Tuesday, December 3, 2024
Students in a multidisciplinary social entrepreneurship class gather at the UNT CoLab to celebrate student developed crowdfunding campaigns.

Students in a multidisciplinary social entrepreneurship class gather at the UNT CoLab to celebrate student developed crowdfunding campaigns.

DENTON (UNT), Texas — The University of North Texas celebrated its third annual ‘Greensgiving’ event, raising $4,000 to support student-led crowdfunding campaigns for social causes.

Jeremy Short, a professor in the Department of Management and G. Brint Ryan College of Business’ endowed chair in entrepreneurship, and his students in the multidisciplinary social entrepreneurship class gathered to celebrate the crowdfunding campaigns. These campaigns, created by students, aim to support charitable organizations across the North Texas region.

“I’ve always envisioned this course helping UNT students integrate with the Denton community,” Short said. “The students are required to fundraise for a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and I encourage them to choose organizations local to Denton. I’m very flattered when I tell people about this course and they say, ‘Every college course should be like this one.’”

People attend an event hosted in an art gallery.
"Greensgiving" event at the UNT CoLab.

Each semester, students strive to raise more than $10,000 as a class. $9,000 has been raised so far this semester. To help reach this goal, they organize and host the annual Greensgiving event. The year’s celebration featured UNT mascot Scrappy, raffles, silent auctions, alumni sponsors Brad and Rena Douglass and live music from current UNT students and alumni.

“The Greensgiving event is an exciting combination of applied learning, business strategy and social impact,” said Marilyn Wiley, dean of the Ryan College of Business. “It’s impressive to see our students make a meaningful difference in our community while learning crowdfunding skills that might help them launch their own entrepreneurial ventures in the future.”

This year, Short’s students worked in teams to create crowdfunding campaigns for 13 social causes:

UNT student regent Ethan Gillis, a senior in the Bachelor of Business Administration program for advertising and brand strategy, is taking Short’s social entrepreneurship course.

“This class stands out as my favorite course I've ever enrolled in, hands down,” Gillis said. “For students preparing to enter the workforce, having experience in fundraising, event planning, graphic design and community outreach could be the key to that first postgrad job.”

Erin Burrell, who earned her Bachelor of Business Administration in entrepreneurship and enterprise management in spring 2024, attended the Greensgiving celebration to show her support. She expressed hope that this year’s event would make a meaningful impact on both the community and students involved.

“This was honestly my favorite course at UNT,” Burrell said. “For the community, the fundraiser addresses pressing needs, brings people together and inspires collective action toward a shared goal. For the students, I hope this course fosters a sense of responsibility, leadership and purpose.”