Ball State’s One Ball State Day 2022 (OBSD) will be April 5. This day is about our great University and the people who make this place so special! Alumni, students, faculty, staff, and friends of Ball State are welcome and encouraged to show their Cardinal pride and make a gift to the area that means the most to them.
Social Media Ambassadors championed last year’s OBSD by spreading the word. Our giving day platform gives each ambassador their unique link to the OBSD website. This link allows ambassadors to track how much they’ve raised. The website also offers toolkits and tips to promote the event and boost participation. Anyone can sign up to be a Social Media Ambassador, including employees, students, alumni, and friends of the University.
Betsy Mills was one of the top five leading ambassadors for OBSD in 2021. Betsy earned her undergraduate degree in 2008 and her master’s from Ball State in 2010. When asked what OBSD means to her, Betsy said, “One Ball State Day is a day where every single alum of Ball State can give back in a directed, intentional way. I love the competitive aspect of the fundraising and the competition—all in good fun to support our alma mater. The Alumni Association and Foundation have done a brilliant job in engineering a fundraising day in which many want to participate, because it’s fun to observe the stretch goals being met.”
Betsy highly recommends ambassadorship to her fellow Cardinals, “it’s a ton of fun to serve as an ambassador—you get to advocate for your alma mater amongst your friends and colleagues.” On her aspirations for this year and her status as a leading ambassador, Betsy said, “I was so excited to be a top five One Ball State Day ambassador in 2021. My team and I worked hard to raise money in several areas—a new Department of Communication Studies scholarship and our Ball State Young Alumni Council scholarship. Our goals are even bigger this year!”
Betsy recommends alumni find a chapter close to their location for the event. “These groups are a ton of fun,” she said. “I’ve spent a lot of time with the Indy Chapter. I’d also advise fellow alumni to read the emails from the Alumni Association. They offer a lot of great information and invitations to programming that helps connect alumni.”
Ambassador Key Data Points:
- For OBSD 2021, ambassadors were responsible for 2,903 gifts amounting to $120,593; that’s 21% of all giving. Their secret weapon? Direct link and email were their primary means of collecting.
- Historically, 72 ambassadors raised $3,000 in 2019. Then, 216 ambassadors answered the call in 2020 to raise $43,000.
- Across all platforms, there were 3,448 uses of our hashtag #OneBallState, with a total estimated reach of 8.3 million.
This year, plan to participate by giving, volunteering as an ambassador, or promoting this day of action!