First Ever My Choose To Give Campaign a Success

PROVO, Utah – Apr 21, 2015 – The Marriott School of Management successfully launched its student-run and student-focused fundraising campaign, My Choose To Give, this past semester to help establish a spirit of giving. The week-long campaign resulted in students giving at three times the rate of current alumni donors. Thirty-six percent of donating students also committed to give the same amount on a recurring basis.

“The response of our students to the campaign was tremendous,” says Michael Thompson, associate dean. “The donations are wonderful, but even more important are the relationships being established between the students and the Marriott School.”

Throughout the week, Marriott School student council members set up booths in the atrium of the Tanner Building to walk students through the online donation process. Displays tracked the percentage of students from each department who pledged to donate to inspire some healthy competition between programs. The campaign was designed to make giving an enjoyable experience and to educate students about the impact they can make.

“If you can motivate current students to get involved and adopt the culture of giving back, then they’ll continue to give over the rest of their lifetime,” says Isaac Frekleton, a finance senior from Helotes, Texas, and student organizer of My C2G. “The key is to help students understand that they can help others experience the same educational opportunities.”

At a rally during the My C2G campaign, Dick Marriott, chairman of the board of Host Hotels & Resorts, spoke about how his father, J. Willard Marriott, worked hard and took help from others to achieve success before turning around and giving back.

Marriott used his father as an example to illustrate how students can provide the helping hand to future generations of students and that embracing the attitude of giving does not have to wait until graduation.

“When I drive up to BYU, I always look at the sign that says, Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve,” Marriott says. “The purpose of My C2G is to tell you that you don’t just have to go forth to serve, you can also serve right here at BYU.”

The Marriott School is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. The school has nationally recognized programs in accounting, business management, entrepreneurship, finance, information systems and public management. The school’s mission is to prepare men and women of faith, character and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled in the Marriott School’s graduate and undergraduate programs.