By Stephanie WangContributing Writer

Nothing gets charity going like a little friendly competition.

In its annual United Way fundraising campaign, Northwestern divides university faculty and staff into 60 groups to compete for the highest participation rates in reaching an established goal.

Despite the rivalries, faculty and staff are still motivated by a desire to make a difference, said Marvin Lofquist, an associate dean of the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and the school’s area campaign manager.

“The competition is fine because it gets people charged up about (the campaign) a little bit,” Lofquist said. “This is a valuable commitment that we make to our community.”

This year’s campaign goal is to raise $325,000, up from last year’s total of $299,835. The campaign offers cash incentives – ranging from $500 to $1,500 – to the four groups with the largest percentage of participants.

The campaign sends out three mailings to faculty and staff asking for donations and pledges, and offering prizes from local businesses and school departments through raffles.

Brian Peters, co-chair of the NU United Way campaign and director of university services, said one of the best reasons to participate is that contributors have the choice of sending their donations to several different beneficiaries within United Way, in addition to any charity on a list of about 1.5 million outside organizations.

“They can choose to donate to a specific United Way agency – there are almost 350 of them. They can choose to donate to certain categories of agencies, like educational development, affordable housing, access to health care, economic self-sufficiency or crisis support,” he said. “And then, of course, they can donate outside of the United Way.”

The campaign also raises money through a Web-based silent auction, which runs until Nov. 20.

Items up for bidding include Chicago Bears tickets, Chicago Bulls tickets and an NU football helmet signed by head coach Pat Fitzgerald.

Last year’s highest-participating campaign area was the Student Accounts and Loans department, with a 68 percent participation rate.

Kay West, assistant director of student accounts on the Chicago campus and area campaign manager for the Student Accounts and Loans group, reported that the department was in the lead again as of last Friday.

West said the competition helps motivate donations but never becomes too serious.

“I never butt heads with other departments, and no one ever calls me saying, ‘We’re going to beat Student Accounts,'” she said. “But (in December) when … we see that another department is gaining momentum and possibly going to surpass our percentage, it gets a little competitive.”

In the long run, the inter-department competition is a vehicle “to provide funding for something that is bigger and more important than our own lives,” said campaign co-chair and special assistant for community relations Lucile Krasnow.

“The purpose of the United Way campaign is really (a way) for our university staff and faculty to come together to try to do something charitable and to emphasize that we are an incredible university in the midst of a major city with huge service needs and huge problems,” she said. “We as an organization together can face some of those needs.”

Reach Stephanie Wang at [email protected].