TAG Week asks UB community to think about giving

Getting students to think about their classes can be tough.

But getting them to Think. About. Giving?

That will be easier, thanks to TAG Week, four full days of activities throughout UB to remind us all how philanthropy has improved life on all three campuses.

During TAG Week Feb. 22-25, no one will be asked for money. Rather, the primary goal of TAG Week — held as part of National Student Engagement and Philanthropy Month — is to nudge students to notice the places and programs private giving has put in place at UB.

The most tangible examples of private giving are UB’s shiny new buildings that boast the best technology and brightest designs to date: Pharmacy’s Kapoor Hall on the South Campus and engineering’s Davis Hall on the North Campus each were funded primarily by a generous donor. The new medical school building, which continues to rise above the tree line at Main and High streets in the Downtown Campus, is garnering numerous contributions.

There also are research centers, like the Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention, established through the generosity of Jean Alberti, a 1970 UB graduate with a PhD in educational psychology.  A licensed clinical psychologist, Alberti gave to open the center after treating adult clients suffering the effects of being bullied as children.  

Then, there are the less-publicized targets for private giving: academic initiatives, equipment upgrades, research programs and emergency funding, such as the Students First Fund, which offers special assistance to dozens of UB students each year who face sudden hardships, such as illness, family members’ deaths, job loss or accidents, that could jeopardize their continuing to attend the university.  

These programs received much-needed funding from the $30.8 million that donors gave to UB during 2014-15. To thank them, TAG Week offers students a chance to write thank-yous and post videos on social media. But most of all, it teaches everyone about the need at UB, which receives fewer public dollars than ever before. Many people don’t realize that New York State now provides less than 22 percent of UB’s operating budget.    

Beginning Feb. 22, TAG Week activities will include:

• A student scholarship recipient breakfast.
• Social media contests (prizes are $20 Amazon gift cards).
• Students writing thank-you notes to donors.
• Students creating thank-you videos for donors.
• A donor appreciation party before a UB Bulls basketball game.
• A faculty-staff donor appreciation giveaway.

Throughout the week, 14 stations on the North and South campuses will be outfitted with tagged items to demonstrate what private gifts provide. The stations also will have props for visitors to use while taking photos to post on UB social media sites using the hashtag #UBTAGWEEK.

For more information, visit giving.buffalo.edu/tagweek.

UB faculty and staff members who have given to the university in the past fiscal year will receive pins to wear during TAG Week to signify them as donors. The UB faculty and staff giving campaign follows close on the heels of TAG Week, running from March 1 through April 8 and continuing the focus on the power of philanthropy to improve UB.