Donating to College Alma Mater

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Also, if you didn't go to a private high school, the concept of giving money to your school is a foreign concept.

I didn't go to a private high school, and it wasn't a foreign concept to me at all. In my family, the foreign concept was the concept of not being an engaged and contributing alumnus/a.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Also, if you didn't go to a private high school, the concept of giving money to your school is a foreign concept.

That isn't true.

And I think grown adults are clear as to the difference between donating to a high school alma mater and a college alma mater. A lot of people who donate to their college alma mater(s) never donated to their high school, private or public.

[Munchkin03]

Should I change it to "can be a foreign concept?"

While "grown adults" may be familiar with the difference, 18-22 year olds, many of whom might come from modest backgrounds where ANY sort of philanthropy/donations were rare, may not be. Many development efforts these days are geared towards the "rising generation;" it's the idea that if you get a young person to donate when they're young and have less money, they'll continue to donate.

Also, donations aren't the ONLY way to be an engaged alumnus; I'm not sure where I said that since I mentioned my history of donating AND volunteering. When I didn't give much money at all, I still volunteered like no one's business. Now that I have less time to give but more $$$, it's easier for me to write a check.

[DrPhil]

In that case, I do not donate time or money to my alma maters.

[Gusteau]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Either one. I actually haven't been that impressed with what my sorority's been doing lately; in fact, I hear about great programming from some of the other NPC groups and I'm not quite sure what's going on out there. Also, when I reached out several times to volunteer, I didn't receive a response. There are other things, that may seem petty that I won't get into.

Thanks. It's funny that we have those different perceptions, though I know that I am hypercritical of Delta Chi and would probably disagree with some of the praise that we get. You're not the first NPC alumna I've heard of that has not been engaged for volunteer roles, KSUViolet's comment would confirm that as well. I wonder if NPC groups' very organized volunteer structure makes it more difficult for alumnae to "break in" to the system.

/hijack

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

It's funny to me how many people are saying that they don't want the money that they donate to their alma mater to go to Sports, Facilities, etc. You can direct where you want your donations to go...usually it's a button on the donation website but even if you write a check you list the specific department in the "Memo" line. Most of my money goes to the Annual Fund, but I also donate to very specific things like the minority student orientation or my department. Or...gasp! The Sports Foundation. Because of our specific issue, some of our sports programs are woefully underfunded.

My feelings here are the same - maybe because we are a young university, or because of our basketball success was so unifying but I feel like Mason alumni are very supportive of athletics, construction, and university initiatives as a whole. Maybe SthrnZeta has some insight on this...

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Should I change it to "can be a foreign concept?"

That works, I think.

Also, donations aren't the ONLY way to be an engaged alumnus; I'm not sure where I said that since I mentioned my history of donating AND volunteering.

Didn't mean to suggest you did. I was just speaking from my experience.