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Read here for updates on the Wharton Undergraduate Giving Society's progress since its inception in Spring 2013.
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Upcoming Events
• February 10 - 13, 2014: Give-a-thon
A culmination of our efforts since founding the organization. Launching our Giving
Board App, free hot chocolate and cookies, and - just in time for Valentine's Day -
Secret Givers. !• February 24, 2014: Film Viewing, "Pay It Forward"
Watch the 2000 drama film Pay It Forward, starring Haley Joel Osment, Helen
Hunt, and Kevin Spacey. Based off the 1999 novel Pay It Forward by Catherine
Ryan Hyde. !• February 26, 2014: MBA Dinner Panel
Join us for food and conversation with Wharton MBAs on Giving vs. Taking,
Networking as a Giver, and Finding your Professional Pathway. !• TBD: Giving Globally - Giving Across Cultures Professor Panel
Listen to Penn professors from CAS and Wharton discuss what it means to give in
other cultures.
aWharton Undergraduate G i v i n g S o c i e t y
Giving: A New Path to Success !... or maybe not. Giving has
a lways been a way to
succeed, but the perception
of givers as pushovers who
bend to the whims of more
"successful" takers is all too
prevalent. !To succeed as a giver, you
have to balance your own
needs with those of others.
For tips on how to get
ahead, go to page 3. !Wondering what WUGS
does and how it acts to
promote giving on campus?
Check page 2 for our first
progress report. !Want to get involved with
WUGS? Sign up for the
WUGS Giving Board app,
launched on February 10,
2014. And don't forget to
like us on Facebook for
regular updates and events! !
What is WUGS? What do we do?The Wharton Undergraduate Giving Society's
goal is to instill a norm of reciprocity in the
Penn community. But what does that actually
mean? !Inspired by Dr. Adam Grant’s recently
publ ished Give & Take, the Wharton
Undergraduate Giv ing Society
(WUGS) was founded in the
spring of 2013 on the
premise that givers are
more successful than
takers in the long run.
Givers offer a helping
h a n d t o o t h e r s
w i t h o u t
s y s t e m a t i c a l l y
expecting something in
return. They look for ways
to create win-win situations
so that when they succeed, others
succeed with them. As such, they build a
reservoir of goodwill that they can tap into
when in need and surround themselves with a
large network of supporters rooting for their
success. !
!!!!!Equipped with this knowledge and eager to
spread these words of wisdom, WUGS set
out to promote a norm of reciprocity
in the Wharton community
a n d b e y o n d , w h e r e
s t u d e n t s a r e
educated about the
b e n e f i t s o f
prosocial giving
behaviors and take
p r i d e i n t h e
flourishing of the
university as a whole.
We seek to challenge
the common belief that
those who prioritize their own
interests at the expense of others have
better chances of climbing the success
ladder, with the hope of enhancing the
student experience.
this issue About WUGS P.1
Tracking our Progress P.2
How to Stand Out as a Giver P.3
Upcoming Events P.4
ISSUE
FEBRUARY 2014
01
Tracking our progress: From idea to reality
WUGS exists only out of
sheer happenstance, pure
dedication and hours of
filling out paperwork and
creating flashy posters. !In Fall 2012, the three founders of
WUGS - Yasmina Abdel-Malek,
Mijana Djurdjevic, and Taylor
McConnell - were fortunate
enough to receive as juniors a
spot in Adam Grant's highly
d e m a n d e d c o u r s e i n
Organzational Behavior, MGMT
238. In a group project, the three
were given the task of diagnosing
some behavioral problem on
behalf of any organization on or
near Penn's campus. While many
students chose on-campus
student groups or businesses,
Yasmina proposed studying the
W h a r t o n u n d e r g r a d u a t e
community and its need for a
mechanism through which to
facilitate acts of giving in business
school. The group came to the
conclusion, while many perceived
Wharton students to be cutthroat
and competitive, using others for
their own gain, that in smaller
group settings this stigma did not
hold. Wharton students are
ultimately nice people, but across
group boundaries, this is not the
common perception.
Why WUGS exists, how we aim
to achieve our goals, and what
our prospects are for the future
WUGS Giving Board App Now Live !Need restaurant tips for a
weekend trip to Washington?
New shows in New York? Basic
Excel training? Or do you just
really want to snuggle with
someone's puppy? With WUGS
Giving Board, you can ask or
respond to any request for
help your classmates post
online. !Starting February 10, 2014, you
can register to join the WUGS
online giving community at
whartongivingsociety.com.
You will have full access to the
Giving Board network, where
you can view, post, and
respond to requests for help
across Penn. !Penn can be a scary place, but
WUGS is here to help you
navigate the ins and outs of
t h e W h a r t o n a n d P e n n
undergraduate life.
!How to stand out as a giver
Past EventsFall 2013 !Our first semester as a club
brought lots of fun and
excitement to the Penn
campus. With recruitment in
September , we s tar ted
growing the club to its
current 24 committee and
executive board members. !In October, we launched our
Givers at Large speaker
series with a talk by Adam
G r a n t , P r o f e s s o r o f
Management and author of
Give and Take. We also held a
fascinating MBA breakfast
panel on the topic of failure,
a t o p i c m o s t W h a r t o n
students find taboo and
prefer to avoid. !With the holiday season
a p p r o a c h i n g , W U G S
members celebrated with a
ThanksGIVING get-together
with food and games
in the Quad. !Our Mission
!The mission of the Wharton
U n d e r g r a d u a t e G i v i n g
Society is to promote a norm
of giving in the Wharton
undergraduate community
b y f a c i l i t a t i n g a c t s o f
k indness in a way that
p o s i t i v e l y i m p a c t s t h e
student experience and
creating opportunities to
help others.
The next semester, they enrolled
in an independent study course
led by Prof. Grant ent it led
"Building a Culture of Giving at
Wharton." At first, the three
a i m e d t o d e v e l o p a w e b
appl icat ion, through which
students could ask for and offer
help and receive some sort of
recognition for their acts of
g i v i n g . W h e n i t c a m e t o
technology , however , they
To achieve our goal to educate
the Wharton undergraduate
community on the benefits of
giving, the WUGS board and
committees have planned a
multitude of events, from MBA
breakfast panels on dealing with
f a i l u r e a n d n a v i g a t i n g t h e
business world as a giver, to
speaker events with renowned
givers, including Adam Grant, a
casual ThanksGIVING dinner, and
an informal men-realized the limits
of the proposal.
Rather than just
work ing on one
project, Yasmina,
Mijana, and Taylor
decided to found
an organization to
teach others the
benfits of giving in personal and
profess ional sett ings. After
recruiting other dedicated givers,
the new club was founded and
granted a one-year trial period by
the Wharton Council. !Over the summer, marketing
materials were drafts, events
planned, and futher members
recruited, including a VP of
Technology, who worked all
semester to create the WUGS
Giving Board app, now live on
whartongivingsociety.com.
!torship program to
help classmates
w i t h a n y i s s u e
they may face. !Looking forward,
we hope to grow
the club's presence on
campus with innovative programs
- starting with the Giving Board -
and cross-cultural giving panels,
that attract the attention not only
of Wharton students, but of
undergrads across the university.
We want to make Penn a more
amicable and friendly place, and
though we are starting small, we
trust in the power of our message
as an investment in the future
growth of WUGS. Spread the love.
Being a giver is not the easiest
job out there. To succeed, you
have to balance your interests
with those of others, often
acting to your short-term
detriment to help another get
ahead. Yet giving is a winning
strategy - here's how you can
shine: !1. Caught in a den of takers?
S u r r o u n d y o u r s e l f w i t h
matchers - those who give
and take equally - who will
back you up and reward you
for your positive behavior
while punishing those who
seek to use you purely for
their own personal gain.
2. Access your dormant ties -
people you were once close
with but have not reached out
to for a while. They wil l
r e m e m b e r y o u r g i v i n g
behaviors in contexts different
from your current one and help
you maintain your reputation
as a giver.!3. Advocate for yourself through
your actions and not your
words. Lead by doing, and help
others be their better selves by
making giving mainstream. !4. Don't be afraid to call in favors,
but do so only when you need
to. Those you have helped in
t h e p a s t w i l l b e n d ov e r
backwards to help you, too.
These are just some of the ways
you can get ahead in life by being
a giver. Don't be a doormat,
though, as giving endlessly to
your detriment can become a
losing strategy. Above all, just be
yourself. True givers always stand
out and are rewarded for their
helpfulness in kind. !Have more t ips on how to
succeed as a giver? Share your
stories with us at facebook.com/
whartongiving.
How to get involved in WUGS
Q: I just found out about WUGS and
want to become an active member.
Where do I begin? !A: If you've just heard of us for the first time or
want to make a greater contribution to the
Wharton Undergraduate Giving Society, sign up
for our listserve at goo.gl/tAmmFH. You will
receive updates before all of our events, which
we encourage you to regularly attend. Next, sign
up to share your help with others on the WUGS
Giving Board app at whartongivingsociety.com.
There, you can post and respond to requests for
help from all across the Penn community. !Finally, if you are interested in forming the future
of the club, look out for applications for Executive
Board and committee positions in late March/
early April. We look forward to having you join us,
and hope you learn about the power of giving in
your professional and personal lives.
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