An innovative collaboration between the College of Arts and Sciences Student Success Center, UD’s Academic Technology Services (ATS) and the UD Career Center gave undergraduate students a unique opportunity to make an impact and gain professional experience this spring.

In partnership with Spur Impact and the United Way of Delaware, 19 UD students participated in a hands-on micro-internship as social media ambassadors (SMAs) for Do More 24 Delaware, the state’s largest online giving day. Held March 6–7, the event supports more than 600 nonprofit organizations across Delaware, many of which are volunteer-driven and operate with minimal staff.

Students were matched with a nonprofit organization aligned with their interests. Before the event, the students dedicated 10–15 hours to helping create and schedule social media content. They also received training and were provided with a marketing toolkit by Spur Impact to ensure consistent messaging across the campaign.

According to Latoya Watson, senior assistant dean of the Student Success Center, the program is a prime example of how liberal arts students can build valuable, transferable skills that apply across industries.

“Students leave this micro-internship with enhanced social media and digital marketing capabilities, as well as project management and consulting experience,” said Watson.

The feedback from participating nonprofits was glowing. One particularly heartfelt message came from the Sunset Bridge Corporation, a nonprofit based in Bethany Beach, DE, praising student Miranda Rush’s contributions:

“I honestly cannot say enough wonderful things about her… creative, responsive, diligent, professional, thorough… We’ve enjoyed working together so much that I invited her to volunteer on our Communications Committee. She graciously accepted. We are forever grateful!”

Now in its third year, the SMA micro-internship expanded in 2024 to include students from all academic colleges at UD. Students also received a stipend from the Career Center. They were required to complete three career development activities: create a short video reflecting on their internship experience, attend a résumé workshop to learn how to translate their skills, and participate in the CAS Fall 2025 Internship Symposium, which is scheduled for October 8 at 3 p.m. in the Trabant University Center.

Much of the program's success can be credited to the robust Canvas training module developed by ATS. Under the guidance of Kelly Cross, EdTech consultant/Instructional Designer, and team members Colleen Kelemen and Molly Thomas, the training ensured students were well-equipped before being placed with their nonprofit partners.

“Our role was to take the existing training materials and design a Canvas site that made everything easy to navigate and engaging for students,” Cross said. “We wanted to ensure they had a clear path to follow so they could focus on preparing for their nonprofit placements without getting overwhelmed. It was great to support a program with such meaningful real-world impact.” 

Julia Eidenberg, a junior fashion and merchandising major, said the modules really helped prepare her for the big day. “I learned so much and the non-profit connections were so nice…it really opened my eyes to non-profits in general… and with DoMore24DE all the modules they gave us were so helpful.

“The day of was such a good experience,” she said. “Lindsay, the woman I worked with in the nonprofit, texted me ‘I can’t believe this, we hit $5,000 dollars’ and that was three hours into it, and the next day I looked and we were at $9,000 dollars. I felt so accomplished because our goal was $2,000 dollars!” 

Anaiah Oligive, a junior food science major, enjoyed working with her non-profit, Nanticoke River Watershed Conservancy.

“I learned how to work with people and to transfer my knowledge onto others because I was working with a much older team,” she said.  “I had to make sure to teach them about social media, knowing how to simplify things that I know so that people would be able to follow.”    

“Communication goes a long way when you are working with a team because any slight miscommunication and there could be a whole lot of trouble,” Oligive said.

Jenn Saienni, director of nonprofit engagement at Spur Impact, stated that the UD SMAs played a significant role in the success of this year's DoMore24 Delaware campaign, helping it exceed expectations by raising over $2.5 million. The campaign also reached a record-breaking 22,000 donors within 24 hours, the highest number since the event's inception.

“The UD social media ambassador program is a shining example of what happens when education and community engagement intersect,” Saienni said. “Through their work UD students didn’t just learn—they made a real impact. Their creativity and commitment helped amplify the voices of hundreds of nonprofits, and in turn, they gained valuable skills that will serve them well beyond college."

Applications for this micro-internship will be available in September.  All majors are welcome to apply. Contact as-cocurricular@udel.edu, for more information.