Frequently Asked Questions

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What is SponsorMe?

SponsorMe is MIPA’s “crowdfunding” fundraising platform. The system makes it easy to help students and school media programs participate in MIPA activities, including contests, conferences and the MIPA Summer Journalism Workshop.

Students, teachers and media programs create their own pledge pages, allowing supporters to designate their donation to support a specific student, a specific a school media program or a specific MIPA program. MIPA also uses SponsorMe to raise money for our workshop scholarship funds as well as other special projects and programs.

What is MIPA?

Founded in 1921 and housed in the Michigan State University School of Journalism, the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association is a nonprofit organization composed of scholastic journalism teachers and publications advisers and their students. MIPA is committed to promoting and recognizing excellence in scholastic journalism at all levels through education, training and support of student journalists and their advisers.

Is my donation tax deductible?

Donations earmarked for a specific student are not tax deductible under IRS regulations. However, most other donations to MIPA, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, are tax deductible to the full extent provided by law. Please consult your tax adviser.

What payment forms do you accept?

Our SponsorMe platform accepts all major credit cards. Or, you can mail a check payable to MIPA, along with a note indicating whether your donation should be applied to a specific campaign, to:

MIPA
Michigan State University School of Journalism
404 Wilson Road, Room 305
East Lansing, MI 48824

How do I sign up to use SponsorMe?

Students, teachers and journalism programs can create their own pledge system campaigns by following these instructions.

How can I make a change to my SponsorMe campaign?

How does the money I raise get applied to my MIPA activity fees?

We apply every dollar you raise to your registration or other activities fee. To figure out how much you owe on your registration, take the balance due and subtract the money you’ve raised. For summer workshop participants, we’ll send you periodic updates on any balance remaining due, and we make it clear in those updates whether we’re counting any or all of the money you’ve raised in SponsorMe. Teachers looking to use SponsorMe dollars for other activities can contact the MIPA office at any time to request that fundraising dollars be applied to a MIPA invoice.

What happens to money raised by the SponsorMe if a student doesn’t attend the summer workshop or raises more than they need?

If your designated student does not attend this year’s workshop, or if your designated student raises more money than they need toward their registration, your donation may be transferred to MIPA’s general scholarship fund to help students who cannot afford to attend the program without financial assistance. MIPA will honor requests from donors to transfer such unused funds to another student attending the current year’s workshop or for use by the school program to participate in MIPA activities. We are unable to hold funds for use by individual students until next year. We can, however, hold over funds for a school program.

What is the MIPA Summer Journalism Workshop?

The MIPA Summer Journalism Workshop is a five-day residential program at Michigan State University for middle and high school students interested in journalism.

Our students spend five days on campus working with some of the best instructors in the country to improve their writing, design, reporting, photography and leadership skills. We produce the best student journalists in the region – and beyond. Our practical, hands-on program also provides students with the skills they need for college and beyond – regardless of whether they become professional journalists.

For many students, this may be their first experience visiting a four-year college and getting a taste of campus life. MIPA works closely with programs and activities across MSU, including the School of Journalism, to connect students with a variety of college opportunities. MSU can be a big place. But since we spend all year here, we know our way around and help our students navigate campus during the week – and beyond if they ultimately become Spartans.

When is the summer workshop?

Dates of the MIPA Summer Journalism Workshop at Michigan State University vary slightly from year to year based on facility availability. Generally, the workshop is held from Sunday to Thursday during the last week of July or the first week of August. Please see https://mipamsu.org for details.

How do I register for the MIPA Summer Journalism Workshop?

Get registration information at https://mipamsu.org. When you register, don’t pay the whole registration fee! To avoid paying the registration fee at the time of registration, select “Purchase Order/Request an Invoice” as the payment type.

How much does the workshop cost?

Registration information, including program cost, can be found http://mipamsu.org.

Does raising money through MIPA’s SponsorMe site guarantee my spot at the summer workshop?

No. You must complete the registration form and provide the necessary deposit to reserve your place in a workshop class. We can apply SponsorMe funds toward your deposit.