Giving a little means a lot for staff member

Some on campus view getting asked to help with the state and university Employees Combined Campaign (SECC) with the same enthusiasm as having a root canal. But many others, such as Roberta Mecum, relish the chance to give something back to her community.

“One thing I’ve always liked about the campaign is that it offers you information about a variety of ways to give and the opportunity to donate to whatever is most important to you: helping children, protecting the environment, helping fight disease,” says Mecum, cash management director for the Wisconsin Union. “Sometimes you can target very specific programs: saving polar bears, replanting trees in New Orleans, funding research that actually benefits some UW departments as well.”

Mecum’s first involvement with the SECC was less than epic.

“When I first worked with the campaign in 1983, we were the worst on campus!” she recalls. “So we had to do something about it. The biggest problem with the UW campaign was that it was starting in September along with the rest of the state workers. On campus, people are too busy to get involved in the campaign then. So we convinced them to move the start to October. I think it helped; the next year in fall 1984 was the first year that the entire state campaign ever made $1 million.”

The following year, Mecum was asked to join the campus SECC board and took over training to help people develop the skills to make their campaigns succeed.

“I would start with ‘why do people give money?’ Because they are asked. We encourage the SECC volunteers to ask people face to face. We also urge them to have fun, to have friendly competitions, to award prizes. We emphasize ensuring that every person understood that they can help fix problems in our communities as well as elsewhere, and be part of something big even by making small contributions,” she says.

That the chancellor, deans and directors support the campaign,allowing employees to work on the campaign, is key, she adds.

“It takes that top-down commitment. The Union has always been very supportive, letting me spend time. You can tell when a department gets that backing from above.”

Colleagues who have worked with Mecum praise her commitment to helping the program continue to grow.

“Over the years Roberta’s efforts on behalf of the Partners in Giving (SECC) campaign have contributed significantly to its success and have made our community and the world a better place,” says Greg Zalesak, administrator in the School of Medicine and Public Health’s neurological surgery department and long-time SECC volunteer and coordinator. “We very much appreciate her dedication, her enthusiasm and the many hours that she has given to the campaign and to training hundreds of campaign volunteers.”

Though Mecum has received numerous awards for her SECC contributions, that isn’t why she does it.

“This has been so satisfying, being part of something that’s bigger than me, like my job at the Union, really. After spending more than 25 years working on campaign, it’s like sending off a child into the world. You want it to continue to succeed once you’re no longer nurturing it.”

This fall’s SECC campaign will be Mecum’s last. She will retire from the Wisconsin Union payroll office in February after 35 years.

Online giving option expands employee charitable effort

The public employees who make up the Partners in Giving charitable campaign have a new tool this year, an online giving option to simplify donating and helping the causes they cherish most.

First launched in 1973 as the State Employees Combined Campaign, Partners in Giving has raised more than $50.4 million for charitable causes, bringing together state, UW and UW Hospital and Clinics employees based in Dane County. With more than 9,300 employees giving nearly $2.94 million last year, organizers hope to top a record $3 million mark in 2008.

“Our theme this year is ‘Give a little. Change a lot,’ which embodies the spirit of workplace giving,” says Phyllis Fuller, senior policy analyst with the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families and co-chair of the campaign board.

The campaign, which runs through Nov. 28, features 475 charitable organizations under 12 umbrella groups. Employees can direct donations to a number of causes or simply request a gift be distributed evenly.

Donations can be made in a single lump sum or, more popularly, spread out over a year through payroll deduction or standing credit card payments.

The new online giving option offers employees a simplified process through credit card. All previous options of cash, check and payroll deduction continue through the paper pledge form employees will recognize from past years.

The charitable groups represented in the campaign cross a broad spectrum that includes local, state, national and international, as well as a broad variety of interest areas.

Information and campaign materials are available at Partners in Giving.