May Week Alternative

We're so pleased you're interested in MWA, and look forward to celebrating with you! Here are a few ways you can help grow the movement:

Spread the word: Letting your friends know about MWA is one of the most valuable things you can do - aside from the huge impact of their donations, celebrating is more fun when we do it together! Why not show them our website, share our posts on social media, and invite friends to follow our Facebook and Instagram pages themselves?

Committee: If you really want to shape the future of MWA, you could apply to join our committee, which coordinates everything we do, from events and partnerships to fundraising and publicity. Applications for the next academic year will open in the spring, but we're always interested in hearing from people who want to get involved - register your interest here!

MWA Reps: Becoming an MWA rep is a low-commitment and flexible role for people who want to spread the message in their college, society or social group. Applications for next academic year will open in May Week, but we're always interested in hearing from people who want to get involved - register your interest here!

Sponsorship: In order to put on our Summer Party at the end of each year, we rely entirely on the support of our generous partners, including Cambridge colleges, businesses and individuals. If you know anyone who may be interested in supporting MWA and allowing us to grow even more, please do get in touch or visit our Partner page for more info.

We recognise that £150 is a large amount of money for many students, and whilst we have thought carefully about recommending this amount (see next question), it is important to us that any student feels able to join us in celebrating through giving.

As such, whilst we recommend £150, you are welcome to join MWA by making a donation of a size which is significant to you and allows you to put charity at the heart of your May Week celebrations. It is central to our philosophy (see here for more) that students actively engage with their decision to celebrate May Week through giving, but we recognise that the donation that enables this will not be the same for everyone.

In addition, you have the option of donating in weekly installments, as some have found this more manageable. A weekly donation of £9 from the donations launch up until our summer celebration adds up to about £150, which will still be doubled through our matched funding.

Note: We have ensured that our donations page allows you to hide your name and/or donation amount, should you choose.

We recognise that £150 is a large amount of money, and substantially more than most students would routinely donate to charity (indeed, that is part of the point!). There are a couple of key reasons we recommend this figure:

Encouraging considered giving: MWA is all about changing the way students think about charity, and we can only achieve this if students engage consciously with the act of donating. By inviting students to give an amount that’s personally significant to them, we hope that all donors will stop and think meaningfully about their decision to donate, and will in turn take this positive, deliberate approach towards giving forward into their future lives. This is why we recommend £150, or a donation of any size significant to the donor.

Impact: Crucially, the recommended amount, coupled with matched funding, allows us to have an exceptionally large impact for a student charity initiative your £150 donation, when doubled, can help protect over 350 people from malaria.

May Week Symbolism: The £150 figure is representative of the cost of some May Ball tickets - this is symbolic of our belief that charity can be embraced as an integral part of May Week, on a par with May Balls.

Of course, MWA is for everyone - whether you're going to three May Balls or none, we welcome you to join our growing community and put charity at the heart of your May Week celebrations. MWA is an alternative way to celebrate during May Week, but that doesn't mean you can't take part in other things going on!

At MWA, we think very carefully about which charity to recommend (see below), particularly given how much money students are donating. However, we recognise that some students may want to join us in celebrating through giving, but would prefer to donate to a different charity. This is absolutely fine, but please get in touch with us beforehand so that we are aware.

Note: All matched funding will still go to the Against Malaria Foundation.

At MWA, we think very carefully about which charity to recommend. When students are making such significant donations, we want to make sure the money is doing as much good as it possibly can. To make our decision, we have taken the advice of independent charity evaluators GiveWell and Giving What We Can, which both rank AMF as one of the most effective charities in the world.

Tragically, malaria causes 400,000 preventable deaths every year, disproportionately affecting young children and pregnant women, and has a knock-on effect on the local economy. AMF works with local partners to provide life-saving bed-nets which protect people as they sleep. To find out more about their work, see AMF's website. The specific net distributions for which we have funded nets can be seen on MWA's dedicated AMF page.

Because AMF's intervention is so effective at preventing malaria, each donation can have a huge impact. For example, a donation of £150, doubled through matched funding, can help protect 350 people. In fact, the money MWA raised in 2021 was enough to protect over 88,000 people - or 3.6 people for every Cambridge student!

At MWA, our mission is to encourage students to adopt a positive, deliberate approach towards giving. As such, we focus on ensuring that each student who chooses to join can engage meaningfully with the impact of their donation. The primary role of the Summer Party is to facilitate this engagement, as an enjoyable opportunity to come together as a community and celebrate our collective impact. However, it is not the most important element of what we do, nor the purpose of donating.

Crucially, the donation students make to join MWA does not constitute ‘buying a ticket’ to the party. Indeed, the funding of our summer celebration is completely separate to the donation (it’s funded through a combination of additional voluntary contributions from donors and external sponsorship). Many students have joined MWA without attending the Summer Party at all.

The Summer Party is a chance for us to come together and celebrate our collective impact, as well as the end of the academic year. Crucially, 100% of the money students donate goes directly to charity – none of it is used to fund the party. As such, we invite students to make an optional contribution of £10 per head, separate to their donation, to cover the costs of the event (which are generously subsidised by our sponsors). Importantly, everyone will be very welcome to join, whether or not they feel able to make this contribution.

There will be music, food, drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) and live entertainment, contributing to the atmosphere of celebration you’ll experience with the rest of the MWA community. It’s a fantastic chance to reflect on the impact of our donations and many of those who’ve attended elsewhere in recent years have described it as a real highlight!

Naturally, we are aware that the COVID-19 pandemic may affect the ways in which we can come together over the course of this year, and we are keeping a close eye on the local and national guidance at every stage. However, even if we are not able to come together as an entire community, this will not stop us from marking the end of the year in true MWA style. Whether in smaller groups or all together, we aim to create a meaningful and enjoyable format to bring the community together and celebrate our collective impact under these different circumstances.