The seventh of Richardson and Basinger’s laws of fundraising was:
Law #7: Seek Investments, not gifts. It is important for donors who want to be more involved in changing the world, beyond giving a mere monetary gift. You need to look for people who will not only invest their money, but also their time and ideas. Donors will usually not give unless they know the organization. It also helps if the organization knows them. This process is called engagement. You need to engage donors in the organization. Truly engaged donors will work to introduce and involve their friends and relatives.
This post will consider how this fits into the processes of student recruitment, retention, and alumni development.
Recruitment: A college or university should seek prospective students who want to change their world and who will be changed by their campus experiences. An institution should seek students who are willing to invest their time, money and efforts in changing themselves, and not those students who will use just their bodies to fill classroom seats part of the time they are enrolled. Many prospective students today are looking to change their world and are actively seeking an institution that will equip them to do that. If prospective students do not have the sense that the institution will make a difference in their lives or will not meet their needs, they will not typically enroll. If they do enroll they will not fill the classroom seats. These students will say “No, thanks!” and take their tuition dollars with them to another institution that will serve them better and will make more of a change in their lives, so that they change their world.
Retention: Once students are enrolled, if they are not continually challenged to better themselves and equipped to change their world, they will pick up their bodies from the classroom chairs, say “Good-Bye” and take their tuition dollars elsewhere. Most of today’s students understand the ancient Chinese proverb:
As I sought to change my world, I discovered that I first needed to change my country. But to change my country, I found that I needed to change my state. However, to change my state, I needed to change my city. In order to change my city, I perceived that I must first change my neighborhood. As I sought to change my neighborhood, it was clear that I must first change my family. In order to change my family, it was obvious that I must first change myself.
So to change the world, today’s students must first seek to change themselves. They should be ready to invest their time, money and effort in changing themselves. If any institution hopes to succeed, it must be in the business of changing students.
Alumni: Alumni have already invested much of their time, money and effort in their Alma Maters as students. However, it is imperative that institutions continue to ask them to maintain the investment of their time, money and effort in these institutions, so that future students can receive the same education and benefits that they received. To be successful in this approach, an institution’s alumni would normally have to have been satisfied with their previous investment. To ask for additional investments to change the world, the alumni need to be satisfied that the institution helped them be prepared to change the world.
The new investment sought from alumni can be in the form of time, expertise, as well as money. You may ask alumni to serve as resource persons as guest lecturers, mentors for practica, internship or job shadowing opportunities, or as participants on advisory boards to assist in program development. Time investments can also be in the form of a volunteer recruiter, speaking to prospective students and their families, telling the story of the institution or distributing promotional materials. One area of investment opportunities often overlooked is the life-long learning opportunities afforded alumni “teaching” other alumni. Alumni can provide admission referrals to their fellow employees, to their circle of community organizations, or to the members of their professional network.
Finally the investment sought from alumni can be in the form of financial support for academic programming, for athletics or other co-curricular endeavors, for equipment and facility expansions, for budgetary relief in the areas of personnel and operating expenses, and for endowment, especially in the area of scholarships for current and prospective students.
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