Every year, compassionate and enthusiastic University employees generously help our students fulfil their dreams. Participation in the Employee Giving program has grown by leaps and bounds since the program’s beginnings seven years ago. It supports a variety of funds, which gives donors opportunities to contribute to a wide range of causes. We can be proud of this year’s results: a fantastic team of 116 volunteers helped encourage over 1400 employees to donate.
Spicing things up at the office
Fundraising is a great excuse to break away from the office routine and have fun with your colleagues. After all, it’s for a good cause. To increase participation within their teams, many decided to issue challenges: some promised to get tattoos, wear an Iron Man or Darth Vader costume, work from the kitchen or even wash floors! Others took a decidedly sweeter approach: they tempted colleagues with various goodies, such as pizza, donuts, popcorn and other treats.
This year’s results
Overall participation by University employees reached 35% this year, with particularly noteworthy contributions from the following teams:
- Sports Services: With a 96% participation rate, this team was just shy of making it into the select group of teams with perfect scores (Development Office, International Office and Michaëlle Jean Centre for Global and Community Engagement)
- Information Technology: IT has earned the title of most improved team, thanks to a 39% increase from last year to reach a participation rate of 59%. Honorable mention goes to the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies team, whose rate nearly doubled, rising from 16% to 30% in one year.
- Faculty of Arts: This faculty gained the most participants in terms of absolute numbers, with 16 more individuals contributing this year
- Telfer School of Management: With a participation rate of 59%, Telfer earned the title of top faculty.
- The CO-OP Office: This team can boast the greatest increase in participation since the program’s founding in 2012, namely an increase of 63%. In this category, honourable mentions go out to Protection Services (+47%), Library Service (+30%) and Research (+29%)
Staff mobility, sports safety and a love of science
One of the interesting aspects of the Employee Giving program is its wide range of funds, which gives individuals a chance to contribute to a cause that really speaks to them. This year, a few new funds were especially popular: the International Office Fund for the Internationalization of University of Ottawa Administrative Staff Members, which supports employee professional development through international mobility; the Rowan Stringer Bursary, which aims to promote player safety and health, both on and off the field; and the Dr. R Jack Cornett Passion for Life and Science Award, created in memory of a dear colleague to reward a student who displays critical thinking, curiosity, a love of science, and a commitment to both work and personal pursuits.
François Chapleau and Pascal Wickert, who co-chaired this year’s Employee Giving campaign, were pleased with the support and generosity the program had inspired in the many employees for whom student success is so important. Thank you to all those who helped make this year’s campaign better than ever. Clearly, the University community is proud to contribute to improving the student experience here on campus, and we salute your dedication.