Alan Ryea, Director of Alumni and Parent Programs

One of the keys to the success of the UVM Fund is its phonathon program, run from a sophisticated, automated call center in Grasse Mount, the headquarters building for UVM Development and Alumni Relations. Managed by Jim Lewis '02 and staffed by five student managers and between fifty and sixty student callers, the phone center generates some 44,000 calls to alumni, parents, and friends in the course of the academic year and generates a significant number of gifts. "We also had over 400 alumni and parent volunteers on the phone last year making peer-to-peer calls," Ryea says. "We plan on ramping that up even further this year because those calls tend to be very successful." Last year's pledge rate for peer-to-peer calls was 80 percent, and many of those were pledges for $1,000 and up.

During academic year 2004-2005, the callers will focus on raising funds for scholarships, the University's top fund raising priority. New donors to the Fund can have their gifts matched dollar-for-dollar this year if designated for scholarships, thanks to a $250,000 challenge gift pool provided by Campaign co-chair Bruce M. Lisman '69. The challenge also extends to repeat donors who designate their gifts to scholarships — if this year's gift is larger than last year's, the pool will match the amount of the increase. The challenge remains in effect until the pool has been consumed.

Leadership Giving

Structurally, the UVM Fund is designed to build the broadest possible base of support by recognizing donors in various Leadership Giving Societies. While gifts of any size are acknowledged and appreciated, membership in the Leadership Giving Societies is determined according to minimum contribution benchmarks for annual gifts —

• Alumni (more than 10 years out) - $1000
• Parents and Friends - $1,000
• Alumni (more than five years out through 10th Reunion) - $500
• Alumni (up to and including the fifth Reunion) - $250
• Current students - $100

They range from The 1791 Society honoring $250,000 or more cumulative lifetime giving to The Old Mill Club for annual giving of $100 to $249.

Newest of the giving societies is the Green Mountain Circle, recognizing donors who have given for five consecutive years. "The Green Mountain Circle is something we hope will resonate," says Ryea. "Not everyone has the capacity to make a major gift. This group reinforces the message that it's not necessarily the size of your gift that matters, but the fact that we can count on that gift every year."

A web link to the complete list of giving societies is available at http://alumni.uvm.edu/giving/

Parent, Reunion Giving Are Strengths

Private giving from key constituencies is one measure of how a university is viewed from those who know it best. Among the most important of those are parents, who typically invest a considerable sum every year in tuition, books, and fees and entrust a university with the education and safety of a precious son or daughter.

Parents are expressing an impressive vote of confidence in UVM with their support for the UVM Fund. Their $1,651,957 in commitments from 2,732 donors last year, or 30 percent of the parent population, makes the UVM Parents Program one of the most successful in the nation. Ryea and his staff see even further potential among parents in the years ahead as the size of the student body grows.

Giving among alumni and each year's reunion classes shows strong support from alumni, as well. Last year, 2,667 members of the reunion classes made commitments of $1,230,796 to the UVM Fund, and total giving from alumni was $4,250,208. The participation rate among alumni could be improved, however, Ryea says, and he's set a long-range goal of moving that rate from its current 20 percent to 25 percent. "We also can do a better job on our renewal rate," Ryea says, pointing out that 61.9 percent of 2003 donors to UVM renewed or increased their gift in 2004, compared with a national average of 73.5 percent

Investing in Excellence

It all adds up to excellence for UVM, providing much-needed funding for student scholarships and other important University priorities. "Our greatest need today is unquestionably for scholarship funding," says Ryea. "That's the key to everything President Fogel and the Board of Trustees want to do in the years ahead."

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