Please consider ways you can support the Daily. Contribute to a scholarship for one of our top students, one facing adversity or help offset our travel and equipment costs. https://one.givesooner.org/oudaily
Today is OU Giving Day and we're outlining ways you can contribute to the OU Daily, which has served Norman and OU with independent local journalism since 1916.
As we announced recently, we are thrilled to kick off Student Media's major annual fundraising event by celebrating a $100,000 pledge from an anonymous donor. Specifically, this gift will deepen the impact of the Becky Willis Memorial Fund for News Leadership, which we launched last year to honor the late spouse of former Daily adviser Jack Willis.
We hope such generosity will inspire you to also support our mission. Here are ways you can help today:
• Contribute to the Becky Willis Memorial Fund for News Leadership.
• Contribute to the Stacy Wehrenberg Memorial Fund, which annually supports a student who is facing or has overcome significant adversity.
Please consider supporting our adversity fund in honor of Stacy Wehrenberg. It provides a scholarship for a student who is facing or has overcome significant adversity. Hear from Stacy’s husband Michael and daughter Abby. https://one.givesooner.org/oudaily
• Contribute to the Student Media Staff Development Fund. Gifts made between 8-9 p.m. help our efforts in the SEC challenge, which could lead to the OU Foundation adding $500, $1,000 or $1,500 to our fund.
• Purchase Daily-branded merchandise — tote bags, coffee mugs and Stanley-style tumblers — proceeds from which benefit our operations.
Why your gift matters
Last year, we raised $11,400 via 59 gifts, ranging from $10 to $2,000, and we appreciate every donor and dollar. Now, imagine if a broad range of our supporters — alumni whose careers have been shaped by Student Media, community members who find value in our free, local, independent journalism — matched what OU students already pay in annual fees that support the Daily.
So, can we count on you for $14?
Giving Day runs all day today.
Thank you for your continued support — it fuels the next generation of media professionals.
Daily staff testimonials
Below, throughout the day we'll update this post with testimonials from some of our staff on what the work they do here means to them and how your support can enrich our team's work serving the OU and Norman communities.
Hear from news managing editor Anusha Fathepure on what the Daily — and its independence — means to her and what your support would mean to the newsroom she’ll lead next year. https://one.givesooner.org/oudaily
Hear from multimedia journalist Willie Gillespie on what the Daily means to him and how covering breaking news while evolving our storytelling forms is part of what serves Norman while building careers. https://one.givesooner.org/oudaily
Hear from assistant news managing editor Ismael Lele on what the Daily means to him and how covering OU’s president and Board of Regents has grown his vision for the accountability driven journalism. https://one.givesooner.org/oudaily
Hear from reporter Abby Young on what the Daily means to her and how reporting in Washington, D.C., has influenced her decision making as she works to serve Oklahomans. https://one.givesooner.org/oudaily
Hear from photo editor Annie Davenport on what the Daily means to her and how photographing stories in the city, across the state and around the nation serves Norman while building careers. https://one.givesooner.org/oudaily
