Tuesday, Dec. 3, is Giving Tuesday, the national movement to benefit nonprofits and other worthy causes during the holiday season. We’d like you to consider WKU Student Publications – and specifically the Student Publications Fellowship Fund.
One of the most effective and successful things we’ve done in the past few years at WKU Student Publications is launch our fellowship program. Through these fellowships, we put promising students into newsrooms and an agency for 10-12 weeks during the summer for internships that are tailored to help each student grow specific skills.
Our fellowships are 100 percent funded by alumni and friends of the College Heights Herald, the Talisman, Cherry Creative and Student Publications Advertising, along with our partner organizations. The fellowships award the students cash stipends equivalent to $350 for each week they’re working, and are issued at the beginning of the fellowship so they can cover their expenses. Because this is an educational experience, the stipends we issue through the Student Publications Fellowship Fund in the WKU Foundation go fully to the students. And your donations are tax-deductible.
The fellowships are exceptional experiences that help our students grow in many ways. For example, fellowships helped seven of our past eight Herald editors build the skills to successfully lead their newsroom.
In Summer 2020, the Student Publications Fellowship Fund will sponsor nine fellowships in outstanding organizations such as the Courier Journal, the Lexington Herald-Leader, the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting and Louisville Public Media, C2 Strategic Communications, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Charlotte Observer, the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer and the Bowling Green Daily News.
Since we launched the program in 2012 with a single fellowship in Owensboro, 42 Student Publications staffers have gained invaluable experience in those fellowships – which exist only because you, our alumni and friends, support them with your generosity.
If you did not give, they would not exist.
If you are so moved, our fellowship program could use your support to ensure it continues in 2020 and beyond.
To make a gift as part of our #GivingTuesday campaign, here’s what you do:
- Go to WKU.edu.
- Click on “Make a Gift” at the top of the page.
- In the search box at the bottom of the landing page, type in “Student Publications Fellowship Fund.” Pro tip: You can also donate to the Student Publications Legacy Fund or the Xposure Journalism Workshop, but don’t check the Student Publications Building Fund, since we’re not planning a new building anytime soon.
- Put a check mark by the fund you want to support.
- Click the gold button to the right and follow the instructions.
- If your employer matches your charitable giving, don’t forget to fill in that information. If you don’t know, provide the information and the philanthropy office will check for you.
Every dollar you put into the Student Publications Fellowship Fund is fully controlled by us here at Student Pubs. And we will use every penny of it to support — and, we hope, expand — this incredibly successful program.
Thank you for considering the Student Publications Fellowship Fund on Giving Tuesday, Dec. 3!