UC Davis employee honored with national fundraising award

Michelle Thompson on stage

UC Davis employee honored with national fundraising award

(SACRAMENTO)

UC Davis Assistant Director of Development Michelle Thompson was honored with the Victoria Enmon Award at Children’s Hospitals Week, the national Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals conference which took place this month.

The Victoria Enmon Award recognizes the efforts of program directors across the country to support the Extra Life program, a fundraising program that encourages the public to play video games to raise money for local Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. The Extra Life program launched to honor the memory of Victoria Enmon, a young girl and video gamer who lost her battle to cancer in 2008. Thompson was recognized for increasing fundraising, communications, local incentives, education and engagement for Extra Life.

“I was honored to receive this national recognition,” said Thompson, who has managed the Extra Life campaign since 2013. “It has been a labor of love for me. I share this award with our players and teams in our region, who have turned their love of gaming into funds raised to support sick and injured children at our hospital.”

Thompson graciously invited the 2020 and 2021 Victoria Enmon Award recipients to share the stage with her when she received her award since there were no in-person conferences the past two years due to the pandemic.

Thompson’s achievements in support of Extra Life at UC Davis Children’s Hospital include:

  • Significant fundraising growth, nearly doubling fundraising via Extra Life from 2019
  • Newsletters with the highest open rates in the network that steward and recognize Extra Life teams and players individually
  • Local fundraising tiers and incentives to drive participant fundraising
  • A stream team, which streams three times a week, as well as an Extra Life advisory committee
  • Supporting local gamers who manage Extra Life channels (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Discord and Twitch) to provide updates on social media
  • Mentoring CMN program directors across the country on how to start their Extra Life program locally

Children's Miracle Network Hospitals® raise funds and awareness for 170 member hospitals that provide 32 million treatments each year to kids across the U.S. and Canada. Donations stay local to fund critical treatments and healthcare services, pediatric medical equipment and charitable care.