Graduates: Do you donate money to your alma mater? (Ivy League, reputation, costs)

[FreshFresh]

Originally Posted by jaida

Last year I got a phone call from my alma mater. It was a rep wanting me to make a donation for the college. I am a jobless while still paying off that good-for-nothing loan. I told the rep this and she still kept trying for that donation.

Incredible.

[slim04]

My college within the broader university is pretty effective at getting donations. First, they send a letter bragging out the school's success, ranking, updates on faculty, and updates on new initiatives. Then they have an alumni committee for each class, usually filled with a cross section of people from my class. Then they have the alumni committee members, basically your former classmates which you probably will know at least one, send personal letters to you asking you to be involved, (i.e. register with alumni association, volunteer to be mentor to student, volunteer to be an informational interviewee).

After a while, then that person will send you another letter to please donate, even small amounts, and especially if your company has a matching program. The letter will say something about how ranking are based, in part, of the % of alumni that donate even nominal amounts. They send these right around late November when folks are doing last minute donations for charities and buying gifts for friends and family, so what's an extra $50 for the school. Plus, it is harder to say no to a person that you know.

Then once you donate, you get invited to special events at big time donor homes that are mostly social, but aimed at whales to donate big dollar amounts. Younger folks aren't pressured at all to donate big dollar amounts, just getting them comfortable with older alums and have them part of that social scene. It's like a weird social club. As you progress in your career, you are expected to donate more and help do the step by step recruiting that ensnared you.

It's like a giant Amway operation and kind of creepy like the Rock Hudson movie "Seconds" http://www.amazon.com/Seconds-Rock-Hudson/dp/B00005RDAJ.
That cold call stuff by student telemarkers just doesn't work, except as a reminder at year end for folks the regularly donate.

[harhar]

I've donated to my major's department.

I've been wanting to donate a few hundred dollars and have them create a scholarship in my name. "The solid B average student scholarship."

lol.

[Pupmom]

My husband and I both donate yearly to our schools- we can designate where the money goes - we usually donate to scholarship funds. I go regularly to visit during a football game- many of my friends do this - we've been doing this for 35 years on a yearly basis(about 35 of us attend ).. Went to a small state university - not a big university like Penn State!

[MassVt]

No, I'd rather contribute to the Red Cross for disasters like the Japanese earthquake/tsunami than to a vastly overpriced school like my alma mater; I suppose that I should have more affection for my old school, but I just don't..

[uptown_urbanist]

No. If I have some extra money I might sometime give some to my department, but not to the overall school. I've chosen instead to give money, when I can, to the nonprofit organization dedicated to helping the Minneapolis Public Schools, and if I ever have a bigger amount to give, I'll give it directly to my old junior high (an inner-city school that has a lot of students who never make it through high school, let alone to college). I figure they need it far more than my university does, and they don't have the sophisticated fundraising departments or staff that the higher education institutions enjoy.

[Alley01]

I used to, but when they started to call me every month or every couple of weeks, I stopped. It is a waste of money for them to call and ask for donations. There are better ways to raise money than to constantly harass your alumni. I guess I would feel more obligated if I had used school scholarships for my education. My full ride scholarship was provided by an outside organization that I happily donate to on a regular basis. In fact, I probably have paid back my entire scholarship by now.

[John23]

Not a cent so far.

1st - I think its too soon, esp in this economy. I graduated in 2004. They expect everyone to be on a direct upward slope for 6 years in a row?

2nd - What they were teaching was pretty hazy (I majored in finance). I had professors that didnt even know if we were in a real estate bubble or not...this was 2002,-04. In California. Where 5% of the population could afford a home based on income. Yikes!

What they were teaching about stocks was pretty nebulous. Do I want to fund something that is basically inaccurate?

3rd - General uncertainty in the world. I bet theres going to be people who donated $500 or $1,000 a year who wished they hadn't. Just wait until the Great Recession II.

I think I'd be more apt to give money to libraries than universities. Plus all this remedialization. Do you want to fund what people should have been learning in highschool? I like it how they start high $500, or $1,000, then small.

Another funny tactic I got was from a credit card a week ago. A guy called me up, asked how the weather was in LA. He was from Idaho. It could have been a personal conversation for the first 5 minutes. Absolutely no sales at all. You almost wonder if it is a sales call. I think thats what they want you to think. "THEN"...do you want credit protection...its only 99 cents per $100 balance or something, lol. These people on the phone now are very savvy about friendliness. New way to get you to open up your wallet $$$.

[CharleyMcGarley]

Yes, I do.

[Snort]

Graduates: Do you donate money to your alma mater?

No, but thanks for the laugh.