University Business - February 2008 - (Page 50)

Members pay $100 to $1,000 to support scholarships, student performances, and academic programs. Group members and each school’s dean help recruit additional members, says Tom Schwarz, president of the college. Why Non-Alumni? on Targeting non-alumni is especially key at institutions with: • Few alumni. Harvard Medical School certainly has clout, but it’s only got 9,000 known living alumni (Harvard Business School, by comparison, has tens of thousands). Yet, says Director of Development Tamsen McMahon, “we’re the second largest fundraising ofﬁce at the university.” About three-quarters of its donations come from those who did not graduate from the medical school (some are Harvard University alumni). Another institution with history but low numbers of graduates is The Lebanese American University, which was founded in 1835 and is based in New York, with campuses in Beirut and Byblos, Lebanon. “We are an old institution but a young university,” says Richard Rumsey, vice president of University Advancement, adding that more than half of its reachable alumni have graduated in the last 12 years. During the last ﬁscal year, only 12 percent of fundraising came from alumni. • Non-afﬂuent alumni. For Purchase College (N.Y.), it’s the performing and visual arts. For Southwestern University (Texas), it’s teaching and nonproﬁt work. These are the traditionally low-paying ﬁelds graduates tend to enter, so those in pursuit of gifts must look elsewhere. In FY2007, Purchase received more than $7 million from non-alumni individuals, about 90 percent of total contributions, ofﬁcials say. And Southwestern, which has about 13,000 living alumni, has convinced friends to commit to an estimated $18 million in the past decade, reports Rick McKelvey, vice president for Institutional Advancement. Form a planned giving council. Think of it as a more formal way of networking for dollars. At Augustana, council members are attorneys, trust oﬃcers, insurance agents, and ﬁnancial planners who may help inﬂuence the philanthropic eﬀorts of their clients. The council, currently with about 20 professionals, meets on campus “a few times a year, so they’re current on Augustana programs,” says DeSimone. Launch a less formal board of visitors. Twice a year, VIPs from all over the country, as well as some locals, meet up at Southwestern University (Texas), a liberal arts college just north of Austin with under 1,300 students, for a day-long program. The eclectic group, currently headed by an American Airlines executive and representing a broad spectrum of society, explores a question related to the Southwestern educational experience, explains Rick McKelvey, vice president for institutional advancement. Members are appointed by the president. “We designed the board of visitors speciﬁcally to engage individuals who would not normally be engaged on a serious level with the university,” McKelvey says. “Some wonderful gifts have come in from individuals and from organizations in which they’re aﬃliated. It is an outcome, but it is not the stated objective.” In fact, the only ‘We wanted to change the perspective from giving TO an institution to giving THROUGH an institution.’ thing asked of the board members is that they go back into their segment of society and talk about their experience. Teach friends about giving. Purchase College oﬃcials have organized ﬁnancial planning seminars and mailed newsletters about planned giving, thereby providing friends with information on changing tax incentives for charitable support. And in Purchase Perspectives, the president’s newsletter, Schwarz has shared his views on issues such as public support of higher education and even included an article encouraging wealthy graduates of private colleges to adopt a public college. reﬂected on their experiences in radio spots and other ads. When a school gets a face, support may follow. Purchase College development materials are more blatant about requesting funds for the students featured. Its Adopt-A-Dancer program, now in its 10th year, features a booklet highlighting “14 brilliant dancers” in danger of having to leave (or never reach) Purchase. Each page’s proﬁle breaks down tuition dollar sources and exactly how much unmet need is left. Booklet updates, with “Adopted” stamped over the photos and benefactors named, show Adopt-A-Dancer —Tamsen McMahon, Harvard Medical School program progress. Seek “honorary alumni” if there aren’t enough real ones. Six-year-old Harrisburg University of Science and Technology (Pa.)—which now has just nine graduates—has done exactly that, soliciting pledges of $1,000 per year for scholarships and academic support. A letter sent to prospective members argues that investing in the Honorary Alumni Association means investing in aspiring students as well as “in the long-term prosperity of the Capital region.” Nearly 200 people have stepped up, and the school has placed full-page magazine and newspaper thank-you ads, as well as recognized members during special events. Keep parents in mind. One may argue that parents of current students feel they’re already writing enough checks to the institution, but in Donald J. Weinbach’s experience that’s not the case. “Parents realize that universities need additional support,” says Weinbach, vice presiuniversitybusiness.com Get student stories out there. The “Endless Possibilities” marketing campaign at Montgomery College (Md.), launched a few years ago, branded the two-year college as accessible and aﬀordable. About 100 students and alumni 50 | February 2008 http://universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - February 2008

University Business - February 2008
Contents
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Editor's Note
Stats Watch
Sense of Place
Viewpoint
Future Shock
Independent Outlook
On the Hill
Facilities Focus
Cover Story: Orientation Rites: Seal the Deal
A Sense of Security
Growing the Giving Tree
Are We Covered?
Baby Boomers, Back to Campus
Internet Technology
What's New
Calendar of Events
End Note

University Business - February 2008