Tufts has relatively low alumni donation rate
Alex Bloom
Issue date: 5/18/08 Section: News
"It's something that both schools take very seriously, focus on and work very hard to achieve and maintain," said Steve Birrell, vice president of alumni relations and development at Williams.
Birrell was surprised to hear that Tufts' alumni percentage number was a self-described 21 percent. "I guess my response to that would be [that] I'm surprised it's not higher," he said.
Alumni giving is part of the institutional culture at Williams and Amherst, Birrell said. He added that Williams puts a lot of focus on its annual fund, to which alumni give unrestricted money every year, as well as its 25-year and 50-year reunion donations.
Birrell said that capital campaigns should strengthen alumni giving and increase the number of active donors by strengthening other alumni giving programs, such as a university's annual fund. Williams is in the midst of its own capital campaign, which Birrell prefers to call a "comprehensive campaign."
"Your comprehensive campaigns should have as an objective to strengthen those programs, so when the campaign is over, they're all operating at a higher level," Birrell said.
Regardless of its low alumni giving percentage, Tufts is on pace to reach its $1.2-billion goal, having received two gifts of $100 million or more and many other multi-million-dollar donations.
Ann Kaplan, the director of the Voluntary Support of Education Survey for the Council for Aid to Education (CAE), said that Tufts need not worry about its alumni participation numbers, which she said are better than the national average.
In fiscal year 2007, the mean alumni giving rate at a private doctoral research university was 16.6 percent, according to the CAE. Tufts' rate for that fiscal year was 20.1 percent, according to the CAE's numbers.
Kaplan echoed Lee's statement that the alumni giving percentage does not tell the whole story about alumni participation and activity.
"I really don't think that alumni participation is the metric even for alumni loyalty," Kaplan said. "It measures exactly what it says it measures."
Birrell was surprised to hear that Tufts' alumni percentage number was a self-described 21 percent. "I guess my response to that would be [that] I'm surprised it's not higher," he said.
Alumni giving is part of the institutional culture at Williams and Amherst, Birrell said. He added that Williams puts a lot of focus on its annual fund, to which alumni give unrestricted money every year, as well as its 25-year and 50-year reunion donations.
Birrell said that capital campaigns should strengthen alumni giving and increase the number of active donors by strengthening other alumni giving programs, such as a university's annual fund. Williams is in the midst of its own capital campaign, which Birrell prefers to call a "comprehensive campaign."
"Your comprehensive campaigns should have as an objective to strengthen those programs, so when the campaign is over, they're all operating at a higher level," Birrell said.
Regardless of its low alumni giving percentage, Tufts is on pace to reach its $1.2-billion goal, having received two gifts of $100 million or more and many other multi-million-dollar donations.
Ann Kaplan, the director of the Voluntary Support of Education Survey for the Council for Aid to Education (CAE), said that Tufts need not worry about its alumni participation numbers, which she said are better than the national average.
In fiscal year 2007, the mean alumni giving rate at a private doctoral research university was 16.6 percent, according to the CAE. Tufts' rate for that fiscal year was 20.1 percent, according to the CAE's numbers.
Kaplan echoed Lee's statement that the alumni giving percentage does not tell the whole story about alumni participation and activity.
"I really don't think that alumni participation is the metric even for alumni loyalty," Kaplan said. "It measures exactly what it says it measures."
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Parker Morse
posted 5/20/08 @ 11:28 PM EST
Perhaps the development office would get better return if they found some better callers to do their phone nagging. I've heard of classmates who were "put down for" pledges they didn't want to make (and pretty clearly stated they were NOT making), and the bright bulb who called me not only didn't understand my "this is not a good time to talk about this" statement, but couldn't figure out how someone could be an alumni both of Tufts and another institution. (Continued…)
Nondonor
posted 5/24/08 @ 1:40 PM EST
Donations levels are a function of how happy alumni are with the institution. A silent majority of Tufts students do not graduate loving the place, and will never give money back to the school. (Continued…)
Anthony
posted 6/23/08 @ 5:57 PM EST
Both these comments are indicative of how most of the campus feels. I just recently graduated and it's interesting to me to see that my feelings mirror that of previous alumni. (Continued…)
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