Eastern will join thousands of organizations that participate in the global philanthropy campaign #GivingTuesday by encouraging Alumni to donate money as well as promote students, faculty and staff members’ experiences on social media platforms.

Josh Reinhart, director of the annual fund, said that this would be the first time Eastern will participate in the campaign that was established five years ago.

“EIU has a very broad base of friends and donors that would be enthuiastic about supporting EIU through Giving Tuesday so we thought it was a perfect time to participate,” Reinhart said.

Besides donating money to the university, anyone can share their experiences by writing posts about their time at Eastern with the hashtag GivingTuesdayEIU.

The primary social media platform will be Facebook but people can still participate by sharing and using the hashtag on Instagram and Twitter.

The main Facebook pages include the official Eastern Illinois University page and the Eastern Illinois University Alumni Association page.

“One of the ways we think Giving Tuesday will be successful is participations of our students, alumni, our friends and information and positive stories about EIU to sort of reinforce the reputation Eastern already has,” Reinhart said.

The department of University Marketing and Creative Services have created graphics and media that can be shared on social media as well.

Reinhart said one way to assess if the campaign is a success is by checking the number of participants, shares, likes and comments on the Facebook pages.

“I think one of the opportunities Giving Tuesday will give Eastern Illinois and everyone it touches is a chance to share how Eastern has impacted their lives in a positive way whether it’s a current student, an alumni or perhaps a friend from the institution,” Reinhart said. “One thing we are sure of is that there are hundreds of wonderful stories available about how great an institution EIU is.”

The campaign will serve as a marketing tool to express the quality of the classes, different programs and services people have used on campus.

“In the Eastern community we are very aware of the wonderful programs and services we have and the education our students get,” Reinhart said. “It’s certainly a way to market what we do to a larger audience to also share the information that is not well-known.”

The organizers include staff members from Alumni services, development team, and the marketing and communication department.

Tuesday morning there will be a surprise announcement shared on Eastern’s official Facebook pages that will help encourage members to contribute to the campaign according to an email President David Glassman shared.

“We are optimistic about it because EIU has many good things happening in every department around the campus,” Reinhart said. “We hope people latch on to the campaign to share it.”

Kalyn Hayslett can be reached at 581-2812 or kehayslett@eiu.edu.