UC Davis recently won 18 awards for its work in marketing and communications, alumni relations, and development — including a grand gold for the grand finale to The Campaign for UC Davis.

The recognition came from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, or CASE, District VII, encompassing California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Hawaii, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

UC Davis came home with six gold, six silver and five bronze Awards of Excellence, plus the grand gold, from the District VII conference in March.

Shaun Keister, vice chancellor of Development and Alumni Relations, described the conference as a “major milestone for UC Davis,” noting how representatives from other universities stated that “UC Davis is a force to be reckoned with.”

Development and Alumni Relations also made a good showing on the conference speakers program, with 10 people from UC Davis talking about their expertise.

After raising $1.1 billion, The Campaign for UC Davis officially concluded last May with a bus tour of campus to show donors where their money was going, followed by a “campus-to-fork” dinner.

The finale earned a gold award as best single-day event and one of nine extra awards that CASE District VII gave out, calling them grand golds.

More than 80 students, staff, faculty and others organized the Campaign Finale and Impact Tour. They included Angela Joens, assistant vice chancellor, development outreach; Christine McGuire, senior director, development services, UC Davis Health System; Sheena Lennie, annual giving, health system; Meg Padovani, report developer; Sarah Colwell, senior manager, marketing and development communications; Audra Johnson, donor relations coordinator; and Jean Wigglesworth, event manager, Ceremonies and Special Events.

Other awards

Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing

• Two golds, a silver and a bronze for the “Remember” campaign, an effort to connect with the 1,800 alumni of the school’s nurse practitioner and physician assistant programs. The people behind the project: Jenny Carrick, senior director, communications and marketing; Sarah Mentze, director, donor relations and development, Caitlin McDermott, development coordinator; and Sallie Grace Tate, assistant dean, development.

College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

• Gold for Impact Reporting Program, freshly redesigned, showing how the money from endowments is being used. Staff members developed new survey practices to find better stories to tell, and saw both an increase in responses and in positive feedback from donors. The reports are managed by Mark Foncannon, director, development services.

College of Letters and Science

• Bronze for the Report on Philanthropy: The Campaign for UC Davis, recapping the significance of fundraising for the college. The people behind the project: Amanda Price, director, marketing and communications; the college’s development team; and Morissa Rubin, senior graphic designer.

Development and Advancement Services

• Silver for the Matching Fund for Student Support, a $1 million initiative created through personal gifts from the foundation’s board of trustees, emeriti trustees and campus leadership. The people behind the project included Paul Prokop, associate vice chancellor for development, school and unit programs; Janet Berry, senior director of development, student support; Jan Manzi, executive director, major gifts and special projects; Patrice Sweeney, director, donor relations; Sarah Colwell, senior manager, marketing and development communications; Courtney Miller, marketing and development communications coordinator; Russ Thebaud, senior graphic designer; Julia Ann Easley, senior public information representative; Louise Uota, director, Ceremonies and Special Events; Nebrisa Novello, program manager, donor relations; Kari Woodard, manager, UC Davis Foundation; Bruce Edwards, chair, UC Davis Foundation Board; and Rebecca Sterling, ASUCD president.
• Silver for the “Your Legacy is Our Future” planned giving campaign, featuring children in classic UC Davis settings to show donors whom their contributions would be helping in the future, when the children became students. The people behind the project: Brian Casey, executive director, planned giving; Angela Joens, assistant vice chancellor, development outreach; Sarah Colwell, senior manage, marketing and development communications; Russ Thebaud, senior graphic designer; and Karin Higgins and Gregory Urquiaga, photographers.
• Bronze for Reporting System Health Report, Backup and Recovery, allowing staff to see at a glance if the database of donors and gifts is having problems, and, if so, to quickly restore to a backed-up version. The people behind the project: Vivian Lam, Renuka Srinivasan and Jason Votaw, analysts; John Finazzo, assistant director, Advancement Information Services; Dawn Roarty, senior director, AIS; and Patrick Garvey, data architect.

Graduate School of Management

• Silver for Innovator online magazine, fresh off a mobile-focused redesign. The staff members who work on the magazine are Tim Akin, executive director, marketing and communications; Lindsay Hardy, director, Web marketing; and Marianne Skoczek, associate director, marketing and communications.
• Silver for Class Gift Campaign, overseen by Mary Maffly, director, development and alumni relations. The program, which seeks to introduce graduate business students to the importance of giving back, raised $33,000 in the 2013-14 academic year.
• Bronze for MBA student recruitment brochures, redone under Skoczek’s supervision. The brochures have been instrumental in raising the GSM’s profile and communicating the school’s strengths.

School of Education

• Gold for “Small Gifts, Big Promise,” the school’s first annual fund report. The people behind the project: Donna Justice, senior director, marketing and communications; Andrea Eliott, director, marketing and communications, Development and Alumni Relations; Steve Dana, designer, Academic Technology Services; and TJ Ushing, photographer, ATS.

School of Law

• Silver for recruitment video “Join the King Hall Community.” Pam Wu, director, marketing and public relations, wrote the script, directed the video and did the narration.

Strategic Communications

• Gold for an advertisement in the “One California, One UC Davis” campaign, the ad touting UC Davis’ role in improving sushi rice. The ad ran in area publications and appeared as a freeway billboard last year. It was developed with an outside vendor and produced by Strategic Communications’ Marketing and Creative units.
• Bronze for Gregory Urquiaga’s photo of Bean the dog giving a big lick to Stan Mark, one of the veterinarians involved in the dog’s treatment, which included removal of her larynx.

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