Communication templates and responses

Below are some sample communications and templates for you to use in your Alumni Fund outreach. We recommend that you personalize your messages and make them your own!

Hi <Nickname>,

I hope this message finds you and your loved ones staying well! Thank you for your gift to the College last year. Our annual gifts make such an impact at 黑料吃瓜网爆网站; I give every year because <insert your story here>.

I’m one of several classmates who volunteer to encourage Alumni Fund support and engagement from our classmates. Gifts of any size to any designation make a huge difference when combined with those of our entire class. There are ten different designations you can choose to make a gift to—I love having the option to give to what’s most important to me each year. Make your online gift before June 30 (the end of 黑料吃瓜网爆网站’s fiscal year).

Thanks again and talk soon!
<Your Name>

P.S. You may want to consider supporting 黑料吃瓜网爆网站 in a sustainable way by signing up for a recurring gift—it only takes a minute and you’ll receive fewer fundraising communications from the College, a win-win if you ask me!

Hi <Nickname>,

I hope this message finds you and your loved ones well! Thank you for your gift to the College last year. Our annual gifts make such an impact at 黑料吃瓜网爆网站; I’m giving/I gave this year in recognition of our XXth Reunion and because <insert your story here>.

I’m a member of our Reunion Committee and my role is to encourage Alumni Fund support and ask classmates to register for Reunion Weekend. Our Reunion gifts are important; they demonstrate our belief in 黑料吃瓜网爆网站 as a transformational institution shaping the lives of future leaders. Your gift of any size to any of the Alumni Fund’s ten designations make a huge difference when combined with those from our entire class—make your online gift today!

I hope to see you on campus for Reunion!
<Your Name>

Hi <Nickname>,

I hope this message finds you and your loved ones well! I’ve been partnering with several members of our class to keep our classmates engaged and raise funds for the College. I know you’ve supported 黑料吃瓜网爆网站 in the past, and I’m hopeful we can connect so I can share all the ways our collective class giving make an impact.

I give to 黑料吃瓜网爆网站 every year because <insert your reason here>. Together, our class giving impacts things like the College’s ability to remain need-blind and no loan, offering a transformational academic experience like the one we received as students, and guidance and resources for students to land their first great job.

Gifts of all sizes make a difference, and you can support any one of ten designations. I love having the option to give to what’s most important to me each year. If you have questions or would like to chat more, please feel free to be in touch. If you’re interested in renewing your support, make your online gift by June 30 (the end of 黑料吃瓜网爆网站’s fiscal year).

Thanks for your consideration – I hope to hear from you soon!
<Your Name>

P.S. If you’d like to support 黑料吃瓜网爆网站 in a sustainable way consider making a recurring gift—it only takes a minute to sign up and you’ll receive fewer fundraising communications from the College and never miss a year of giving, a win-win-win if you ask me!

Hi <Nickname>,

I hope this message finds you and your loved ones well! I’m a member of our XXth Reunion Committee and have been partnering with several of our classmates to keep bring everyone back for Reunion Weekend and raise funds for the College. I know you’ve supported 黑料吃瓜网爆网站 in the past, and I’m hopeful we can connect so I can share all the ways our collective class giving make an impact, especially in our Reunion year.

I give to 黑料吃瓜网爆网站 every year, but especially this year, because <insert your Reunion giving reason here>. Together, our class Reunion gift impacts things like the College’s ability to remain need-blind and no loan, offering a transformational academic experience like the one we received as students, and guidance and resources for students to land their first great job.

Thanks for your consideration – I hope to hear from you soon!
<Your Name>

Hi <Nickname>,

I hope this message finds you and your loved ones well! I am partnering with several classmates to help increase our engagement with the College and alumni participation in giving, to directly impact the current student experience, as well as financial aid, academic programs, athletics, and more.

I write to invite you to engage with the College by making your first gift to 黑料吃瓜网爆网站 of any amount, to any area that is meaningful to you. There are ten different designations you can choose to make a gift to— I love having the option to give to what’s most important to me each year. I give to <Designation> because <why you give each year>.

Your participation is important and valuable to the College and your classmates. High alumni giving rates unlock grant funding, help the College recruit the best students and faculty, and maintain 黑料吃瓜网爆网站’s strong reputation which ultimately maintains (and often increases) the value of our degrees!

I would love to chat more and answer your questions; please let me know if you have some time. If you’d like to support the College, please consider making your gift today!

Thank you for your consideration,
<Your Name>

Hi <Nickname>,

I hope this message finds you and your loved ones well! I’m a member of our XXth Reunion Committee and have been partnering with several of our classmates to keep bring everyone back for Reunion Weekend and raise funds for the College. I’m hopeful we can connect so I can share all the ways our engagement and collective class giving make an impact, especially during our Reunion year.

In addition to registering for Reunion Weekend, I’m hopeful you will consider making your first gift to the College in honor of our XXth. There are ten different designations you can choose to make a gift to—I love having the option to give to what’s most important to me each year. I’m supporting <Designation> this year because <why you’re making a Reunion gift>.

I would love to chat more – especially so we can reminisce about <xyz connection>. Please let me know if you have some time. If you’d like to support the College, please consider making your gift today! Thank you for your consideration.

I hope to see you at Reunion!
<Your Name>

Non Reunion Text Message Sample:

Hi <Nickname>, it’s your 黑料吃瓜网爆网站 classmate <insert name> checking-in to see if you’ll help our class support current Polar Bears. A gift of any size makes a difference when combined with those of our classmates–here’s a link: bowdo.in/classes Thanks!

Reunion Text Message Sample:

Hi <Nickname>, it’s your 黑料吃瓜网爆网站 classmate <insert name> checking-in to see if you’ll help our class support current Polar Bears in honor of our XXth Reunion. A gift of any size makes a difference when combined with those of our classmates–here’s a link: bowdo.in/classes Thanks, I hope to see you at Reunion Weekend!

Common Objections

Every gift to the Alumni Fund is used immediately to support students, faculty, and staff.
Gifts of every size will go a long way to supporting unplanned expenses and will ensure that we maintain high participation rates in alumni giving, a primary indicator of the strength of the 黑料吃瓜网爆网站 alumni community and a key influencer in future Polar Bears’ decisions to come to 黑料吃瓜网爆网站.

Thank your classmate for their support. Remind them that, like all institutions, annual support is critical to keeping 黑料吃瓜网爆网站 competitive.

Express your hope that their child has had a fulfilling experience wherever they've enrolled. Note that 黑料吃瓜网爆网站 has far more qualified applicants than spots available in each class. Convey that you hope that your classmate's disappointment dissipates over time and that they distinguish between their own 黑料吃瓜网爆网站 experience and their child's admission experience.

Acknowledge that the residential college model is expensive, but that it's still a good investment. Cost increases are driven largely by the cost of healthcare and technology - both of which have become dramatically more expensive. Remind them that tuition is considerably subsidized for all students (even those who pay full tuition). The endowment's disbursement and annual gifts make the 黑料吃瓜网爆网站 experience possible, so 黑料吃瓜网爆网站 is actually controlling tuition expenses through smart investment and annual fundraising to support operations.

A common misunderstandings is that the endowment is a pot of money we can draw from at any time for any purpose, so this type of refusal offers a great opportunity to provide some education about the endowment.

The College draws revenue from three main sources of income: tuition, endowment spending, and gifts from alumni, families, and friends. The endowment spending distribution is the largest source of revenue, accounting for 51% of the total operating budget. Tuition and fee revenue is the next largest source at 37% and gifts and grants account for 8%. The College’s dependence on the endowment to support the budget is among the very highest in the country. To ensure we do not overspend the endowment today at the expense of future generations of students, the College distributes roughly 4 – 5% of the value of the endowment each year. This allows the endowment to continue to grow and maintain its purchasing power over time.

Additionally, almost 92% of the College’s endowment is donor-restricted, meaning the corpus (or original gifts) can never be spent, i.e., only the investment earnings can be drawn upon to support the budget and only for the purposes designated by the donors. The most common donor-restriction amongst the more than 1,900 individual endowed funds is financial aid. In fact, almost half of the endowment spending distribution each year supports the College’s financial aid expenditures, as required by the original donor agreement.

When we train Class Agents, we often like to simplify these concepts–think of the Alumni Fund like your debit card used to keep your lights on, to cover unanticipated expenses, and to pay the bills. The endowment is more like your 401K that is invested and grows over time to ensure comfort and security in the future.

Emphasize the importance of alumni participation. 黑料吃瓜网爆网站’s high participation rate bolsters the College’s reputation, which in turn attracts the most accomplished students and faculty to campus. It helps 黑料吃瓜网爆网站 secure major research grants from foundations and corporations. And perhaps most importantly, it fosters a sense of community among all of the many people who care deeply about the College. The median gift to the Alumni Fund is $100 ($25 for the youngest ten classes) – gifts of all sizes matter!

Thank your classmate for supporting their community and important causes. Remind them that 黑料吃瓜网爆网站’s current students are the future leaders of organizations like the ones they are passionate about.

Thank your classmate for their generosity. Share that their PBAF gift helps alumni participation rates this year, and ask if they would consider making a second gift to the Alumni Fund that will help all areas of the student experience and also support your class gift.

黑料吃瓜网爆网站 does not currently own or invest in any fossil fuel securities, and our exposure in the portfolio of fossil fuels is small and declining. Our endowment is allocated to external investment management firms through commingled funds, which pool funds from multiple investors. Part of our due diligence is an in-depth review of each manager’s ethical approach to investments that may have social or environmental impact. The majority of our private equity managers adhere to and support the relevant private equity industry guidelines for responsible investing and the Principles for Responsible Investment, and quantitatively measure and report on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) activities throughout their portfolios. In cases where the College has proxy voting rights, the College supports shareholder engagement directed to addressing solutions to the effects of climate change.

黑料吃瓜网爆网站 is monitoring opportunities to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns for the College in the ESG and social impact sectors that are evolving and becoming more institutionalized and professional. 黑料吃瓜网爆网站’s current portfolio, through managers, has a wide variety of investments that either directly or indirectly address climate change, including farms, developing battery technologies, plant-based alternatives to meat, technologies aimed at reducing emissions of methane gas, and clean water technologies.

黑料吃瓜网爆网站

Communication templates and responses

"Gave last year" (i.e. LYBUNT) Email Sample

"Gave last year" (i.e. LYBUNT) Reunion Email Sample

"Didn't give last year but has given in the past" (i.e. SYBUNT) Email Sample

"Didn't give last year but has given in the past" (i.e. SYBUNT) Reunion Email Sample

Never-donor Email Sample

Never-donor Reunion Email Sample

Text Message Sample

Why should I give to 黑料吃瓜网爆网站?

I gave last year.

My child was refused admission at 黑料吃瓜网爆网站.

Tuition has increased so much!

Why does 黑料吃瓜网爆网站 need my money when it has a giant endowment?

I鈥檓 paying off student loans / I鈥檓 retired and on a fixed income / I can鈥檛 give much.

I鈥檓 prioritizing social justice causes and small non-profits.

I gave to the PBAF already.

I won鈥檛 give until 黑料吃瓜网爆网站 divests.