If student loans are holding you back, would you be likely to give $5 or $10 or $20 if you got something asking you for a gift that specifically asked for that amount?
No, because deducting $5-20 isn't worth deducting on my taxes. If I'm donating somewhere I want to be able to deduct it. (This is all hypothetical because I can't deduct anything on my US taxes.)
Though I would contribute that amount to a fundraiser at work or to a kid, with no paper trail/deduction. I guess it goes back to if you donate a little bit you'll be seen as low hanging fruit and hit up for more.
I'm also not sure I would donate because I never got any scholarships. I feel like the onus to donate is on people who got financial help, not me.
If student loans are holding you back, would you be likely to give $5 or $10 or $20 if you got something asking you for a gift that specifically asked for that amount?
No, because deducting $5-20 isn't worth deducting on my taxes. If I'm donating somewhere I want to be able to deduct it. (This is all hypothetical because I can't deduct anything on my US taxes.)
Though I would contribute that amount to a fundraiser at work or to a kid, with no paper trail/deduction. I guess it goes back to if you donate a little bit you'll be seen as low hanging fruit and hit up for more.
I'm also not sure I would donate because I never got any scholarships. I feel like the onus to donate is on people who got financial help, not me.
So you don't see your alma mater as worth supporting at all? My question was more for people who wanted to donate, but didn't want to donate now and wanted to donate in the future.
You mention that you didn't receive a scholarship. If at your school, say tuition only covered 75% of your actual education and gifts to the annual fund made up the difference. Thus even full pay students received a "silent scholarship" because without philanthropy, tuition would have been more. If that was the case at your school, and you got a solicitation that talked about that, would it motivate you to give? BE HONEST! No judgement, I'm truly asking because I want to know the answer.
If student loans are holding you back, would you be likely to give $5 or $10 or $20 if you got something asking you for a gift that specifically asked for that amount?
Again, not trying to be critical or call people out individually. Just trying to find ways to tweak the messaging at work to appeal to people if you DO want to support the college but are holding back for one reason or another.
Because I don't feel $5-10 (or even $20) really makes a difference to a big ol' university/college. If you could show otherwise I could be swayed.
No, because deducting $5-20 isn't worth deducting on my taxes. If I'm donating somewhere I want to be able to deduct it. (This is all hypothetical because I can't deduct anything on my US taxes.)
Though I would contribute that amount to a fundraiser at work or to a kid, with no paper trail/deduction. I guess it goes back to if you donate a little bit you'll be seen as low hanging fruit and hit up for more.
I'm also not sure I would donate because I never got any scholarships. I feel like the onus to donate is on people who got financial help, not me.
So you don't see your alma mater as worth supporting at all? My question was more for people who wanted to donate, but didn't want to donate now and wanted to donate in the future.
You mention that you didn't receive a scholarship. If at your school, say tuition only covered 75% of your actual education and gifts to the annual fund made up the difference. Thus even full pay students received a "silent scholarship" because without philanthropy, tuition would have been more. If that was the case at your school, and you got a solicitation that talked about that, would it motivate you to give? BE HONEST! No judgement, I'm truly asking because I want to know the answer.
Bold 1: No, no, not that. They do good work and I know it.
Bold 2: I'm sure that was the case. I went to a state school in a state that has miraculously maintained a good cash flow, though I know state funding for the university has gone down (hence modest tuition hikes).
If I could see clear numbers about how much contributions help students (state funding has gone down X%, so we need to hike tuition Y% unless you contribute) that would be a better motivator. I work in higher ed so I see the correlation between state funding reduction and tuition hikes, but I don't think most people do.
If student loans are holding you back, would you be likely to give $5 or $10 or $20 if you got something asking you for a gift that specifically asked for that amount?
No, because deducting $5-20 isn't worth deducting on my taxes. If I'm donating somewhere I want to be able to deduct it. (This is all hypothetical because I can't deduct anything on my US taxes.)
Though I would contribute that amount to a fundraiser at work or to a kid, with no paper trail/deduction. I guess it goes back to if you donate a little bit you'll be seen as low hanging fruit and hit up for more.
I'm also not sure I would donate because I never got any scholarships. I feel like the onus to donate is on people who got financial help, not me.
Really? This POV surprises me. Maybe because I've attended NFP schools my whole life, with no scholarships, but the idea of giving back to continue the education I received has been engrained....especially when most schools spend more (about 20% more) to educate each child than the cost of tuition. Annual funds and the like support actual education above and beyond the cost of tuition. So even those who pay the full amount are benefiting from donations.
If student loans are holding you back, would you be likely to give $5 or $10 or $20 if you got something asking you for a gift that specifically asked for that amount?
Again, not trying to be critical or call people out individually. Just trying to find ways to tweak the messaging at work to appeal to people if you DO want to support the college but are holding back for one reason or another.
Because I don't feel $5-10 (or even $20) really makes a difference to a big ol' university/college. If you could show otherwise I could be swayed.
So you don't see your alma mater as worth supporting at all? My question was more for people who wanted to donate, but didn't want to donate now and wanted to donate in the future.
You mention that you didn't receive a scholarship. If at your school, say tuition only covered 75% of your actual education and gifts to the annual fund made up the difference. Thus even full pay students received a "silent scholarship" because without philanthropy, tuition would have been more. If that was the case at your school, and you got a solicitation that talked about that, would it motivate you to give? BE HONEST! No judgement, I'm truly asking because I want to know the answer.
Bold 1: No, no, not that. They do good work and I know it.
Bold 2: I'm sure that was the case. I went to a state school in a state that has miraculously maintained a good cash flow, though I know state funding for the university has gone down (hence modest tuition hikes).
If I could see clear numbers about how much contributions help students (state funding has gone down X%, so we need to hike tuition Y% unless you contribute) that would be a better motivator. I work in higher ed so I see the correlation between state funding reduction and tuition hikes, but I don't think most people do.
So you think your alma mater is worth supporting. You want to give, but you previously stated student loans are holding you back. Would you give a participatory gift (say between $5-$100/year) if you saw the stats you mentioned above even with your student loans? Or would you still wait until they are paid off?
Again, no judgement from me. These are some of the challenges we are running into at my work and we are struggling with developing a compelling message. It might be that nothing will convince some people and that is cool. But we are trying to focus on he people that tell us they think we are great and they love us but want to give to us later. And we are trying to figure out how to make the case to this pool of potential donors that we need their support now. Like I would rather get $5/year for 5 years than a one time gift of $25.
I'm curious - for those who place a priority on this - did you go to a public or private college? What is the college/university doing with your money that you feel this is a priority? I feel like I'm missing something.
For the record - we *do* give to charities, just not our schools.
I don't donate now, but plan to when I'm in residency.
I went to a public university (out of state for me).
I plan to donate to the athletic department, specifically to the sport I played because I had a great 4 years on the team. I know the money will go where it's needed and help student-athletes.
What do you mean you feel like you're missing something?
Bold 1: No, no, not that. They do good work and I know it.
Bold 2: I'm sure that was the case. I went to a state school in a state that has miraculously maintained a good cash flow, though I know state funding for the university has gone down (hence modest tuition hikes).
If I could see clear numbers about how much contributions help students (state funding has gone down X%, so we need to hike tuition Y% unless you contribute) that would be a better motivator. I work in higher ed so I see the correlation between state funding reduction and tuition hikes, but I don't think most people do.
So you think your alma mater is worth supporting. You want to give, but you previously stated student loans are holding you back. Would you give a participatory gift (say between $5-$100/year) if you saw the stats you mentioned above even with your student loans? Or would you still wait until they are paid off?
Again, no judgement from me. These are some of the challenges we are running into at my work and we are struggling with developing a compelling message. It might be that nothing will convince some people and that is cool. But we are trying to focus on he people that tell us they think we are great and they love us but want to give to us later. And we are trying to figure out how to make the case to this pool of potential donors that we need their support now. Like I would rather get $5/year for 5 years than a one time gift of $25.
I would be more likely to donate, yes. Like AAM2012 said, what can my $5 do? Some examples of what my (or me and 100 of my classmates) $5 can actually do would be helpful. I know there are rich, old alumni who donate millions. So what use is my piddly $5? I'd like to know.
Unlike many, my student loans aren't crippling (graduated 2005). I imagine people who graduated after that have a much heavier burden to carry.
I'm curious - for those who place a priority on this - did you go to a public or private college? What is the college/university doing with your money that you feel this is a priority? I feel like I'm missing something.
For the record - we *do* give to charities, just not our schools.
I don't donate now, but plan to when I'm in residency.
I went to a public university (out of state for me).
I plan to donate to the athletic department, specifically to the sport I played because I had a great 4 years on the team. I know the money will go where it's needed and help student-athletes.
What do you mean you feel like you're missing something?
This is a good point about earmarking. I know it's a slippery slope (everybody wants a fancy new health center with their name on it, nobody wants to chip in for unsexy, badly needed infrastructure upgrades). I've never seen anything about earmarking coming from my alumni office.
I got free airfare for my study abroad experience (I amend my previous "I got nothing" statement), and that semester changed my whole universe, so I would absolutely throw down cash earmarked for that. Small town Midwest kids who want to get out and see the world, but don't have the funds to make it happen? Let me write you a check...
I don't give to either of my schools. I don't feel any school pride or loyalty to them - if anything I feel embarrassed that I didn't go somewhere better.
My undergrad was mostly chosen because of good financial aid, beautiful location, and not knowing WTF I should be looking for. I realized within the first year it was not a good academic choice (when several of my friends were on academic probation for barely graduating HS...) but I didn't really want to be in college to begin with (didn't know WTF I wanted to do) so I figured it was easier to stick around than to transfer. By the time I got serious about my studies, I'd already earned too many credits, had tons of great friends, etc and didn't want to leave. They were of no help picking the proper grad program or helping me find my way, at all. Some of that onus is probably on me to have sought more help, but I didn't know what I was doing as a first generation student and while I don't BLAME them for not stepping in, I don't feel I owe them anything either (other than my SL money, which I still pay).
Grad school was slightly better, because I was in a small program and the professors were great. But there is no alumni network to speak of, and when I finished school they were of no help with getting a job. I also feel I got somewhat bad advice to study abroad instead of doing an internship (I wanted to study abroad but worried it would hurt me not to do an internship... I was basically told "you'll have no trouble finding a job either way, so do what you want!"). Again, I can't blame the school itself but again I was the first to go to grad school in my family and didn't know what to do. Further, my program isn't there anymore so while I might think about supporting the program in some way, that's not even an option.
I pay $350 a month for SLs right now, and I believe in many charities I'd rather support. Education is absolutely important to me, which is part of why I've worked for an educational institution for the last 6 years and I'm trying to get a job at a university. I'd rather support education that way, or even donate to some general education fund, than directly to schools that I didn't feel were the best education for me.
For people that don't give now but would consider it some day, just wondering what is stopping you? Is there anything the development office could do that would make you donate now instead of waiting?
I'm not trying to criticize your choice, just inquiring if there is something a development office could do that would make you ready to give now.
For me, it was largely bitterness at my undergrad for some things they did during my senior year that have prevented me from donating, so what I really needed was time to let that settle and memories of the good things to be more prominent. We're going to give for the first time this year and it's been more than a decade. I realize this doesn't really help you, but there's probably nothing the development office could have said/done to change my mind in the meantime. Actually, though, receiving requests at all just reminded me of the bitterness and may have made it take longer.
Yes I always give. Participation matters! If you want to give, it doesn't have to be a big gift. Give $5 or whatever you can afford (if you want to). I wouldn't let a car payment or something stop in the way of giving if you want to give. Surely you can go without one cocktail one evening or find another way to cut $5 from your budget.
If you don't want to give, then don't. But for me personally, I do. It is one of my philanthropic priorities.
For starters: H is finishing up grad school and we are still racking up large student loans, so are not donating now primarily due to that.
However, when we do get more financially secure, I don't think we will donate to our undergrad (we went to the same school.) It is a private institution but a very large one and I feel that the tuition is quite reasonable - especially now that we are at a different private university for H's graduate degree and the tuition is so incredibly expensive. I think maybe that has made me less concerned about donating to scholarships programs at my undergrad, now that the current university he's attending is so forefront in our minds. I'm not sure if my alma mater could do much at this point to convince me that they really need my money, but perhaps.
We do plan to donate to his current program someday, but it probably won't be for quite some time because we are so far in student loan debt. However, he has talked a lot about wanting to give to his specific program - it is a younger program and we really hope to someday be able to give back to it. He has loved being there so much.
I don't give to the college I graduated from, nor do I plan to. I don't feel they lived up to their promises. The college I first attended, however, is a place I feel moved to donate to. They provided me the only chance I saw as a young, poor kid to go to college at all.
I know there are rich, old alumni who donate millions. So what use is my piddly $5? I'd like to know.
LoveTrains - I don't know if this helps what you're working on, but we always talk about the annual fund running on two equally important tracks. "Leadership gifts matter because they account for 85% of the dollars raised, but when we talk to our donors who give at that level they want to know that we have the support of the broader community and that everyone is doing their part. It's important for them to know that 30% of our alumni, 80% of our parents and 97% of our faculty support the annual fund. Your participation matters because it reflects on the strength of the school as an institution and broad support among our constituents inspires donors who can make large gifts to do so."
Thanks kaylie. We do use that message with our fac/staff campaign but maybe we should broaden it and bring it to our alumni, too. We have been focusing more on "your gift inspires others to give and can help us receive grants from foundations" but it is definitely something that can be tweaked and adjusted. I think we are really struggling with donors that are 35 and younger that is why I was so curious to hear what people think on this board.
I don't donate to my college since the location I went to closed. I do donate to my high school's scholarship fund. My H donates to his high school and college since he received generous scholarships to both and he likes to give back.
I give nominal amounts to both my college and grad school, both of which are private and gave me significant scholarships. I might feel less obligated to give if the circumstances were different.