Dive Summary:
- At the annual conference of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, four panelists representing HBCUs that have seen relative success in raising funds from alumni discussed ways to increase alumni giving, focusing on the importance of engaging potential donors early and tracking students and alumni.
- Whittaker Middleton, vice president for Institutional advancement at Claflin University, said he believes that creating a culture of giving on campus is part of the solution, adding that students must be taught to give.
- The panel additionally stressed the importance of calling programs and agreed that training and developing staff is also crucial, sharing stories about the poor management their giving programs once suffered from.
From the article:
WASHINGTON -- Prairie View A&M University's first-ever capital campaign, which wrapped up in 2008, appeared to be a success. The university did, after all, exceed its $30 million goal. But the amount raised masked an alarming statistic: only 28 percent of the donations recorded came from alumni, and only about 5 percent of alumni gave. ...