In a volatile economic climate, Alumni Weekend is more than a time for former Duke students to relive their college pasts-it is a chance for the University to raise funds to brighten its present and future financial outlook.
Gifts from alumni have dropped 15 percent from last financial year but have weathered the financial crisis better than the University's overall private donation total, which is down 23 percent so far, said Peter Vaughn, executive director of Alumni and Development Communications. The alumni participation level has fallen 7 percent this year, and the Office of Alumni Affairs and Development Communications has also received fewer major gifts from former students this year, he noted.
Contributions from alumni typically comprise about 15 to 20 percent of Duke's private donation total, and an even greater proportion of gifts made to the University are influenced by former students, Vaughn said. Alumni Affairs and Development Communications has concluded that it will probably not reach its goals for alumni giving this year, but it has not given up the fight.
"I think it's fair to say that all gifts are particularly important this year, because of the losses to the endowment," Vaughn said. "This is not to say that we don't understand that a number of people are in difficult straits. We understand that, but the job of the Development Office is to ask for support for Duke. There's been no adjustments to the benchmarks-we set those before the year started. We are all pretty much in agreement that we're not going to make them this year, but that doesn't mean we're not going to try."
Alumni Affairs and Development Communications has not adapted its tactics for soliciting donations to cope with the financial crisis, Vaughn said.
But juniors EB Kuhn and Alison Norris-supervisors of the Duke Annual Fund's Phonathon, a group of students that appeals to alumni and parents of current Dukies for small and mid-range gifts-said they have adopted a more aggressive approach to work with reluctant donors. They added that the group is now rewarding its most successful callers with raises and candy to keep its totals afloat in the recession.
"We've had to be much more forceful," Norris said. "We've also had to coach our callers a little more on how to push for a gift while at the same time respecting the position that the families are in. Usually the donors that we call are a little more willing to give. It's definitely tougher now."
The Phonathon has raised $409,000 so far this year, lagging significantly behind the $479,000 the group raised last financial year. Norris and Kuhn said the recession has reminded them of the importance of each gift-they stress to alumni that their fundraising participation levels are taken into account in U.S. News and World Report's college rankings system.
"Usually about 80 percent of the money we raise comes from a handful of people," Kuhn said. "In this economy, we can't rely on those heavy hitters as much as we usually do. The best way for us to try and reach our goals is to get everyone to give, even if it's not as much as they usually do. We try to tell our callers to reinforce to everyone they speak to that they are doing a great service, no matter how much they give."
Although donations are not solicited during Alumni Weekend, Vaughn noted that the reunion gifts are very important to the annual fund totals, as class giving typically spikes during reunion years. In the past, classes routinely met their benchmarks, but almost no groups reached their goals this year, he said.
Many alumni who returned to campus this past weekend said they did not feel heightened pressure to give to ease the losses to Duke's endowment.
"I don't think the [push to donate] was stronger than normal," said Decker Chaney, Trinity '04. "The campaign was more a competition [between classes] than a sob story about the economy."
The recession has not dampened Steve Williams' desire to donate-he said he recognizes that contributions to the University are important in any year. But he said he felt the impact of the economy in another way.
"I've seen fewer of my friends at my 10-year reunion [than at my five-year reunion]," said Williams, Pratt '99. "Attendance in general seems to be down. Job loss and having to pay to fly here make it hard."
But for those who can make it, Vaughn said Alumni Weekend will always be a time of celebration-even if the reunion classes cannot toast to their donation totals.
"A gift in any year is something to appreciate and be celebrated," he said. "Whether [the alumni] make their goals or not, this weekend is about getting people back to Duke so they can experience the school like they did when they were students."
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