Dean Mills holds a pin with her drawing of Bevo on it in Rowling Hall on August 23, 2022. Photo by Lauren Gerson.
When the McCombs School of Business began celebrating its centennial year in 2022, it was right on the heels of the pandemic, and many organizations were just crawling out of a fundraising slump. Armed with a $500,000 matching fund initiative provided in partnership with Dean Lillian Mills, the school launched its A Million for McCombs matching campaign. The result: a campaign that exceeded its goal and became an award-winning example to other universities.
A centerpiece of the school’s 40 Hours for the Forty Acres bi-annual online fundraising campaign, A Million for McCombs helped spur philanthropy for its annual fund giving push.
As part of the campaign, the Development and External Relations (DER) department began working on how to incentivize donors during a sagging year. Inspired by Dean Mills’ famous Longhorn “Bevo” sketch, which usually accompanies her signature, the team landed on developing a lapel pin bearing its likeness.
“The entire team worked diligently on how we could best produce, market, and mail this piece so it would be a value-add to our process,” said Monique Mehta, Director of Development Communications and Strategy. “Plus, it’s just a really fun item.”
The Longhorn sketch special-edition pin was rolled out as a promotion for anyone giving $25 or more during the University’s annual 40 for Forty giving day campaign. In the end, the A Million for McCombs raised $1.1 Million, a success that needed to be shared.
The DER team included the campaign in its submissions to the annual Council for Advancement in Support of Education (CASE) awards. The awards are open to universities internationally, and its awards are recognized globally. Teams from 583 institutions in nearly 22 countries entered awards, submitting 4,021 entries in 96 categories across all disciplines.
McCombs received the Silver Circle of Excellence Award in Fundraising: Targeted Campaigns and Appeals.
In reviewing the submission, the judges remarked, “The innovative approach combining a giving day with a match challenge captivated the judges, resulting in a remarkably strong performance. The synergy created by this unique combination showcased a deep understanding of donor psychology and motivation. By leveraging the power of urgency and amplifying donor contributions, the campaign achieved outstanding results.”
Contributors on the initiative included Sara Jebaily; Catherine Covington; Colin Haymes; and Miranda Bradley.
“We are very proud of this department and everyone’s contributions to this campaign,” Wendy Anderson, Chief Development Officer, said. “The real reward is working as a team to accomplish great things for our students, faculty, and programs. This award is just a bonus. I also love that we emobodied the school spirit and personality of our dean to inspire alumni to give back to a place they love.”
The next 40 Hours for the Forty Acres giving campaign will take place April 3-4, 2024. To learn more, contact the Joon Lee at joon.lee@mccombs.utexas.edu. To learn more about the CASE awards, visit https://www.case.org/.
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