Chabotar's report sheds light on important college departments
Amber Reese
Issue date: 2/5/10 Section: News
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Advancement
Institutional Advancement handles fundraising and alumni communications for the college. Working closely with Chabotar, they help raise millions of dollars to keep the lawns mowed and the electricity on, and much more.
According to Chabotar's report, more people are giving this year, but in smaller amounts.
"In January 2009, there were 16 active proposals pending with major gift prospects and a face dollar value of $16.9 million, compared to 38 now pending with an $18.7 million face value," states the report. "The numbers indicate that we are presenting more proposals in the lower range of our major gift scale."
The explanation is straightforward, according to Vice President for Advancement and Executive Director of Development Mike Poston.
"It is not that people are saying no, necessarily, they're just not saying yes," he said. "So I think what we have are a lot of good, solid donors to different colleges and universities nationally and at Guilford and they're saying, 'Yes, we believe in what you're doing, yes, it's a good investment in young people's lives, but our resources are at a danger point and we're not comfortable committing those right now.'"
Advancement works with two sides of fundraising. The first is the major gift side, which deals with donations of $25,000 or more. The second side is the annual fund, which encompasses smaller donations that add up to over a million dollars.
Advancement's goal for the annual fund this year is $1.05 million and about 70 percent of that goal has been met.
"We feel that the annual fund is a point of optimism and still a ray of light, and I believe they're going to meet their goal this year, if not exceed it," said Poston. "A lot of that is because (Director of Annual Giving Emily Thompson) put in a very strong calling program, and those students are really so very effective at engaging our students."
The students who work in the call center are given a list of names to contact and they typically raise about $270,000 per year.
There are also different sides to the gifts: restricted giving and unrestricted giving. Restricted giving is money that is geared to a specific purpose. About 90 percent of all giving is restricted.
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