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As an assistant manager in contracts and grants accounting, Francisco Andrade ’79 leads a group that oversees compliance and financial reporting for all manner of grants and awards conferred upon UC Davis. It’s an interesting perch from which to view �ԹϺ��� activity — and it has inspired Andrade to become an enthusiastic employee donor.

“I get a thrill from looking at research being done at the �ԹϺ���. To me, it’s very energizing,” Andrade said. “You see the creativity of the professors and students. Whatever I contribute, I hope it helps that work continue.”

April is Employee Giving Month, a campuswide campaign at UC Davis and UC Davis Health to spread awareness about the importance of faculty and staff donations. Now in its second year, the push comes with a new brand: “Davis as UC It,” emphasizing how each of us, by supporting the programs and services we care about, helps strengthen the �ԹϺ��� we would like to see.

Last year, more than 1,300 employee donors gave during Employee Giving Month, and more than 650 employees gave more than 1,100 gifts on Give Day. This year’s Give Day is April 12-­13.

“Giving tells the �ԹϺ��� that we, as employees, identify with what the �ԹϺ��� is doing,” said Andrade, who is a member of the UC Davis Employee Giving Advisory Committee. “It’s recognizing the importance of the �ԹϺ��� in society.”

Donations are all the more important in an era of reduced public funding, Andrade noted. “People are questioning how important the �ԹϺ��� is,” he said. “And I think the �ԹϺ��� is important as a breeding ground for ideas, and to expose students to different perspectives.”

He has 2 reasons to give

 A DAY AND A MONTH

• : Noon Friday, April 12, to 5 p.m. Saturday (April 13 (Picnic Day). Early gifts also welcome. and on campus.
• : Learn more and see which units are creating their own employee giving campaigns.

For Andrade, an alumnus, it’s also a way of giving thanks.

“My student experience here was really positive,” said Andrade, whose degree is in economics. His gratitude to UC Davis is a family affair; his wife, Fidelina, fully supports his �ԹϺ��� donations, and their daughter, Onelica Andrade Afonso ’11, is a second-generation Aggie.

Indeed, Andrade is a good UC Davis citizen in many areas. In addition to being a member of the Davis Chancellor’s Club giving society, he is a lifetime member of the California Aggie Alumni Association. And he won a pair of Disability Awareness Recognition Awards given by Disability Management Services in collaboration with the Disability Issues Administrative Advisory Committee, for his help finding modified job assignments for injured workers.

Andrade said he believes Employee Giving Month and Give Day are good rallying cries, but as a practice, he said, he favors year-round giving. “People are very good at being helpful on special occasions, but it is being consistent in giving that allows stability for the institution,” he said.

Payroll deduction, in his opinion, offers the easiest option. And the amount is unimportant. “Even if it is only $5, it might have consequences,” he said. “You might not see it, but it might be the tipping point that will lead to something else.”