than the previous year. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with an amazing team that continues to support the students within the College of Natural Resources.