Helping college students learn about United Way and careers in marketing

Mar. 9, 2010 -- Last Tuesday, I had the opportunity to speak with college students at UC Davis’ Career Speed Dating event. More than 300 students and alumni attended the event and 45 professionals in the fields of journalism, communication, and marketing participated. If you can imagine sitting at a table, waiting to see if anyone is going to be interested in United Way or my career, it can be very nerve-racking. Fortunately, I lucked out and had a full table during each round!

I’ve participated in several career events at UC Davis and have always enjoyed them. It’s the perfect opportunity to talk about United Way while also helping students explore the world of marketing and event planning, and encouraging them to pursue internships. It’s always interesting when you ask students what they know about United Way and then explain to them what our local United Way actually does. You can visibly see the light bulb go off when it clicks what United Way is all about. This is the part I enjoy most- being an ambassador for United Way and the field of nonprofit marketing and event planning.

I wish this year's college graduates the best of luck!

Check out this Sacramento Bee article about the event.

LIVE UNITED rolls out again

Jan. 20, 2010 -- We recently held our marketing department planning meeting, and as we talked about this year’s LIVE UNITED toilet paper drive, I couldn’t help but get excited about the new goals and ideas we came up with for this year’s event. There is a lot to live up to! LIVE UNITED week was a huge success last year considering we planned seven days of never-been-done-before-activities at our local United Way.

We rallied 315 volunteers, added 500 members to our Facebook Cause page, and collected and dispersed more than 35,000 rolls of toilet paper -- all to help our certified nonprofit agencies save some valuable budget money.

Did I mention our flash mob video has been watched by more than 7,500 people on You Tube? What an incredible week to build upon! Will there be one flash mob or two? Will we dance or will we sing? Will we build a giant statue out of TP? The possibilities are endless and so is our enthusiasm for collecting toilet paper for our local nonprofits so that they can spend money on deserving programs rather than a basic necessity. Stay tuned for a list of LIVE UNITED week activities. It’s going to be a great week!

Foster the Future event: New format, new venue, great success!

Oct. 20, 2009 -- Our United Way hosted “Foster the Future: An Evening with United Way’s Women in Philanthropy” at the Citizen Hotel in downtown Sacramento last week. The event not only benefits foster youth in our area, but it also creates awareness about some of the challenges our foster youth face every day.

We changed the format from a luncheon to an evening cocktail event, which seemed a little risky at times. We were challenged by the event details, even up until minutes before the event guests showed up.With only an hour to turn the room from the previous event, our staff and vendors pulled together and transformed the room setting up colorful linens, a bar inside a bird cage, and more than 45 items for the silent auction. But it worked.

As guests arrived, you could feel the positive energy that comes with a new and different event. Guests enjoyed fresh sangria, delicious food and desserts, a jazz trio from El Camino High School, and a silent auction filled with items ranging from artwork to gym memberships. Considering it was our first time putting together a silent auction, we were very excited with the outcome at the end of the evening- the auction raised more than $6,000! A big thank you to everyone who worked on getting silent auction donations and to our fantastic vendors that exceeded our expectations!

Energetic events are already over

Sept. 17, 2009 -- It’s difficult to believe that after months of planning meetings, e-mails and phone calls, our annual kick-off events are already over. Last week was a whirlwind of activity! On Thursday, we took over the west steps of the State Capitol, hosting an agency fair with more than 130 local nonprofits to kick off the California State Employees Charitable Campaign. Despite the heat, everyone had a great time visiting the nonprofit booths, dancing to music from the Nitty Gritty CalPERS band and eating delicious lunches provided by Gold Rush Grille.

After Thursday’s event, we headed over to the Convention Center to set up for United Way’s Campaign Kick-Off breakfast that would take place the following morning. The kick-off event was a huge success! Scott Moak, the Sacramento Kings PA announcer, was a terrific emcee who brought great energy to the morning’s festivities.

We played a video message from Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson that acknowledged the achievements of our LIVE UNITED launch week volunteers and encouraged guests to get involved with Volunteer Sacramento. We also heard from several volunteers, CEOs, and agency representatives about how they personally LIVE UNITED before we ended the event with an entertaining performance from the El Camino High School choir.

As I reflect on the success of last week’s events, I’m reminded about the importance of organizing events where guests have the opportunity to learn about local nonprofits and the impact they are making on our community. Yes, events are fun, entertaining and give people the chance to network, but it is my hope that people come to our events and walk away with volunteer project ideas, an urgency to fill out their pledge form, or a nonprofit’s contact information to pass on to a friend, family member or colleague in need.

Allison Fuller is the Marketing and Events Manager for United Way California Capital Region.