Let's Talk UNLV

0:00:00
Welcome to another podcast of Let's Talk UNRV. On KUNV you are with co-hosts Keith and Renee. Renee, how was your weekend?

0:00:15
It was good. March Madness was great. When I wasn't watching basketball I was back to my have and have nots.

0:00:22
Renee, you know what I'm talking about.

0:00:25
It's eight seasons.

0:00:26
And like a million episodes.

0:00:28
Yeah,

0:00:28
yeah,

0:00:29
40 episodes. So, but I'm making my way through, but you know, my little,

0:00:37
you know,

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Hulu and chill moment,

0:00:38
you know,

0:00:39
so what about you?

0:00:41
Well,

0:00:42
we got a new pet.

0:00:44
Oh,

0:00:44
so okay,

0:00:46
you know,

0:00:46
about eight weeks old. So,

0:00:48
so the other one pass away?

0:00:50
No, he's still, you know, bumping into things, blind and deaf. So he's trying to figure out what is this thing that keeps biting on me and nibbling on my tail and trying to beat me to my food. And so we're breaking into new pups. So I've been doing a lot of, you know, open the door, taking the dog out and cleaning up messes inside the house.

0:01:12
So where'd you find this new pup?

0:01:14
Well, you know, I was trying to be out of the pet business, but the lady of the house, she said she needed a new puppy, so a new project, so we got the new puppy, right? And you know, in addition, you know, speaking of the have and have nots, my mom is returning this week, so I guess I got to get my mind back into, I got to figure out where she left off because she's big on, well, what did I leave off, Keith Mann, and get me back to the right episode, so I'll be getting caught up on that.

0:01:40
Okay.

0:01:41
But I'm excited today, Renee. We have a couple guests from the UNB Foundation office. So we have with us Megan Black, who's the director of Annual Giving, and then we also have Ari Yago, who is the associate director of digital philanthropy. Ari and Megan, welcome to the show.

0:01:59
Hi, thank you for having us.

0:02:02
Yes.

0:02:03
And I guess we'll start with Megan, followed by Ari. If you could share a little bit about your journey to UNLV, and then we'll go from there with questions.

0:02:15
All right, sounds good.

0:02:16
My name is Megan Black. I am the Director of Annual Giving. I previously was the Director of Development here at UNLV for the School of Nursing. So I've really enjoyed building meaningful relationships for UNLV and finding where people can passionately give back to the university, whether it's alumni, friends, or community partners. And so my role here as the Director allow people who want to give back to the university in the annual fund has the ability to quickly address any campus needs and special opportunities for the institution. Awesome and then I'm Ari Yagam, the Associate Director of

0:03:03
Digital Philanthropy. I am brand new to UNLV's largest crowdfunding event, as well as Rebel Raiser, which is our student crowdfunding program and platform that we have here at UNLV that helps start the culture and the pipeline for giving and that donor pipeline at a student level leading up to what happens after graduation. So, like kind of what Megan said earlier. So, we're really looking forward and excited to talk to you folks today about Rebels Give. Yeah, so let's go right into that.

0:03:50
Rebels Give, what is it, why is it important?

0:03:54
So, Rebels Give started back in 2018, so this will be our fourth year celebrating, and it's a way to honor UNLV's founding in 1957, so it is 1,957 minutes of giving. So this year, it'll be on April 5th and 6th, so here in two weeks, and it really is a way to encourage the entire UNLV community, from students, faculty, staff, donors, alumni, to make an impact on the university for our Rebels today and for our Rebels tomorrow.

0:04:34
And could you share a little bit about how previous Rebel Giving campaigns have manifested in supporting different initiatives or priorities at the institution? Sure, so let's just talk about the significance of giving, right?

0:04:46
Last year and previous years for Rebels Give, we supported educational needs of more than 30,000 of our UNLV students, including first-generation college students, military veterans, non-traditional students, and overall, the diverse community that UNLV supports. And so this could go to student scholarships, funds that start or continue programs and research. And a couple of examples are the UNLV College of Hospitality Fund for Excellence Alumni Scholarship, the College of Engineering Student Scholarship, and our HOPE Scholars. So we've raised, last year, over $600,000 with over 1,800 gifts. So that's really impressive, and we hope to only grow and expand our program in years to come.

0:05:39
So is there a target amount to raise for Rebels Give on April 5th and 6th?

0:05:44
Yes, so we definitely hope to build off of last year's success. So we are hoping to reach about 2,000 gifts this year and over $800,000.

0:06:01
Excellent. And talk about how does someone begin to think about how they can contribute? You know, we're coming out of COVID. People are still financially impacted. They may not even know where to start. They may even feel overwhelmed because, you know, they're worried about recurring commitments. And so think about what you can share to encourage someone to think about participating in Rebels Give this year who may not have a past history of giving.

0:06:40
First, I think it starts with finding a passion and cause that you support and want to give to. So a lot of the times our donors are well connected with our UNLV campus community or causes that they support. And to second that, we have this whole campaign of your $5 latte can help contribute to a student scholarship or a program. And it's just easing the minds of, yes, we're all kind of hesitant and coming off of our mild COVID train, but just any gift counts and it's going to make an impact not only for, like Megan said, our Rebels today, but our Rebels tomorrow and our greater Las Vegas and UNLV community. And I'm sure that Megan is probably going to want to add to that.

0:07:24
Yes, and it's all about participation and becoming involved with the university. And so the best way to get involved is to go to rebelsgive.unlv.edu and we offer some different ways to support Rebels Give. So whether that's making your gift to the area that you're most passionate about, you can be a Rebel Ambassador and just get the word out to your family and friends, or you can also assist with getting the word out on social media. So we offer so many different ways for someone, students, faculty, staff, and friends to get involved in the day.

0:08:03
Well, I know I can give up my $5 ice white mocha, no whipped cream, Starbucks. And Keith, I'm going to challenge you to give me your oatmeal. I see you have oatmeal in your hand sometimes from Starbucks. You think you can give up your $5 oatmeal to help for Rebels Give?

0:08:20
Of course.

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OK.

0:08:21
Of course. I always support.

0:08:23
OK.

0:08:24
All right.

0:08:25
Being a two-time Rebel alum, so.

0:08:27
Absolutely, absolutely. So how does department heads begin to challenge their, you know, staff members, even student workers to give? I mean, as you saw, we just had minority-serving institutions, student council members who are planning different events and serving the institution. I think it's never too early to start, you know, teaching students the importance of giving and how it does pay forward for Rebels tomorrow.

0:08:55
So we are working very closely with all of the different schools and units throughout UNLV and there will be different student events throughout the two days, including the kickoff event on Tuesday, April 5th at 930 on Pita Plaza, where we have coffee and donuts. So you can skip that $5 latte of yours that morning and join us at the kickoff.

0:09:23
Okay.

0:09:24
What about the oatmeal?

0:09:25
Well, she's in it by the oatmeal.

0:09:26
No, we have donuts. So donuts.

0:09:28
Try to get the oatmeal for a donut, Keith.

0:09:29
I just want that donut.

0:09:30
Well, you know, I'm trying to make better decisions knowing that, you know, we have MSI week approaching. Right, right, right. But I can sacrifice. Okay. I can sacrifice and prioritize. And then I also wanted to talk maybe from Aria's perspective. Aria, you talked about the digital tools and resources. Can you talk about how you're leveraging technology to better educate or increase awareness of these various campaigns.

0:10:06
Sure.

0:10:07
What I love about Rebels Give is that it's an institutional initiative that is intertwined with UNLV's top tier 2.0 plan. And so we are able to work with our campus constituents, including UNLV's social strategy team and our campus partners. And so we are able to leverage their social media accounts. So we've really been tapping into Instagram Reels. Everyone is either on Reels or TikTok nowadays, and we've seen the development of what that looks like in the video space and what that impact has on our audience. And so we've pushed out a lot of video campaigns and telling the story of here's a scholarship donor, and here's that scholarship recipient, and what that looks like, and what impact that has, not only on the students continuation here at UNLV, but how UNLV also prepped that student to face the real world, and has instilled in them skills that they're going to take in their professional and personal lives. So building that story, and really kind of tugging on those heartstrings has been pretty beneficial. Now, I don't want to talk too much about what we're going to be launching out probably here in the future, but we are seeing overall, collectively, a lean towards Apple Pay, PayPal, and so we hope to soon implement that in our digital space for philanthropy, and so stay tuned.

0:11:33
So let's talk about some of those stories. What stories have you heard from the students that have been impacted by the gifts that have come forward? What are they saying? What do they share with you? Or the donor?

0:11:46
So, I think one of the biggest examples, especially during the COVID pandemic, is we really had to pivot with our student emergency funds. So, a lot of student affairs and then also all the different schools and colleges created these emergency funds to assist students when everything had shut down in 2020. So, we were able to support students with purchasing laptops, giving them Wi-Fi, and I think the greatest example right now on campus is our food pantry, but also the support from donors, it's hard to measure the impact that it's had on our students and community.

0:12:39
And I know you mentioned the Rebel Razor program, the crowdfunding. Could you talk a little bit more about the motivation to start that initiative and what's in store for in the future for for Rebel Raiser.

0:12:54
Awesome and like I guess the best way to put it it's UNLV's version of a GoFundMe. So we allow registered student organizations here at UNLV to like pitch a project to us. Are we going to help a great project that I'm going to give an example to is our Rebel Girls Dance and Co. And so they just went to nationals not too long ago in the spring. And so we are going to help set up their project on our crowdfunding platform and they just take the rest and they are able to raise money and donors are able to donate, show their support as well as getting a tax receipt which is different from GoFundMe. And so it allows allows for that and cultivates a culture of philanthropy and giving at the student, alumni, faculty, staff, donor, and prospect level. So it's an awesome initiative that the foundation is putting out there to engage our student body in what it means to not only fundraise, but to hopefully give eventually.

0:13:57
So talk about all the planning and preparation that it takes to gear up for Rebels Give. You know, Keith and I, we're on the student affairs side, and this is kind of new to us in that regard in terms of the amount of preparation and planning and all the different pieces. So kind of give us a description of what that looks like.

0:14:17
Yeah, it's definitely a year-round effort as we definitely partner with everyone across Kansas. So we work with all the schools and colleges and all the different student affairs units, study abroad, academic affairs. So it's a really large university initiative. So we bring a lot of partners together from the get-go to to different events to host for students in the community. So we definitely want everyone to get involved and you'll see plenty of Rebels Give logos all over campus here in the next week. So we're gonna be in the student union, we got yard signs, and also at Shadow Lane to make sure that we are encompassing all efforts of the campus.

0:15:17
And could you talk a little bit about the importance of stewardship over these gifts and maybe what the process is to prioritize where gifts go?

0:15:31
So we really encourage donors to give where they're most passionate about. And in the stewardship phase, then, they get to see where their funds go. So whether that's supporting a scholarship and getting a story or a thank you note from a student, giving to research and learning more from the faculty member, or even if you support an annual fund, We like to definitely tell the story of what that impact means for the university and put a face to that fund as well.

0:16:11
So do you foresee that the emergency fund will be one of the largest areas that folks will give, or do you think that there might be some others that will be equally high on the priority list of giving?

0:16:26
Yeah, it definitely is all over. We have student emergency funds, scholarships, and also supporting athletics and then other programming at the schools and units. So, whether that's the Business and Economic Center and Lead Business or supporting the women's swim and dive. You really can find the fun that most aligns to what your passionate and needs are for the community.

0:17:03
And then I want to maybe take a few steps back to when you first introduced yourself, and if you could maybe just share a little bit about how you got into this development work or philanthropy work and what you're passionate about?

0:17:19
Of course. So I initially started my career in financial education and became very passionate with giving back my time when I was first starting out in my career as I didn't have the funds quite available, but as I educated myself about the importance of also giving back not only your time but your treasure, I started giving back to my own alma mater but also to my community. So I was very passionate about our food pantry here and also the libraries. So as a big avid reader, I enjoy going to the library. So it's definitely an area that I've been passionate about over the years.

0:18:07
And for me, I am quite new to this space. And so this has been a whirlwind, but it's exciting. And I get to see who it's affecting. I get to see, we had a groundbreaking for the Advanced Engineering Building and seeing of our campus constituencies come together and work with big names in the Las Vegas community like Lumen and other big companies out there and it's also integrating how our students are a part of that pie. It's just really fascinating and it only makes me want to give myself and so this Rebels Give I will be giving to student scholarships and student initiatives because I think that's what it's all about and student success and Rebels Give is the overarching opportunity for all of us to give to something that we care about here at UNLV and our Rebels community so we encourage you folks to make your gift on April 5th and 6th.

0:19:09
So talk about those you know times where maybe a gift didn't come through through a donor or maybe you fell short of that goal because I know that that could be a hindrance or sometimes a letdown for folks who are thinking about being a part of a campaign such as this. What motivating words do you have to keep them excited about giving, even though sometimes the gift may not come through or they fall beneath the goal that they set for

0:19:43
themselves.

0:19:44
So we may not get one gift, but I really think it's about coming together as a collective whole. So that $5 or $500 really adds up at the end of the day to help our students, our faculty, and the entire campus. So even though we miss one gift, we still work harder to get that next one. So we try not to lose any effort or steam when it comes to Rebels Give or any day here to raise funds for UNLV.

0:20:17
So that we ask on April 5th and 6th to just share Rebels Give and share our stories that we're promoting on UNLV philanthropy and foundation accounts, as well as our UNLV social media platforms. Just share them and just write a little quick note and share your story. If you're affiliated with the university, share your story and how UNLV helped you today. And that's all that we can ask for.

0:20:46
And could you maybe share with the audience, what are some of the maybe top three or five high need areas for giving for those members who may not be necessarily drawn to a certain passion?

0:21:01
So I think that if someone's unsure where to give, the best fund is our unrestricted funds that can go to anywhere that has need on the campus. So that is the most open fund that someone can give to you. And then from there people can look at their school and see if there's any funds from for them whether it's student scholarship or research or even their annual fund to where they receive their degree. So there really are, there's so many different options, but if someone is unsure, the UNLV annual fund goes to the greatest need for a campus.

0:21:53
So I'm telling you, I'm torn. I like the Hope Scholars. I am biased. It's a part of the student life portfolio, but I also, you know, understand the emergency funds because there's that sudden, you know, emergency that can be the difference between a student staying in school and not. And so any advice on what do I do? I'm torn.

0:22:17
Well, you can definitely split your gift during Rebels Give and any time you want to give to multiple places and to do multiple gifts at once. So you can support all the causes that you want to on those days.

0:22:36
And I'll tell you, I've been trying to challenge my staff, and I think the last time I did it I said, okay, if I get 25 new gifts, new gifts from a staff of 130, it doesn't matter what size the gift, then I will give X. And I think I came short. I think I maybe just got like 10 gifts. Any advice on what I can do maybe different this time to ramp up and prepare the staff to engage in a way because we have a lot of new employees. We have some folks that have come to some new monies, got some promotions and whatnot,

0:23:10
right?

0:23:11
And then we also have some new programs. You know, we have Fostering Scholars, we have Hope Scholars, which is not new, but, you know, there's other ways that people now can be ignited by this passion as they see how students are receiving these gifts. So any ideas on what I can do to really get my staff positioned to be excited about this year's Rebels gift? We're back on campus. We're going to see the fruits of your labor by being out there on Pied-a-Plaza on April 5th and 6th. Again, the campus is open. We see our students thrive. What might I do different this time to put me over the hump?

0:23:52
So we have some sample language as a Rebel Gives Ambassador that can help spread the word. And then we will be recognizing all our faculty and staff donors this year at the end of April with a special faculty and staff donor appreciation lunch. So any faculty and staff that is given throughout the year will be able to be acknowledged during that day.

0:24:17
Recognition. I like it. I like it. And could you just remind... And also those of our student population as well, and we'll be engaging them. So the top student group that donate during Rebels Give will also get stewarded and treated to pies? Fries and pies. And so we're excited about that as well. So we're hitting most of our, or all of our campus community in whatever capacity that they're going to give during Rebels Give, and so we're super thrilled and excited about it.

0:24:51
And could you just maybe just reinforce to our listeners the importance of giving and no gift is too small?

0:24:59
Yes, any size to any area on campus really makes an impact. So whether you give during Rebels Give on April 5th and 6th, or if you give tomorrow. Every gift throughout the year makes a huge impact on UNLV, our students, alumni, and the community overall.

0:25:27
And then we'll get you out of here on this, on the last question. I'll give you the last word, and this is for each of you to maybe speak separately, but could you share anything that you wish we had asked that you would want our listeners to know about the foundation or giving or just any initiatives that are underway?

0:25:48
I think really the two days are to really educate the entire community about the culture of philanthropy and how they can make a difference themselves. So giving during Rebels Give is a huge excitement for the Rebel community. And so wear your Rebel Red, make a gift on rebelsgive.unlv.edu, and then share the messages during those days to get your community to give to UNLV as well.

0:26:20
And then also just going back to that top tier 2.0 initiative for the university and our slogan, Rebels Make It Happen. And so your gift, no matter the size, can help truly our Rebels make it happen and continue to make it happen. So don't forget, yeah, to make your gift and spread the word.

0:26:40
All right, Renee, what were some of your takeaways from? Well, really there's just no excuse because,

0:26:47
you know, no gift is too small and, you know, each gift is impactful. I think it really shows an extension of care for students who came to the university and did not know that these kind of gifts were possible. To know that we're a community that we're caring and we're giving in this way to see these students meet their personal professional goals is always a great surprise for students to find out I was in a jam and UNLV came and helped me. I think it's also important to know that we are not in this alone. This can be a daunting task. You may think that you don't have the background as Ari or Megan, but they have thought about ways that you can have sample language and ways that you can be an ambassador, as well as they've built in the recognition so that you can also feel like a sense of accomplishment. And so really it's just a willingness to be a part of this So I'm excited I I intend to give and I'm going to certainly encourage others because there's a lot of great stories to tell and I think that You know donors and and others will be inspired by the stories. They hear they'll be excited to give what about you?

0:27:55
I think I heard that you're gonna do a tick-tock video That can be part of the library, the library, the menu of downloads. But I think the same thing you said, though, Renee, is that is the importance is to give. You know, you can give your time, you can give your treasures, but no. I mean, any amount of time is precious and that any gifts can be used to support students and other high priority causes. And the other part that was informative to me was just the Rebel Raiser program, just that crowdfunding initiative to be able to support students, fundraising to help support different activities and ambitions that they have in their RSOs or in other capacities. So I think certainly Aria and Megan for joining us today to just share and educate us and I hope that we significantly exceed that goal of $800,000 and 2,000 unique

0:28:56
gifts. For more Let's Talk UNLV be sure to follow us on social media where you can get the latest updates on the show plus great behind the scenes content. We're on Facebook at Let's updates on the show plus great behind the scenes content. We're on Facebook at Let's Talk UNLV Podcast, Twitter at Let's Talk UNLV and Instagram at Let's Talk UNLV Pod.

Transcribed with Cockatoo