March 25, 2008
For Princeton Seniors, (Gift) Size Doesn't Matter
Princeton University is in the middle of a $1.75-billion fund-raising campaign and officials are pushing members of the senior class to contribute to it, after they graduate, through the annual fund, according to an article in the Daily Princetonian.
“It’s the great leveler. Whether you are in your first job after graduation or whether you’re celebrating your 50th reunion, annual giving is a way to contribute what it is you’re capable of providing,” Shirley M. Caldwell Tilghman, president of Princeton, told the newspaper.
But at a time when headlines tout the plethora of multimillion-dollar donations to higher education, it’s easy to see why some potential benefactors might not feel that their smaller gifts make much of a difference. Bobbie Strand, a partner at Bentz Whaley Flessner Consultants, a firm that specializes in capital campaigns, of course disagreed with that theory.
“Every gift, whether it’s $1,000 or $100-million, is a sign of support,” she said in the article. “And if it is relative to that person’s capacity to give, then I’d say that $1,000 gift is just as important.”
Erin Strout | Posted on Tuesday March 25, 2008 | PermalinkComments
Previous: Investing in Fund Raising Is Paying Off in South Carolina
Next: A Quiet Departure and Unresolved Campaign Goal
It’s the preferential treatment of large donors over the smaller donors that effects the thinking and contributions of the smaller donors. A $1000 donation to the church seems much more appreciated than the same amount to a large university. A recent news story from Dallas,Texas regarding The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center,they keep a VIP list and CLEARLY identify large donors and provide them benefits that small donors would not receive. In fact,it is evident that the university buys seasonal gifts for large donors while sending a form letter to small donors.The large donors also receive a private telephone number to make a doctor’s appointment and they can receive after hours,even home visits,from doctors on the VIP physician list.Small donors ,in this particular case,may actually be the ones donating funds to purchase the gifts for large donors.Of course the university,having its own internal auditor review the use of donor funds declared them all 100% legitimate and appropriate. Like the auditor who works directly for the president would say something different?
— Brent Mar 25, 01:31 PM #