At a Jesuit institution that endorses a mantra like "Men and women for others," Boston College alumni must rank top in the nation for giving back to their alma mater, right?
Wrong.
Each semester, BC alumni from across the nation, both young and old, are asked if they would be willing to make a contribution to the BC Fund; last year a whopping 76 percent said that they were "not interested."
But Alex Faklis, chair of the Senior Class Gift Committee and LSOE '08, said she believes the main reason that more alumni don't feel the need to give back has nothing to do with their lack of enthusiasm for the University. It has to do with a lack of awareness and education.
BC ranks No. 35 overall among U.S. News & World Report's best universities in the nation, but ranks 69th in financial resources, with a 24 percent average alumni giving rate. Faklis said that awareness about how the University is funded and why every gift matters plays a major part in determining the percentage of alumni that are willing to give back.
"At Harvard (which has a 41 percent alumni giving rate), alumni come in and talk to freshmen at their orientation. They have the idea in their minds before they even set foot on campus that they have a responsibility to give back," she said.
BC does not start the education process about alumni giving until senior year, a time when Faklis said it is "not too late" to convince soon-to-be alumni of its importance, but has already lowered the likelihood for many to grasp the magnitude of their responsibility.
Like the BC Fund, which collects donations from alumni, parents, and friends of the University each year, the Senior Class Gift Committee, consisting of 50 current seniors, collects donations from the outgoing senior class that will become resources to fund financial aid, student organizations, volunteer activities, and faculty research.
This year, the senior class gift campaign is committed not to increasing dollar amounts, but increasing the participation rate of seniors. The committee hopes to reach half of the senior class (1,100 students) by May, upping its participation rate from only 29 percent last year. Faklis believes that increasing participation among soon-to-be graduates will instill the importance of donating in general and increase the number of alumni that give back in the future.
Nicole Smith, CSOM '08, has worked for four years at the student calling center, contacting alumni about donations to the BC Fund, and has seen first-hand the lack of awareness about the program. She said working at the calling center has opened her eyes to the importance of alumni giving and plans to contribute to the senior gift campaign.
"I recognize that I'm here mostly because of financial aid, and that's a good reason to give back," she said. Gifts from seniors aren't expected to be large and don't have to add up, said Anne Merrill, director of communications and marketing at the Office of University Advancement. The gift committee usually asks for donations from as low as $5. And last year, $1.5 million of the $20.5 million raised by the BC Fund came from gifts under $100, she said.
Faklis and the gift committee will also be working to ensure that in the future, undergraduates are educated earlier about the essential role that alumni giving plays in maintaining the prestige, as well as the inner workings, of the University. For example, the top two other schools applied to by the class of 2010, Georgetown and Harvard, were both placed above BC in the U.S. News overall, financial resources, and alumni giving rankings. Because these two financial categories make up a total of 15 percent of the rankings, lower marks in comparison with competing universities can affect the final ranking of the University and sway decisions of potential freshmen.
The gift committee plans to engage seniors by asking, "What are you passionate about?" emphasizing that seniors, like alumni who give to the BC Fund, can choose where at the University they want their donations put to use. Students can pick from among every branch of the University, including varsity sports teams, the band, or Campus Ministry.
Seniors can expect to see the gift committee at events over the course of the next semester, handing out yellow envelopes, coordinating dinners, and spreading awareness about the cause.
"Our education here is invaluable," Faklis said. "It's important to give back so that other people can have a similar, if not better, experience [at BC]."
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