RING! RING!
Me: "Hello?"
Voice on the other end: "Hello, may I speak with Eric?"
Me: "You got him."
Voice on the other end: "Hi Eric this is Jimmie from the USC Annual Giving office. I'm currently a business major, about to finish my junior year."
Me: "Cool. I was a business major." (of course, they already knew that)
Jimmie: "That's great. Did you live on campus? I live in Webb Tower."
Me: "No way, I lived in Webb Tower! In fact, I was an RA there." (and of course, they already knew that too)
Jimmie: "You should see the remodeling that they have done to the place. The whole building has wireless Internet. I love living there."
Me: "Glad to hear that. I had some great times in that building."
Jimmie: "Of course, we rely on contributions from alumni like yourself to continually update and modernize the campus facilities, as well as attract world class faculty. We thank you for your generous donation last year. Can we count on a larger contribution this year?"
Me: "Sure, what the heck."
This morning, I read an article entitled, "The Key to Alumni Giving" in The Journal of Queen's University in Ontario, Canada. It is an interesting insight to the behind the scenes work of the University fundraisers at their various levels.
Few non-profit institutions are as aggressive and well organized as universities in their fund raising efforts. And few non-profit institutions are as successful in fund raising as universities. And why shouldn't they be? Many of us have fond memories of our days as an undergrad. Our time there helped to shape who we are, develop our knowledge and skills for our careers, and a provided place where we developed enduring relationships.
The universities rely on these contributions for a wide spectrum of services and facilities for future students and the community. Of course, another factor in alumni fund raising efforts ties directly to university rankings in publications such as the U.S. News and World Report. Standing out along side factors such as graduation rate, admissions selectivity, and student/faculty ratio is alumni giving rate.
The alumni giving rate simply measures what percent of all alumni make a charitable contribution to the university. It does not matter whether the typical alumni contribution was $5 or $5,000. The factor is meant to be a measure of how fondly the alumni think about their alma mater, or how connected they feel. Perhaps, to some extent, it measures how financially stable the alumni base is.
The article discusses the exact type of phone call that I described above. Build rapport by talking about the college experience and the similarities between the experience of the alumnus and the current student. Steer the conversation towards the fundraising request.
Of course, there's an important point that is made in all of this. People give to organizations that they feel an emotional connection with. There's a reason that the biggest fundraising organizations in the world are religious, education and medical. People feel deeply connected to their church, their alma mater, and the place that saved their life, or the life of a loved one.
These grassroots type of calls are rarely the largest source of fundraising, but it reestablishes the emotional connection that the potential donor may have forgotten. I make a small contribution to USC every year. Not because I feel I owe them. I certainly paid plenty when I was there. But in a small way, I'm doing my part. Also, it keeps me connected to the University, which is important to me.
So, next time Jimmie calls, I'll welcome the call. I want to hear about what's going on around campus these days.
Great post. I had friends who worked in the alumni department, and were the ones making those calls. A lot of the more sensitive ones actually break down crying because some of the called alumni aren't the most friendly. Very sad. Cool blog!
Best,
keane
keane.festizio.net
Posted by: Keane | March 26, 2008 at 11:30 AM