The UW-Platteville Foundation will host Student Giving Days Wednesday, May 4, through Friday, May 6, to help raise awareness of the foundation and the role it plays on campus.

“We want to get the foundation’s name out there,” senior business major Natalie Bussan said.

“Giving back to the University should be a priority. Much of what we have on campus would not be possible without alumni support.”

The fundraising event will kick off on Wednesday, May 4, with an outdoor carnival in the yard between Ottensman Hall, the Markee Pioneer Student Center and the Pioneer Activity Center. Free games will include a bean bag toss, ladder golf and bucket pong. Participants will have the chance to win giveaways as well.

Student Giving Days will also include a table in the MPSC Heritage Hall where students can donate to the foundation raffle for a chance to win one of two $500 scholarships. A $5 donation will earn one raffle entry, and a $20 donation will earn five entries and a t-shirt, plus other giveaways. The residence hall that donates the most will win an ice cream social.

“We want all students to give, and the competition for the residence halls is an incentive,” sophomore business major Sara Larson said.

The money raised from the raffle will go back into the foundation to fund the same raffle and scholarship prizes for next year. Bussan said 80 percent of foundation funds are scholarships.

The foundation also raises money for technology upgrades and building improvements on campus. Past funding successes include embryos for the Pioneer Farm, the gazebo at Dottie John’s Pioneer Gardens, renovation of the Boebel Hall basement, the Pioneer Activity Center William’s Fieldhouse addition and playground equipment at the Children’s Center.

The foundation is funded by alumni and business grants. Bussan said that approximately 26 percent of alumni give back to UW-P, one of the highest rates in the UW System.

Students can get involved in the foundation by donating and working in the Fall and Spring Phone-A-Thons, which are paid student positions.

Student Giving Days is a new event for the foundation. Former efforts focused on senior giving.

Giving Days came out of the motivation to get current students involved in foundation support and their own role in supporting the campus.

Student Giving Days will run between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. each day.