Donations from Alumni - Assignment Example

Donations from Alumni Affiliation: Part What does academic research suggest are the principal determinants of alumni giving? Alumni are the former students of a particular institution of higher education, be it a college or university. The institutions of higher education request their former students to be financial donors of the institution in order to assist them with funding. The reason alumni programs exist is because the funding from the country is dwindling by the year, and hence these institutions have to find ways to increase their funding and one of these ways is through donations from former students (Wunnava & Lauze, 2001, pg. 533). Not all former students give back to their alma mater, and those who do have their own reasons for doing so, including employment in the financial sector and lack of student debt among other reasons that will be discussed below. Alumni employed in the financial sector tend to give more donations to their former higher institutions. This is so because the financial sector has a lot of money, and hence many of the employees have much money to spare. The other greater reason is that those working in the financial sector get access to people and institutions with a lot of money and find ways to convince them for donations which they, in turn, take to the institutions (Rolland, 2011, pg. 47). They have quick access to loans, grants, aids and other forms of money that can easily be diverted to the educational institutions. The next category of alumni that give their donations and continue giving is those alumni who have their relatives in the same institution of higher education; several of their relatives attended the same institution or have the motive of wanting their children to attend the same institution (Wunnava and Lauze, 2001, pg. 537). These alumni give back as a way of appreciation to the institution and a way to try and secure the future position for their relatives to be considered when the time comes. Their hidden intent however does not matter to the university as long as they keep their donations coming in order to support facilitation of the institution. The majority of alumni donors in most countries are those who played sports in the institution. Those students who play sports are most likely on scholarship in the institution and hence once they graduate and start their careers, they give back to the institution in order to ensure that the institution is able to support more students through scholarships just like they were supported. This category of people is the highest and most constant of the donors in their alma mater (Holmes, Meditz & Sommers, 2008, pg. 542). The other determinant of alumni’s donations is the institution itself, which is whether it is public or private institutions. Private institutions have many sources of funding from private entities. Their school fees are also on the higher side, and hence are not in dire need of donations from the alumni as they are in many cases self-sufficient. Alumni therefore from private institutions do not donate much as they know the donations are not really needed (Roose, 2014, pg. 178). On the other hand, alumni from public institutions are aware of the financial constraints facing these institutions and are much more likely to donate and constantly for that matter to up the standards of their alma mater. There are other former students whose class attendance at the university or college was at the minimal level. They had been involved in other activities during school hours or simply did not attend classes as regularly as possible. This category of alumni lacks strong link with their institutions and hence are hard to convince to give back to the institution through donations of whatever amount. Even if they are convinced to give, they give only once and never again (Gasman and Bowman, 2013, pg. 121). The donations of this category of people compared to those who attended the school and classes regularly cannot be matched as the regular attendees donate money more regularly. Alumni who still have numerous student debts are the least likely to donate to their former institutions of higher education. This is so because they still have financial burdens weighing them down and the extra money they get has to go into offsetting their students debts and hence do not have spare for donations and much less to a cause like the alumni. Those who have however cleared their student debts can have spare money to give as donations once in a while, even if not on a regular basis (Gasman and Bowman, 2013, pg. 100). Do people give to their university for the same reasons that they donate to other causes? There are many other donations and charity causes that people constantly donate to. The reasons for giving to these charities are different in several aspects from the reasons mentioned above of giving to the alma mater. This however does not mean that alumni do not give to these other causes as well while at the same time contributing to their alma mater. The determinant reasons of giving to charity and other donations include: hunger, church building, to seek blessings, build shelters and generally give back to society. Many causes that people willingly donate to are related to hunger and famine, and especially in the third world countries. People donate through financial institutions such as child funds, the UN and even Red Cross. They feel touched by the cause and have empathy towards those dying of hunger. The other similar cause is the children’s education through institutions such as UNICEF or even donations for medical camps. The other donations people give are to the homeless on the streets. Most give because the homeless are lying on the streets and they have spare change they can give them as they are situated near shops and other business places. They give these donations because they see those in need of the donations. This is similar to giving donations to rebuild shelters, churches and even hospitals. They give the homeless more as opposed to their former colleges or universities because they perceive the homeless have more dire need for the donations than the institutions of higher education. Others give to seek blessings as that is what they are instructed in their various religions. They assist those whom they see are in dire need of assistance because in the end they believe they will receive blessings. No students will die for not receiving higher education, and they have buildings and only want to add more. To most people, such donations are not necessary and hence do not bother giving and when they do, it is a one-time thing and they forget unlike these other causes where they constantly donate (Sun, Hoffman & Grady, 2007, pg. 330). Part 2 With reference to your answer in Part 1, analyse a real-life case of a British university’s campaign to attract donations from alumni. What techniques does/did the university employ to increase revenue? The University of Birmingham is an example of a university whose alumni programs has raised millions of pounds in donations through purchasing of gift cards (University of Birmingham, 2013). They have their gift cards in different amounts which are then purchased by the alumni and the money goes towards the school programs such as scholarships, building and refurbishing of old buildings as well as into research in the various departments within the university. The gift cards are for different products for the alumni such as inspiration books among others which the alumni committee provides to the alumni who want to send their donations. The gift cards entice more donations than the bid for cash donations. The donations campaign took a long time to be able to make a lot of donations, but with time donations have continued to increase with the latest donations figures being 10 million pounds. The journey has been marked by employment of several techniques that are being used up to date. These techniques include social networking, being sent alumni magazines with information about the projects, calendar of the recent and future planned events, volunteer programs, and the circle of influence. The Circle of Influence is the university’s fundraising campaign program for the alumni as well as other well-wishers. This program entices the alumni to give back through gift donations to the university and especially because of continuing to provide the scholarships to the needy students. The fundraising campaign directs the alumni to the university’s alumni website to get more information about the program and how they can make the donations of any amount they wish to give back. The alumni program has found ways to get hold of even more alumni through organizing reunions of various classes. Once people are reunited, they are encouraged to participate in the alumni program, and especially those who were beneficiaries of the scholarships. They get contacts of all the alumni in order to involve them in any future activities of the alumni towards the university. This way of getting involved is not only financially beneficial to the university but is socially beneficial to the alumni at large. This is so because the alumni with various skills and abilities volunteer their time and other resources to assist the present students in any way they can, as well as the institution as a whole. The other beneficial way in which the alumni committee entices the alumni to join the alumni program and benefit not only the university but themselves as well is through networking programs. Alumni are encouraged to continue networking and support each other in their careers or business, and this way they can get more people to even support them in the fundraising or get more people to participate in the building and expansion of the university. The alumni that have benefitted from these numerous programs have increased their donations or become regular donors. They also participate in the organization of the fundraising by bringing items that are auctioned during the fundraising or bringing in guests to increase their donations and it is for this reason that the donations have increased. They have a new target of 160 million and hence have been taking to other channels which they have not utilized in the past such as the social media for support by the other alumni. Part 3 Describe what aspects of your essay from the previous assignment have been useful when writing this one. How have they helped you? Explain also how you have attempted to make this essay an improvement on your last I have written an academic essay which has in turn participated greatly in the research, compilation and even completion of this essay. The assistance has been in various forms from grammar to vocabulary use to creativity and research sites and books among other reasons which will be discussed in detail below. Writing this essay has led me to gain practice and the confidence of writing others of even a higher level and many more pages than those before. The practice was very effective when writing this essay because I have a few alumni friends who explained to me how they make their contributions and why others do not. They even guided me on how to conduct research in various places and using these various resources to come up with a good essay of a higher standard than the ones I have previously completed. Research is the most essential part in each essay, and takes up a lot of time and requires a lot of patience as one tries to find the most credible and reliable sources. Finding those sources was fairly easy with this assignment as I had prior knowledge of which resources to use, where to find them and which were the most authentic to use for this assignment. Apart from the above mentioned resources, this assignment has ensured that I have learnt how to write essays using correct grammar and going over it to check for grammatical mistakes that are common, such as spelling mistakes and tautology. I have also acquired new vocabulary to reflect my level of education as well as upgrade the level of my work to reflect my educational level. Writing academic essays is different from other informal writings such as letters to friends and relatives. It needs concentration and building up of confidence so that one can produce a quality academic paper and within the time frame provided while at the same time ensuring that your life is not put on hold by the work. This essay has provided the necessary practice of multi-tasking with my other course work, my personal life and even researching and completing my academic essays on time and with the perfection required by the provided instructions. Following instructions to the letter is another aspect I have learnt and perfected from having done other essays before this particular one. Improvement of any essay comes with following instructions as well as any corrections the instructor provides after provision of the rough draft. Corrections and working with the instructor and my fellow colleagues have ensured that this essay is different in every way from the others I have done before. I have to confess I am not a big fan of criticisms but I decided to try and look at the positive in every criticism, and this has ensured that my essay has followed what the instructor requires exactly. I have also enjoyed doing this work as it is very practical and reflects something I am bound to do in the near future once I am done with my education. The research and compilation of the work was therefore way more enjoyable than other essays I have done in the past, as it was a learning experiencing for me and something to prepare me for the future that is waiting. References Gasman, M. and Bowman, N. (2013). Engaging Diverse College Alumni: The Essential Guide to Fundraising. New York: Routledge. Holmes, J., Meditz, J. and Sommers, P. (2008). “Athletics and alumni giving evidence from a highly selective Liberal Arts College.” Journal of Sports Economics, vol. 9(5), pp. 538-552. Rolland, G. (2011). Market Players: A Guide to the Institutions in Todays Financial Markets. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Roose, K. (2014). Young Money: Inside the Hidden World of Wall Streets Post-Crash Recruits. London: Grand Central Publishing. Sun, X., Hoffman, S. and Grady, M. (2007). “A multivariate causal model of alumni giving: Implications for alumni fundraisers.” International Journal of Educational Advancement, vol. 7, pp. 307-332. University of Birmingham. (2013). Charitable donations to the University of Birmingham almost double in a year as giving to UK universities reach record high. Retrieved from http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/alumni/news/items/2013/04/Charitable-donations-to-the-University-of-Birmingham-almost-double-in-a-year-as-giving-to-UK-universities-reaches-record-high-.aspx Wunnava, P. and Lauze, M. (2001). “Alumni giving at a small liberal arts college: Evidence from consistent and occasional donors.” Economics of Education Review, vol. 20, pp. 533-543. Read More