At the University of Florida, there's a popular cheer at athletic events - particularly football games - that ends with "C'mon Gators, Get Up And Go!" This fall, the University of Florida Foundation and The Florida Fund tried to capitalize on this and create urgency for their fundraising efforts via a "Get Up & Give" campaign. It was a creative attempt at encouraging annual giving at a large public institution, where urgency is often lacking in appeals. Jenn Keyes, director of The Florida Fund, was kind enough to share some of the details about the campaign:

1) What was the genesis of the campaign? In August of 2010, the University of Florida and the University of Florida Foundation began working on a campaign dedicated to educating the University of Florida’s young alumni about the importance and power of private support, and to create an environment at UF in which philanthropic support is an innate part of what it means to be a Gator. The intent is to make it an annual event, steadily creating an environment in which giving back to UF will become second nature for alumni. The Florida Fund, UF Foundation’s annual giving department, partnered with the UF Foundation Publications and University Relations department to create what eventually became “C’mon Gators, Get Up and Give!” While a tremendous sense of Gator pride and spirit is evident among current students and alumni of all generations, not so evident is their awareness of the university as a philanthropic cause. We determined that we needed to find an effective way to evoke Gator spirit, couple it with philanthropic spirit, and direct it toward the University.

2) What were the challenges? Our challenges were identifying and/or verifying current perceptions of philanthropy, obstacles to understanding and giving, expectations, and opportunities. Focus groups were conducted involving students, very recent graduates and not-so-recent graduates who were interested and engaged, but who were not necessarily donors. With their assistance, we formulated a clearer picture of the extent to which student and young alumni are aware of philanthropy in general and the University’s need for private support in particular. We verified that young alumni are aware of the need for philanthropy. The spirit of philanthropy can be seen on campus nearly every day, as students are involved in community service activities with sororities, fraternities and numerous other student groups on campus. We also verified a number of obstacles that we had been addressing for years, which were that they had already “contributed” by paying tuition; the impression that $25 isn’t significant enough to make any difference; the belief that the state supports the university more than it does.

3) What surprised you about the campaign? At first, we were surprised how well the campaign circulated on Facebook. Many of our alumni and friends answered the call to help spread the word about Get Up and Give by changing their profile picture to the campaign’s logo and also posting the message on their newsfeed. Initially, we were afraid this would be a lot to ask of people, but once the campaign launched we realized we were asking our audience to do something they were very comfortable doing. They understood how powerful viral messaging can be. They believed what we were asking of them was not just a good use of their time, but also supporting a worthy cause.

4) What were the results? Perhaps one of the greatest results from the campaign was the collaboration and coordination of The Gator Nation. Alumni clubs, colleges, units, friends, students….they all came together to support and promote the Get Up and Give message. With that, we were able to market the campaign to over 700,000 constituents. That week alone we secured over 703 pledges and gifts for Get Up and Give.

5) How did you use different channels/media? The campaign was promoted primarily through Facebook and relied heavily on alumni and friends to help spread the word. We also had a specific donation site created to meet the needs of our young alumni with quick and simple transaction processing. Website:

6) What were the costs? Since multiple departments were involved, I don’t have this exact number but I am working on it!

7) Will you do it again and, if so, what changes do you think you’ll make? Absolutely, we hope that Get Up and Give becomes a long-standing tradition at UF. Feedback indicates that the logo has been enthusiastically accepted by the UF public as an official symbol of The Gator Nation. Distribution of materials began in October 2011 and are continuing to be used to help spread the message about private support. In the future we will rely more heavily on peer to peer solicitations to help spread the word!