Team Northwest campaign encourages employees to give back_Northwest Missouri State University[노스웨스트미주리주립대학교,미국대학장학금]

Team Northwest campaign encourages employees to give back_

Northwest Missouri State University[노스웨스트미주리주립대학교,미국대학장학금]

White pennants with the words “TEAM NORTHWEST” are beginning to appear on office doors and windows throughout the Northwest Missouri State University campus. Now in their second year, the pennants are a symbol of not just school spirit, but faculty and staff support of University scholarships and programs.

Northwest’s Office of University Advancement recently launched the faculty and staff annual giving campaign, which encourages all Northwest employees to support areas of the University they are passionate about through monetary gifts. The campaign is designed to raise awareness throughout the campus community of the importance private support plays in Northwest and its students’ success.

Team Northwest pennant

Employee participation in the faculty and staff annual giving campaign enhances Northwest’s profile in the eyes of prospective donors and funding foundations. As an added incentive, all employees who give to the campaign receive the Team Northwest pennant.

Gabrielle Hawkins, Northwest’s annual giving and donor relations specialist, says all gifts are valued, no matter the amount. 

“It’s all about participation,” Hawkins said. “We know it is sometimes hard to talk to our employees about giving. By changing the conversation about giving to emphasize participation, not the amount, we can be more successful and unified with our support.”

Employees are invited to designate gifts to any area at Northwest, such as their academic department or a specific scholarship, or donate to the Northwest Fund, which directs funds to the greatest needed areas on campus. New this year, employees also have the option of supporting Northwest’s Pay it Forward Food Pantry.

Additionally, 24 faculty and staff members – who represent academic, administrative and athletics offices – have been appointed Team Northwest ambassadors and are working to help increase participation in the campaign.

Edward Gibson, Northwest’s coordinator for diversity and inclusion, is a Team Northwest ambassador and says he participates in the annual giving campaign because he is passionate about the University’s positive momentum and wants to be part of the unified movement to ensure its students and programs are successful.

“Northwest consistently works hard to prove the people who work for this University matter,” Gibson said. “I believe in Northwest, and I am a firm believer that you have to be the change you want to see. I love the fact that the campaign is focused on participation and not just the amount I give because it shows that I am valued by my personhood.”

Employees may learn more or submit gifts through a payroll deduction, check or credit card by visiting nwmissouri.edu/TeamNorthwest/, or by calling 660.562.1248. Any gift the Northwest Foundation receives between July 1, 2016, and June 30, 2017, will be counted within the current annual giving campaign.

The Northwest Foundation, a 501(c) 3 not-for-profit corporation, is responsible for receiving, investing, stewarding and disbursing private support on behalf of the donors of Northwest Missouri State University for the benefit of the University, its students, faculty, staff and alumni. The Northwest Foundation, governed by a 33-member volunteer board of directors, is staffed by members of Northwest's Office of University Advancement.

The Northwest Foundation recently announced it secured $7.4 million in donor funding during the 2016 fiscal year, which included nearly $6.1 million in cash contributions – the highest level received by the Foundation in any given year – and exceeded the organization’s goal for the year by more than $1.4 million. Giving by Northwest faculty and staff increased by more than 30 percent, representing the highest percentage in the institution’s history and placing it among the top 75 percent of all master’s-granting institutions.