Donating to College Alma Mater

[DrPhil]

Do you donate to your college alma mater? Why or why not?

Originally Posted by Paying it Back, Not Forward

An analysis of 15 years of alumni giving at one unidentified private university affirms one widely held belief of fund-raisers and casts doubt on another.

Graduates who used loans to finance their undergraduate education were less likely to donate to the college, Jonathan Meer and Harvey S. Rosen wrote in a paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
That’s hardly shocking.

What surprised the researchers is that students who received scholarships -- and who campus fund-raisers have long thought would be eager to “pay it forward” to their beloved alma mater -- tended to donate less than their classmates who didn't need aid.

Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2...#ixzz1y6T4ZDkG

[DrPhil]

I forgot to create the poll.

Originally Posted by My Post in the Law School Losing Its Luster Thread

....

I refuse to donate to my alma maters. They call and mail me a few times each year asking for donations. While I appreciate my alma maters, they have lost their damn minds thinking that I will donate when it already costs an arm and a leg to attend these schools and I am repaying student loans.

Generally speaking, that is why many schools receive relatively small and inconsistent donations from graduates who graduated 1-15 years ago and receive most of their money from 20+ year graduates. Again, generally speaking, people need years to get settled, repay loans if they have any, and do whatever else they are doing. We also have to either like what the school is doing or believe that our money will help change some things.

[AZTheta]

I donate to both (undergraduate and graduate). I attended public universities in CA and AZ, and received an excellent education. While I'm not a "heavy hitter" (no buildings will ever be named after me), it does give me a sense of quiet pride and satisfaction to be able to specify that my donations are to be applied to a specific department.

While in school, I benefited from "work-study" programs, assistantships, tuition waivers, and small scholarships. My dream is to fund a scholarship and I'm looking into how to do that.

[Munchkin03]

I donate to my undergrad faithfully. I have auto-debit take a certain amount out of my account each month; at the end of each fiscal year, I send a little bit more to a specific cause. Going to the college I did is one of the top four decisions of my life and I want to "pay it forward." I'm also a very loyal volunteer and I sit on my college's Alumni Association Board of Governors.

My graduate school, however, is a different story. While it helped me professionally, I was less than impressed with the faculty and my fellow students. I have donated exactly $25--and that was to a lecture fund in memory of one of my favorite professors. I was the only person in my class who donated.

On a completely different note, I do not donate to my sorority.

[thewasher418]

I was fortunate enough to receive a full-ride scholarship to my undergraduate alma mater, where tuition alone runs about $35K per year. In gratitude, I have given donations every year since graduating. As my means allow I plan on increasing that amount, and hope to one day "sponsor" a student on the same type of scholarship I received.

[aggieAXO]

I have a collegiate license plate which helps out with undergrad. scholarships otherwise at this point I am so F...ing pissed at A&M vet school for increasing class size and flooding the market with more vets we don't need, I will not give them one dime.

[Gusteau]

I can't donate much at this point, however I was excited to discover that the Mason was listed as one of the places I could donate my credit card rewards. I'll periodically donate the rewards. I also volunteer with the admissions office.

Full disclosure, I also use my credit card rewards for gift cards, hah.

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

On a completely different note, I do not donate to my sorority.

Do you mind if I ask why (in a purely curious and non-combative way)? Do you mean to your chapter, or the sorority at large? I ask because I think your organization is doing a lot of great things right now.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by Gusteau

Do you mind if I ask why (in a purely curious and non-combative way)? Do you mean to your chapter, or the sorority at large? I ask because I think your organization is doing a lot of great things right now.

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.

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 parents also donate to my undergrad (until recently, they were donating more than I did). They know how happy my experience made me--then and now, and the tax break doesn't hurt either. My undergrad is #2 in non-alumni parent giving behind Duke so they're not the only ones.

[KSUViolet06]

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.

What things have you seen from other groups that you'd like AXO to be doing? Out of pure curiosity.

And you know, the "I reached out to volunteer and nobody got back to me" is something I've heard from members of other NPC groups as well (won't name them.) It's so important for our member groups to be diligent in getting back to people with volunteer options, have a system set up for fielding volunteer interest, or respond and say "no thanks, we don't have need for that at this time."

[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...

[Always AlphaGam]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

I donate to my undergrad faithfully. I have auto-debit take a certain amount out of my account each month; at the end of each fiscal year, I send a little bit more to a specific cause. Going to the college I did is one of the top four decisions of my life and I want to "pay it forward." I'm also a very loyal volunteer and I sit on my college's Alumni Association Board of Governors.

My graduate school, however, is a different story. While it helped me professionally, I was less than impressed with the faculty and my fellow students. I have donated exactly $25--and that was to a lecture fund in memory of one of my favorite professors. I was the only person in my class who donated.

On a completely different note, I do not donate to my sorority.

See, I'm the other way around.

My last tuition payment to my State U. a decade ago was the last time they received a penny from me. I was forced to attend State U. because it was the only one we could afford at that time. It wasn't a terrible school. It just didn't have a profound impact on my life the way some of yours did. I attend athletic events and proudly sport their gear and that's about it.

I regularly make donations to my high school alma mater and Alpha Gamma Delta because they really changed my life. When the collegians from my chapter have philanthropy events I also don't mind donating case of water or some snacks here and there. It's not much, and whenever I get the SOS email I don't hesitate at all.

[Kevin]

I had a (very close to) full ride scholarship to my undergrad school for playing the violin in their symphony orchestra, chamber orchestra and whatever they needed me for. I ended up majoring in communication. I ended up getting to anchor their broadcast news show, which was fun. I also got to participate in leadership in student government and help start a fraternity. I graduated debt free and will be eternally grateful and loyal to my undergrad school. I do regularly donate both to the liberal arts department and to my fraternity both locally and nationally. My wife is a graduate of the music school. I think whenever I get my law school loans retired, I'm going to see what I can do about repaying some of that scholarship money I received.

Compare that to my law school which clearly was in the business of legal education to profiteer off of law students so it could subsidize the school's undergraduates, pay tier 4 professors $150K-$200K salaries, etc., and I feel like I have already contributed enough. While I've been to a few alumni functions, having them ask me for donations while I'm still paying on my loans is kind of a slap in the face.

[Low C Sharp]

I donate a token amount every year and volunteer my time in every way I can. My university is so rich that I can't justify spending much of my philanthropy budget there when there are so many people in need. However, I had a great experience and want to help the university by boosting the donor participation rate.

[knight_shadow]

I used to work for the development office when I was an undergrad, so I have been eagerly awaiting a call from the "Telefund" to ask for money. Even though I somehow got a parking ticket after graduation, I don't hold a lot of ill will toward the institution. I love the education I received, and the networking has been great (in the DFW area).

I still keep in contact with the Development directors and have let them know that I want to give. Whenever they call, I'll give something.

[AXiDTrish]

I serve on my university's alum assoc board and the one thing I've learned is that it isn't the amount of money given, but the number of people who give that matters. There are those fortunate few who can make huge donations, but the reality is that most of us can afford a minimal amount. When universities apply for grants and such, those offering the grants tend to look at the percentage of alumni who donate to see if the grads from the universities support their alma mater. Some schools have ridiculously rich endowments and foundations, but for those of us who go to the area State U the alum donations in any minimal amount can make a HUGE difference.

Moral of the story.....when you get that envelope, put $5 in it and send it back to your alma mater. It absolutely DOES make a difference!