The Importance of Alum Participation

Strong alum participation is the key to sustainable philanthropic support and the long-term success of Vassar.

Annual fund dollars are key to our success and provide an important source of flexible and spendable revenue that has an immediate impact on today’s students, faculty, and programs. It is money to “live on” versus money to “grow on,” which typically comes in the form of designated and capital support.

For most educational institutions, the majority of donors will be alums—although there are other key donor groups such as parents, students, faculty, staff, and friends. Alum donor count is used to calculate alum participation by dividing it by the number of living solicitable alums on record. We do the same calculation to determine each graduating class’s individual participation rate.

5 reasons why alum participation is important

1. It adds up – Annual gifts (even at very modest levels) can have just as much impact as major gifts when they are pooled together, and their impact can be more immediately felt than funds generated by an endowment.

2. It influences reputation – Alum participation is one factor used when evaluating and ranking colleges and universities. Rankings can affect reputation, reputation can affect enrollment, and enrollment can affect revenue from tuition. Participation rates can also be a point of pride among peers—even for those institutions (e.g., independent schools, graduate schools) that don’t rely on them in their ranking calculations. Additionally, think of a diploma as if it were a stock certificate. As the quality of the institution grows, so does the value of your degree!

3. It inspires others – People want to give to a winning cause. High levels of alum participation can influence major donors, corporations, and foundations when they’re considering their own investments. They want to give to institutions that others are supporting too.

4. It hedges risk – Alum giving creates a broad and diverse base of support which helps ensure that institutions don’t have to rely on the same donors year after year.

5. It builds a pipeline – Consistent giving by alums in the years immediately following their graduation increases the likelihood that they will become major donors later in life, make planned gifts, and/or include their alma mater in their estate plans.

Not to mention, it feels good to give back to the students, faculty, and the community that helped to shape you and gave so much to you while a student at Vassar.

Can we count on YOU to help keep Vassar extraordinary and accessible and to help us get back on track?

This article was partly adapted from the book Ideas for Annual Giving by Dan Allenby. Copyright (c) 2016 Council for Advancement and Support of Education.