Calls to Alumni requesting $$

[Mardi Gras Audrey]

Do you guys get these kind of calls?

I got my first one today and I was kind of snarky    I didn't mean to be but the girl asked if she could put me down for $250 to pay for scholarships, etc. 

I replied "I am not going to make ANY financial obligation based on a phone call".  So, she repeated what she was saying about "keeping the school updated, giving scholarships to students, etc" then asked if I would commit to $50.  I repeated that I "wouldn't make ANY financial obligation based on a phone call".  

She said she understood and asked if my contact info was all up to date. I confirmed it was and then....

She asked if she could put me down for $25.    This is the point where I got snarky.  I told her that I said I wouldn't make any commitment based on a phone call twice so asking me a third time is not appreciated.  I said I understood she was just trying to get funds but if someone says no twice, continuing to ask them over and over again is not appropriate.

How do you guys respond to these calls?

FWIW, I just graduated a year ago.  Most of my classmates have ~$200k in student loans.  She kept taking about how ~97% of students get financial aid because of "alumni donations".  As someone who got no financial aid through the school, continuing to repeat that statistic is kind of irritating. My aid came from the federal govt (my military service), otherwise I would have gotten a fat nuthin. 

[Peace77]

No.  We didn't give them our phone number.  

Anyway, I hate it when people don't listen.

[chiver78]

I still haven't figured out how the school got my unlisted number, but they managed to find me in my first condo. as the U had made a bunch of changes to the overall character of the school in the couple years after I graduated, that I didn't at all care for, I haven't contributed back as an alumna. I didn't get overly snarky with the first caller, but when I kept receiving calls after having asked that first caller to remove my contact info from their lists, I got snarky later on.

and FTR, I don't think you were snarky.

[Deleted]

They haven't tracked me down even though I'm a lifetime member of the Alumni Association. Possibly it's because I haven't sent them a dime. I give generously to a few charities, but my parents paid the sticker price for my education and, while I got the basis for a good career, I chose the right classes and I worked hard. They didn't do anything special.

[giramomma]

Yes. Not only do we get phone calls, but we get emails. Yes, they are pushy. I've been known to hang up on them if they keep pressing.

That said, I don't blame them.

Our university system got a 250 million cut the last two years. We're slated to have another 2 billion dollar deficit in state budget in the next cycle (2017-2019).

I'm sure we'll have another round of cuts in two years, equal to what we had this last time.

I think state funds now provide 17% of the university's total funding. And that percentage is just going to get smaller..Money has to come from somewhere..

When the currents cuts were looming, the chancellor was trying to get alums to advocate on behalf of the University system, writing letters, calling lawmakers, etc.

[giramomma]

Weird double post.

[emma1420]

I get a call every year asking for money.  I don't get the hard sell though.   I give every January, and so I tell them I've already made my donation for the year.  I do try and be nice, as I remember doing the very same job when I was in college.  But, again, there isn't a hard sell.  And I didn't start donating until I been out of school for at least a decade.

i do get a ton of emails and Mail about donating, which is just a waste of postage.  But, I went to a small private liberal arts college, and they are highly dependent on donations.  So I donate because I know where that money goes.

[cael]

I did that (worked in the annual fund office) for about 2 months when I was in college, I already had call center experience and figured I could make a little dough while I was on campus (I went home every weekend to work in my real job). It wasn't great... I didn't like making outgoing calls, my real job was incoming calls and outgoing was just not my forte. I understand the program and why they do it but you have to be cheery, overbearing, laid back and pushy all at the same and I was just basically none of those things, lol. It's their job to not let you off the phone after your first decline, unfortunately. It is/was annoying to me then as the person doing it, and would be now as an alum. I don't get calls from UMass but I get emails pretty regularly, I just ignore them (I'd maaaybe donate to my department if I had any money to do so)

[bean29]

I get calls from DH's alma matter all the time.  I have 2 kids in college there, and they get no assistance.  I always tell them unless they are going to give scholarship assistance to my kids, I have to save all my $$ to pay their tuition bills.<br><br>DH always reminds me to be nice to the callers, but it is hard.<br><br>I also don't feel that my alma matter did me any favors.  I paid my tuition bill myself.  Most of it was re-imbursed by my employer.  I am very thankful that DH and I went to college right out of HS.  We may have gotten jobs in a recessionary market, but with very little in student loans, we are so much further ahead today that we would have been otherwise.<br><br><br>

[lynnerself]

I graduated almost 40 years ago, have moved multiple times and never donated or gave them my address.
And yet they always have found me and sent stuff in the mail or called. It's a little bit scary.

[Cookies Galore]

I don't answer the phone if I don't know the number, so my university could call all day if they want. I ain't answering.

I get a lot of alumni mail, it goes straight to the trash.

[msventoux]

Sept 20, 2015 20:15:47 GMT -5 Cookies Galore said:

I don't answer the phone if I don't know the number, so my university could call all day if they want. I ain't answering.

I get a lot of alumni mail, it goes straight to the trash.

I paid for my education out of pocket and didn't get any assistance.  Had some horrible teachers...and a few good ones.  The school gets plenty of money from the state and keeps raising tuition by an alarming amount.  Yet they keep cutting classes and programs and raising the university president's salary and bonus.  They'll never get a dime from me. 

[steph08]

I try to be nice because I know the callers are students just trying to make minimum wage.

I usually do $20/year. I got a lot of assistance from my college, so I was able to go to a smaller private school rather than the big, local state school. Some day I would like to do more.

Just a question - if you were to donate - how would you do it? You said you wouldn't donate based on a phone call. Do you want them to mail you something? Send someone to your house? Invite you to homecoming and hit you up for donations?

[Deleted]

Sept 20, 2015 20:12:19 GMT -5 lynnerself said:

I graduated almost 40 years ago, have moved multiple times and never donated or gave them my address.
And yet they always have found me and sent stuff in the mail or called. It's a little bit scary.

Most organizations that get the mass mailing rate are required to run their mailing lists against the changes of address reported to the Post Office. Nearly everything catches up with me that way.

[alabamagal]

I haven't had any calls from my alma mater in several years

Worst time for a call though was from the school my 2 boys were attending. They were asking for parents to make donations. WTF. I have 2 kids in college it's not like I have extra money sitting around.

[mollyanna58]

I received no financial aid at all.  The year I graduated, my university gave an honorary degree to a rock star. I received my first alumni magazine with an article about the graduation ceremony (which I did not attend).  The article quoted the student who had nominated the rock star, who said basically that she knew he was giving a concert at the Meadowlands that night and figured he would be free in the afternoon.   The article was headlined something like, "Rock star, 3 rich businessmen, 2 famous athletes, politician, and 2,500 students received degrees".  I wrote to the university and said that since they made clear where the paying students ranked in importance, they could delete me from any and all mailing lists.  I've never heard another word from them. 

[busymom]

DH & I not only get calls from the college we attended, but we're already getting calls from DD's college, & she's still a student at her school.     But, I DO pay attention to caller ID, & I don't pick up when they call... 

[jackb1117]

Sept 20, 2015 19:30:31 GMT -5 Mardi Gras Audrey said:

Do you guys get these kind of calls?

I got my first one today and I was kind of snarky    I didn't mean to be but the girl asked if she could put me down for $250 to pay for scholarships, etc. 

I replied "I am not going to make ANY financial obligation based on a phone call".  So, she repeated what she was saying about "keeping the school updated, giving scholarships to students, etc" then asked if I would commit to $50.  I repeated that I "wouldn't make ANY financial obligation based on a phone call".  

She said she understood and asked if my contact info was all up to date. I confirmed it was and then....

She asked if she could put me down for $25.    This is the point where I got snarky.  I told her that I said I wouldn't make any commitment based on a phone call twice so asking me a third time is not appreciated.  I said I understood she was just trying to get funds but if someone says no twice, continuing to ask them over and over again is not appropriate.

How do you guys respond to these calls?

FWIW, I just graduated a year ago.  Most of my classmates have ~$200k in student loans.  She kept taking about how ~97% of students get financial aid because of "alumni donations".  As someone who got no financial aid through the school, continuing to repeat that statistic is kind of irritating. My aid came from the federal govt (my military service), otherwise I would have gotten a fat nuthin. 

Oh man, so many memories haha.

This was my work-study job when I was an undergrad. In addition to my ~30hr/wk part time restaurant job, I worked in our 'alumni call center' about 12hrs/wk. One of the hardest jobs I have ever worked. I remember dreading getting aassigned to the 'recent alumni' list for the night- calling recent grads (likely with lots of student loans from my private school)- got lots of people saying horrible things to me- but I totally understood why.

I think that my undergrad program is horribly overpriced (like many other programs) due to a variety of reasons- but partially out of sympathy for those student callers and partially because I got a fair amount of financial assistance for my studies I generally give a few bucks. And I spent a couple minutes talking to then because I can still remember how nice it was to have a pleasant conversation among the many people hanging up on me or telling me where to put my phone haha.

It has become harder now that my wife and I have 5 degrees (and counting) from 3 different schools-but 5min and $10-25/yr per school is worth it to me.

[tcu2003]

I get them from my undergrad and my grad school, but I've never been asked for that high of an amount in a phone call (there are amounts listed that high/higher in direct mailings, along with a wide range of other options). I typically give to my undergrad alma mater yearly - but to my specific department. I received a significant amount of scholarships and grants, and had a wonderful experience. Twelve years after graduation I'm still close to several of my former profs and support staff, so it's worth it to me.

My grad school on the other hand, not so much. I gave a small amount once, and now use ignore their calls since they are the only people who ever call from that area code.

[tcu2003]

Does anyone else's school do thank you calls? I was in a service group in underside, and once per semester we were supposed to call recent donors just to thank them for their donation, tell them what kinds of new things were going on around campus, and answer any questions they had. We in no way solicited money/additional donations, so while I occasionally had a grumpy conversation with someone who thought I was calling to ask for more money, usually it was a blast and most people loved the thank you call. I especially loved talking to the people who had graduated 40+ years ago and hearing them reminisce about their college days.

[Mardi Gras Audrey]

Sept 20, 2015 20:39:02 GMT -5 steph08 said:

I try to be nice because I know the callers are students just trying to make minimum wage.

I usually do $20/year. I got a lot of assistance from my college, so I was able to go to a smaller private school rather than the big, local state school. Some day I would like to do more.

Just a question - if you were to donate - how would you do it? You said you wouldn't donate based on a phone call. Do you want them to mail you something? Send someone to your house? Invite you to homecoming and hit you up for donations?

If I was to donate, it would probably be through mail or an email.  I donate regularly to the girl scout organization, pet shelter, battered women's shelter, and food bank in my hometown (where I grew up).  I haven't lived there for 15 years but still remember the good things they did while I lived there (Girl Scout org gave me a partial scholarship to attend camp, etc).

I have mixed feelings about this particular school (I went to 7 different colleges/universities so I obviously don't want to be hit up by all of them. DH went to 5 colleges so between us, we are at 12).  I enjoyed my time there but there are a lot of things they did that I didn't agree with.  A lot of it has to do with recruiting and what they say their goals are.  The way they recruit doesn't match what they say their goals are.  When they reminded me that "97% of their students get financial aid", yet I was part of the 3% that didn't because I chose to work and save for my education, that kind of burns me up.  It just reminds me of how messed up our financial aid system is and makes me wonder why I should put my money in to support students who won't work while attending school.

 They also are somewhat elitist about what "one of their grads should be doing after graduation" and I find that somewhat off-putting.  

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

I used to get those calls ~ they seem to have stopped. When they DID call, I'd merely ask them to sing the school song. When they couldn't ... I'd respond with a "If you don't care enough about the school to sing its song, why would you expect me to care enough to write a check"

[marvholly]

I have NEVER gotten phone calls from my school - U of I, 1968. Just snail mail 2-3x/year.

DD1 has gotten some calls here (here official residence from her 1st grad school) - U Chicago, 1998.  After I explained she no longer lives here & REFUSED to give her new number the calls stopped but I get snail mail about 6x/year.  Nothing from her undergrad schools.

DD2 - think I got some calls but answered same as for DD1.  Calls stopped, don't recall any snail mail.

[resolution]

They stopped calling after I asked them to put m eon their do not call list. I would no more donate to them than to any other business where I have purchased a product.

[cael]

My dad went to Penn, and he gets mailings about what the graduates of the class of '67 (or whatever) are up to and how much they've donated to whatever cause (MILLIONS) - we just laugh, yeah sure, my dad with his Ivy League education and 40 years in state human services sure can roll with the millionaires he does not donate to Penn, they donate to my mom's state university instead if they can lol.

He is interested in their 50th reunion though, he still sees several of his college buddies sometimes - they're all 70 year old men and still act like 20 years olds.

[garion2003]

I don't like talking on the phone to random strangers, so I never give out my phone number. My undergraduate college has my email and I get the usual solicitations, nothing what I would consider to be out of the ordinary. I usually give a small amount each year.

The type of call in the OP (can I put you down for 250? Can I put you down for 100? Can I put you down for 25?) reminds me of a well known non profit that I used to be involved in - I got a call from them at my parents house (I happened to be home for the holidays). Obviously their list was very old! And the person on the other end used this high pressure tactic and was very pushy. I am sure they were a third party hired to do the calls, but it really turned me off.

Also when I was in college, back in Ye Olden Days before email, once a semester I'd be asked to write a thank you letter for a donor. Easy to do and I'm sure it resulted in good will if not more donations.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I tell them between my loans and the money I had to pay out of pocket they got about $60k. They don't need anymore money out of me, I am busy paying my loans back.

[The Captain]

My undergrad was a private school, and I did get a decent amount of financial aid.  I used to give them an annual donation until DD was born, then we started her college savings.

My masters was from a well know, VERY well alumni supported State school.   Huge football program, etc.  Even thought the program I was in was one of the tops in the country, the school was all about the sports culture.  Paid full price (well, mostly my employer did), but it was reasonable IMHO.

I get the call from them about twice a year, and no - I don't donate.  I choose my causes.

[Tiny]

I use to get those calls too. I still get a "snail mail" request (usually preceded by a few glossy "yeah us!" and "our students are the best, here's all the wonderful stuff we provide to students - isn't it wonderful!" brochures/letters, apparently to 'soften me up' for the actual request for money) even though I graduated 15 years ago.

First off, the caller requesting money is tied to a script - they aren't suppose to vary from it. The caller was just following the script - since you stayed on the line and kept communicating with her. That conversation would have gone exactly the same even if you were speaking High Elfish or Klingon. Unfortunately, Human Nature's default is: if you can keep someone who doesn't want to do X involved AND make X appear easier - you have a better chance of getting the someone to cooperate with you. That's why the caller didn't say: "Oh, I see, you don't get money over the phone. Can I mail you something instead? No. Oh, ok, well, sorry to have bothered you. Bye".

Your best bet is, once you've figured out it's a call for money - is to politely say "No, Thank You. Bye." and hang up. If you haven't been consumed by despair over ever ending such calls - you could ask the caller to remove you from their list.

And last, no I don't contribute money to the Alumni association. I have the cynical view that any money contributed just benefits the friends and family of the "important people" who attend the school with a token amount going to things that directly benefit 'regular students'.

[Deleted]

Sept 20, 2015 22:02:16 GMT -5 tcu2003 said:

Does anyone else's school do thank you calls? I was in a service group in underside, and once per semester we were supposed to call recent donors just to thank them for their donation, tell them what kinds of new things were going on around campus, and answer any questions they had.

I think more of them should. Last year I posted here about being asked to make a donation to take kids from the Boys' and Girls' Club to The Nutcracker. Typically I donate to charities that supply more basic needs, but this one really resonated. I sent a check for 4 tickets. In January I got a thank-you note with an adorable drawing one of the kids had made, capturing lots of details. In color. Heck, yeah, I'll donate again if they ask me this year!