Now in its sixth year, One Day for UK is a celebration of the University of Kentucky. For 24 hours, alumni, friends, faculty, staff and fans are encouraged to support their favorite UK college, unit or cause and to spread the word about UK on social media. It is an opportunity to promote UK pride and benefit students, faculty, research, programs and initiatives across campus.
This toolkit provides a variety of resources for those wishing to participate in One Day for UK. To participate in One Day for UK, a representative from your unit must complete the forms below by their respective deadlines.
Once your unit has confirmed its desire to participate in One Day for UK, please utilize the following resources. Below is a timeline with brief descriptions of what the Office of Philanthropy is doing centrally, a suggested timeline with deadlines for participating units and a glossary of resources and guidelines.
Follow and tag the official University of Kentucky and UK Philanthropy accounts for all the giving day updates you need. Links to those social media pages are listed at the top right of this toolkit.
Important notes for One Day for UK 2024
Once again, our focus this year is to maximize the number of donors who participate in One Day for UK. Only donor gifts made on One Day for UK or made with a One Day for UK 2024 solicitation code will be counted. Pledge payments and corporate gifts will not be counted.
Counting for One Day for UK will begin once the checkbox on the UK Network for Good site goes live on March 18. Web gift counting will end at midnight on April 19, and mail gift counting will end on April 30. Payroll deduction gifts made in March and April will count toward the total. The final donor and dollar counts will be shared by or on May 10.
Required to Participate:
February 9 – Submit Fund Selection(s) Form.
- Notifies the Office of Philanthropy of a participating unit and their chosen fund(s).
March 1 – Submit Text and Photo Form.
- Allows the Office of Philanthropy time to begin updating and building pages.
Philanthropy Timeline:
This timeline will be updated on a continuous basis.
| Date | Communications type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 3/18 | Web | NFG Page updated to include One Day for UK checkbox |
| 3/21 | Social Media | One Day is four weeks away |
| 3/21 | Save the Date - All Alumni + Past One for UK Donors | |
| 3/27 | Annual Giving solicitation mailer goes to post office
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| 3/28 | 3 weeks out - BBNfluencer Solicitation | |
| 3/31 | Phonathon | Resume donor calling |
| 4/2 | Social Media | BBNfluencer sign up |
| 4/3 | Annual Giving save-the-date postcard goes to post office
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| 4/8 | Social Media | 10 day impact |
| 4/11 | 1 week out - video - All Alumni + Past Donors | |
| 4/11 | Texting | 1 week out - BBNfluencer Solicitation |
| 4/11 | Social Media | 1 week - video |
| 4/15 | Social Media | 3 day impact |
| 4/15 | Swag | One Day for UK yard sign distribution will happen between 5 and 3 days in advance |
| 4/16 | Social Media | Facebook Likes Challenge |
| 4/16 | Challenge Kickoff - All Alumni + Past Donors | |
| 4/17 | Social Media | Tomorrow! |
| 4/17 |
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| 4/18 |
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| 4/18 | Texting | One Day for UK is TODAY! |
| 4/18 | Social Media |
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| 4/19 | Social Media |
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| 4/19 | Thank You | |
| 5/10 | Final Total Thank You (on or before this date) |
Unit Timeline:
Hard Deadlines
February 9 – Submit Fund Selection(s) Form.
- Notifies the Office of Philanthropy of a participating unit and their chosen fund(s).
February 23 (optional) - Submit Unit Specific Mail/Email form
- For units sending their own mailer or email. This form does not require dates or audiences--it only notifies Annual Giving to reach out.
March 1 – Submit Text and Photo Form.
- Allows the Office of Philanthropy time to begin updating and building pages.
March 29 (optional) – Submit Matching Gift form.
- Gift or gift agreement must be submitted to UK Gifts Receiving Office.
Full Timeline
January
Key Dates:
- January 18 –Q&A Session on Direct Mail
Important notes:
- Determine fund(s) for One Day for UK.
- Begin working on a matching gift(s)
- Begin thinking about a photo and text for your One Day for UK page on the Gravyty website.
- Begin thinking about sending a mailer. This is optional. Mailer projects typically take 4-6 weeks to complete.
February
Key Dates:
- February 7 – Q&A on Email
- February 9 – Fund Selection(s) Form due
- February 20 – Q&A on BBNfluencers
- February 23 – Unit Specific Mail/Email form due
Important notes:
- Determine if your unit is going to send a mailer. If so, reach out to vendor for quote and production timeline.
- Submit data requests at least 15 business days before it’s due to the printer, preferably 20 business days in advance to allow for edits if needed.
- Determine if your unit is going to send email(s). If your unit has the bandwidth, unit specific emails are highly recommended.
- Continue work on securing matching gift(s).
- Begin work on BBNfluencer recruitment plan.
- Begin working on social media plan.
- Finalize text and photo for Gravyty site.
March
Key dates:
- March 1 – Photo and Text form due for Gravyty site
- March 5 – Q&A on Social Media
- March 20 – Begin posting on social media
- March 25 – Units can begin to send unit-specific emails
- March 29 – Matching Gift Form due
Important notes:
- Finalize mailer with print vendor. Mailers with reply cards should be sent in March. Do not mail mailers prior to 3/20 to allow the Office of Philanthropy to send its initial communication first
- Finalize email plans. Units can send up to two unit-specific emails between March 25 – April 5 and April 12-16. Emails to alumni and donors must be sent through the UK Alumni Association by completing this form. All email requests must be submitted five days prior to the requested send date and include all materials such as text, images, links and data
- Unit specific emails can be sent after March 25
- Finalize social media plan
- Begin recruiting BBNfluencers
- Begin work on stewardship plans
- Finalize matching gift details (due by 3/29)
April
Key Dates:
- April 5 – Last day to send solicitation mailers
- April 5 – Central's unit-specific April 18 email details sent to Kel Hahn
- April 12 – Email request forms due to UK Alumni Association for April 19 thank you email
- April 18 – One Day for UK
Important notes:
- Post on social media
- Ensure mailer is sent
- Send unit-specific April 18 email details to Kel Hahn
- Save-the-date mailers should go no earlier than March 31 and no later than April 9
- Send emails
- Think about challenges your unit might want to focus on
- Finalize stewardship plans
May
Key dates:
- May 10 – Central finalizes numbers for announcements and final posts
Important notes:
- Thank you post on social media and/or send thank you email with your unit totals.
Resources
BBNfluencers
- Click here to see the complete BBNfluencer Guidebook, including a timeline, example emails, helpful tips, and more!
- BBNfluencers are our online ambassadors for One Day for UK. They help us spread the word and motivate others to get involved. Once a BBNfluencer signs up to participate, they receive a verification email, access to digital resources through the onedayforuk.com site, and they can choose affiliations with the unit/cause/area they want to promote.
- Have a completed list of your target BBNfluencers – past BBNfluencers, engaged fans and alumni, employees, donors, celebrities.
- Send personal invitations to your BBNfluencers asking them to represent your college – phone call, email, handwritten note.
- Include information about One Day for UK and how to become a BBNfluencer in your social media posts, monthly newsletter, e-blast, etc. in the month leading up to One Day for UK.
- Ensure your BBNfluencers have the resources they need for success – we have created this guide to help participants understand what it means to be a BBNfluencer and walk them through the signup process.
- We have also created this guide to give BBNfluencers inspiration and ideas for posting social media content.
- Reach out to BBNfluencers via email about how they can help promote your college/program and any fund you want them to focus on.
- Send personal thank-yous out to your BBNfluencers after One Day for UK – phone call, email, handwritten note (hint: try including a coaster, sticker, etc. in notes to large contributors)
Challenges
Challenges are fun ways for your community members to multiply your impact. Focus on the ones that you want to promote to your supporters and include it in your email, mail and social media posts. You can find this year's challenges here.
Digital Assets - Linkblue email needed to log in!
Digital Signage & Flyers
See last year's graphics for inspiration below, and check back soon for updated graphics.
Logos
Below are downloadable logos to use on your social media, in emails, publications and other communication vehicles.
Videos
All official One Day for UK videos will be housed on the UK YouTube site. Download these videos and video assets to share on your social media sites.
- View all email guidelines here
- Email is best utilized to bring awareness to your campaign. It is not as expensive or time-intensive as a mailing but usually has a lower yield
Engagement/Swag
- Promote opportunities for engagement hosted by UK Philanthropy
- Plan your own engagement opportunity through a virtual or in-person event
- Send or hand out One Day for UK swag using the logos in the toolkit
Faculty/Staff
- Let the faculty and staff in your area know that One Day for UK is coming
- Highlight leadership who are passionate and make gifts
- Share what philanthropy accomplishes in your area (give some very specific numbers)
- Encourage faculty and staff to participate in One Day for UK by becoming a BBNfluencer, making a gift, signing up for a payroll deduction gift, or sharing about the day on social media
- Recognize the faculty and staff who make gifts
- View all mail guidelines here
- Allow at least one month for planning and execution of mailings. Mail solicitations can be expensive and time-intensive, but they can yield a much greater return than email
- Need inspiration? Check out these examples and add your own twist to make it fit your college or department
Matching Gifts
A matching campaign is one where a donor has pledged to give a significant financial contribution to the charity to “match” all donations from other supporters within a certain timeframe, up to their pledged amount. Matches are important because they create urgency to donate on One Day for UK.
- Securing a matching gift from a donor usually takes months but is the most effective way to raise money on One Day for UK
- Matching gifts must be booked (either cash in hand or agreement on file with Gift Receiving) by March 29. Please notify Annual Giving and Gifts Receiving of your matching gift by completing the matching gift form
- Once your match is secured, tell your community that their dollars are matched on One Day for UK!
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Hashtags and Accounts
Be sure to use #OneDayforUK in all your social media posts. Follow and tag the official accounts below for all the giving day updates you need! Links to those social media pages are listed at the top right of this toolkit.
/universityofky
/ukphilanthropy
Images
Want to customize your unit’s profile picture or cover photo for the big day? View last year's templates below and be sure to check back here soon for updated graphics. Feel free to use the stock images as needed and reach out to our Communications staff if you need help!
Guidelines
Review a list of frequently asked questions and guidelines to help make the most of your unit’s social media channel on #OneDayforUK.
Stewardship
- View all stewardship guidelines here.
- After the day it is important to thank your donors as well as show impact of their gift before the next One Day for UK.
- Central Philanthropy will be thanking all alumni, donors, faculty and staff on the day after giving day. They will thank all 2024 One Day for UK donors tentatively on the Wednesday following the reveal of the final giving day numbers.
- As a unit you need to thank your alumni, donors, and faculty and staff the day after as well. You can do this using social media. There are thank you images within the unit toolkit you can utilize. You can also use the thank you images for thank you emails and thank you postcards. Please thank your donors in the method you feel is best.
- Annual Giving will reach out to request a primary contact for reporting online gifts received throughout the day on April 18. These reports are customizable and can be scheduled at the frequency that you request. DDNs from the day will also provide donor information. Annual Giving will provide each unit with a complete list of all donations after all offline gifts have been counted.
- Be sure to send a personal thank-you to any BBNfluencers who selected your unit as their affiliation. Annual Giving will provide a list of all BBNfluencers for your unit.
- Regarding faculty and staff donors, please thank them in a direct manner – a thank you email, a thank you note or thank you call. Please do not thank them in a way that identifies them as giving and others as not.
- Click here for past examples.