College Grads - Do you donate to your alum?
 

I get calls all the time asking for $ but I have never given anything. Am I out of line? I still owe a ton of cash in student loans, it was nearly $30K a year for my school.

I graduated in '86 more than 80K in debt. A few times a year I get letters from the alumni association asking for money... The schools althetic program sucks so they don't get much from that... They do get a lot of research grants though...

Do I give money to them? I did, once, but not directly to the school, it was to do some work in the library. I used to also volunteer to do local interviews for kids who really wanted to go to my alma mater, so the school would enlist graduates to do some primary interviews to see where their interests were. Haven't done that in years though.

I graduated in 1997. I don't give any money to my college. I even let my membership to the alumni association expire. My wife and I are currently amassing a sizeable debt in graduate school. We don't have any money to spare.

OK well its good to know that I'm not alone. Sometimes I feel bad not giving them money but I think about how much they have to be pulling in and I'm sure whatever little $ I COULD give would do nothing. I'd rather give to someone who really needs it.

i give money every year to the Mean Green Club at the University of North Texas. i feel like i should give a little bit back to my school. i wish i could give more.

I am a lifetime member of my college's alumni association, a level you reach after donating regularly for a few years. I think the alumni association does a great job, so I didn't mind. However, I do receive mail and phone calls from the college asking for money. Since I don't approve of their spending practices, I toss the mail or tell them what I think of how they spend money.

The problem with donating anything to anyone, in my experience, is that if you give it once, they will never, ever, ever leave you alone after that. My alumni association is no exception. I once told them to send me some paperwork to fill out to be a card-carrying member and I never completed the forms, but even that was enough for them to hound me until I moved without giving my school a forwarding address. Stuff in the mail all the time, and people calling the house, asking for me but not saying who they were.

I'm wondering:
What exactly did they "give" me? I paid tuition, I paid fees out the ass. When I figure out what I was "given" I'll throw some money their way. Until then, or someone explains it to me, I don't know why I'm supposed to feel I have to give them anything. I paid for a service, I got it. I don't send them mailings asking them to "give" me another degree, because they enjoyed having me there so much, they just want to give back.

I have not. I may in the future but I guess I still remember how unhelpful the university was while I was in school. I recall them holding my transcripts hostage because they assessed damage to a building I lived in (not our room but the communal areas) which was pre existing. They offered no recourse to dispute the charges and two rooms (of the four in that part of the building) got off without paying anything because the mother of one of the guys that lived there worked in the housing office.

I also recall the difficulty of changing classes (or signing up in the first place). The rudeness of many people who worked for the university and a general lack of desire to help students rectify issues.

In general I do think it's a great school and a real bargain in our state. But, at this time, I prefer to donate to charities that I feel much better about.

I donate indirectly. I've had to pay for football games. Grr... They should pay me to watch that crap!

Okay, I've only paid this past year.. And that's because I didn't know the guys working the ticket counter. Damnit.

I've never had calls, but I do get letters in the mail. I might donate later in life when I can afford it. I loved my college and I'd like to see them continue to do well.

I give every year. Yeah I paid for my years there (and for many years after I was there, too!) I don't think I "owe" them anything. But I know that it takes money to pay for financial aid. I know it takes money to run the school. I know that if they folded all of that into the tuition and fees, no one could afford to go to school there. I also know that the percentage of alumni giving is extremely important to other fundraising efforts (percentage giving > $.01, not the total size of the gift.) There are also some tax benefits to me for giving (pure altruism, yes?)

I have a generally positive feeling about my school and I believe it ultimately benefits me if they prosper. A positive reputation for my school makes my degree more valuable (more altruism.) If I wasn't happy with my years there or with what the school represented I am sure I would feel differently about giving.

i teach at the same university i graduated from as an undergrad--i figure this is a good way to give back what i am grateful to have had offered to me.

i am not interested in giving cash into a general slush fund, however.
but i do not know what position i would have adopted had i not ended up teaching here for a while.

The wife and I joined our university's alumni association as lifetime members, and each year we must give a "donation" in order to maintain our same season ticket seats during football season.

The lifetime alumni membership was paid in full about ten years ago (so that doesn't cost anything anymore), and the annual football donation is currently at $900 per year. Several years ago, we had an assistant football coach who sued the university because he thought he deserved to be the head coach and was turned down. The case was "settled," which means he was paid off with funds from the annual football donation kitty. Therefore, my wife and I have a policy of answering those phone calls begging for money from our alma mater with the same response: "Give me a written guarantee that my donation to the College of *blank* won't go to pay off some disgruntled former employee, and MAYBE we'll consider it."

To this day, we haven't gotten a single one of those guarantees.

I am of the same mind as billege.

You paid the school to provide a service to you. You recieved that service and as far as I can tell, the deal is done. Any additional "giving back" is just so much emotional claptrap.

Once I pay off my student loans, I'll probably donate annually to my college. Right now, though, I just can't afford the extra expense.

The only exception is if I moved back to Virginia, I would probably give money to the school in order to get season tickets.

No way am I donating to my school. They tried to screw me in my final year. Nuts to them!!

Doesn't look good for the Colleges. Neither my wife or I contribute to our Alma Matter. We feel there are just too many other worthy causes that require our donations.

I graduated from my undergrad in 2000, and I donate every year. I am not donating thousands of dollars, since I am giving from a civil service salary, but I give some every year. My undergrad had good financial aid that helped me through, and it provided a wonderful education. There was not a single worthless class in my entire undergraduate education. I want to help others attend the college, and I want it to prosper. It was a liberal arts college of with 1000 students.

I graduated with my master's degree in 2002. The program was mediocre, and financial aid was minimal. I do not donate, and I am unlikely to do so. It was a nationally acclaimed state school with something like 40,000 students.

One was great and worth supporting, so it is on our list of donations for the year. The other, not so much.

It was a public school. They did what they were paid to do. So, no. Moveover, for years the alumni association would run a fairly vile telemarketing campaign to raise cash, and that turned me off even more.

My old department, a journalism deparment of some note, has its own fundraising campaign going and I get appeals from them as well -- in the form of, here's an envelop, send money for one of our pressing causes. Now, I do feel something for the old department. But I don't just want to stuff money in an envelope and trust it'll be spent in some way I'll approve of. If they were to declare an alumni day and invite us all up, show us what was needed, and invite us to write checks for specific purchases or activities that were explained to us, I'd probably part with few hundred, maybe more. But just an envelope? Forget it. People like to be asked personally by someone who matters, not a photocopied note or a telemarketer.

Fuck that! Once I graduate, they're getting shit. I've been paying them for the past four years, isn't that enough?

I pay the yearly fee to remain an active member and receive the newsletter. I won't donate directly for a few reasons. One, their selling line once you graduate is "Your University For Life." This sounds petty, but schools like Cornell let their graduates keep their e-mail addresses their entire life. My school closed my account one week after graduation. That just pisses me off.

Two, and most importantly, most of the alumni activities are centered around the athletics program. As somebody in the theater, I highly resented the amount of attention, both social and financial, based on athletics.

When I finally have a good chunk of change to donate, I'll donate it as a grant or scholarship directly to the theatre department.

In a political trade brokered by the Dean of the College of Agriculture, my major (Landscape Architecture) at the University of Arizona was swapped for ASU's Agricultural Business degree, so L.Arch. is not offered any longer as an undergraduate degree at U. of A., and the department was switched from the College of Agriculture's School of Renewable Natural Resources to the College of Architecture.

Add to that the fact that I worked two jobs and took out loans to get through school, and - No, I don't think I owe them anything. Doesn't keep them from calling constantly, though.

Still a BasketCats fan, however :thumbsup:

Why would I? I mean, I wouldn't send a check to Dunkin' Donuts cause the guy at the counter gave me the donuts I paid for. I think it's outrageous they even ask for donations from Alumni.

I'm paying my college $40,000 to learn from a bunch of people that barely deserve their degrees. Hell and high water before I give them any money after I graduate!!

-Lasereth

I give money to the two extracurricular activities that I was involved in while in college. I only give to the main fund during reunion years.

i'd hate to hear what schools you people went to, but i went to the University of Tennessee for my undergrad years and i got MUCH more out of that school than i paid for...in the form of life long friends, a social and professional network, an NCAA national championship from the football team (damn them for getting blown out by sorry ass Auburn this weekend), several NCAA tournie appearances in both men's and women's basketball while i was there. UT did a great job of providing the most incredible college experience i could have ever imagined. i will most certainly be sending checks annually once i have alleviated my school loans from grad school at another great school, to which i will also contribute to.

additionally, the more selective schools have a higher base of alumni contribution. consistent with what many of the above posters have alluded to...a school with little or no selectivity is exactly like going to Dunkin Donuts and getting a donut. They dont screen you and make you compete for the donuts with the other people in line. EVERYBODY who wants a donut gets a donut...just like EVERYBODY who wants a degree from blah blah state technical college gets a degree. If you have to compete and beat out other candidates, then you get a feeling that your school selected you, and then maybe you would feel more inclined to give back later. particularly if you recognize that a degree from your more selective school opened more professional doors than blah blah state technical college was able to.

I give $25 each year when they call, it's the most I can afford, but every bit helps, so I don't feel cheap or anything. They don't complain about it, either. They glady accept it.

I don't give my school shit. The registrar twice put a hold on my account because they said I owed them $13 because I went over my prescription/medical allowance. The first time it happened, they wouldn't let me register for spring semester classes my senior year. So I call them up, explain that I already paid it, offered to show them my credit card statement as proof, but they were nice and removed the hold on my account in good faith.

So the semester is over and I've graduated. A few weeks go by and still no diploma in the mail. I call the school up to inquire why it hasn't arrived yet. The lady on the other end politely tells me, "Oh, there's a hold on your account in the amount of $13 so we can't send it out until it's paid." "What are you talking about?" I say, "I paid that over 6 months ago." We go back and forth for at least 5 minutes but to no avail. I was forced to call up my credit company, order a copy of my past statement, wait a week for it to arrive, and than drive to the university and display it as proof. I made the receptionist make a copy for herself, and also had her sign my copy acknowledging it was paid.

A few weeks goes by, and finally the diploma arrives. So no, my school gets nothing from me. They can suck the long end of my cock for all I care.

I went to a private high school. I went from a shithole in a city to a place in the country where I was treated like somebody who could think... I send them money every year for the last twenty years. I don't send my colleges anything. I was always number there, never an individual.

I'm not paying my college now (scholarships and financial aid), nor will I pay when I graduate. The service is paid for. There is nothing more.

I give, but like several others have said, only specifically. To a scholarship fund, yes. To my old fraternity, yes. To the general fund, No.

That's all part of the experience, which you already bought and paid for. Why would you ever feel compelled to send them more money because of this? Going back to my donut analogy... Let's say you buy a jelly donut. As you walk out of the store, you bite into it and jelly shoots across the parking lot and lands on the shirt of the most beautiful woman you've ever seen. You apologize profusely, she gives you her number and the two of you end up falling in love with each other. Now, you're telling me, because of this experience you're gonna go back and throw more money at the guy that sold you the donut? I wouldn't.

Some people think schools are in some way special to them. As though the school really cares about you and really wants you to do well in life. If that were true, they wouldn't charge you anything to attend there and they'd give education away for free. That isn't how it works because institutions of higher learning are businesses, in the business of making money. State schools offer reduced tuitions because they know that educated people make more money, and more money means more tax income. Throwing more money at your school achieves nothing but making someone else wealthier.

The problem there is that the expense required to mount such an event could equal or eclipse the donations, especially when the invitees start factoring their travel and lodging costs.

I give a little money every year, since I've been out (5 yrs). My theory is that I need that school to remain strong in Engineering (my major) because a part of my credentials are now riding on it's reputation. I realize that my contributions are a meager drop in the bucket, but if everyone did that. MIT look out....

I think HS at this point in time is a better investment. It potentially makes more of a social difference since not everyone in HS goes on to college. I think if you earmark your money wherever it goes, you get mroe bang for your buck.

10 Every year my college called me asking for money.

20 Every year I told them I was in grad school and not able to donate.

30 Every year they said they would take me off the list until I was done.

40 Every year they called me again asking for money.

50 If Ustwo = "Graduated" goto 70

60 goto 20

70 End donation calls

Oddly now that I am finally graduated, they haven't called me. Being a state school I donate every April 15th anyways ;)

I haven't yet graduated, but I can already way with certainity that I won't donate as long as my college's main goal is to suck as much money out of students as possible. I've already paid my share.

I agree with mattman though, any money I donate would go to my HS, earmarked especially for the Fine Arts department - they never seemed to get the resources that they had a need for.

My college accepts no government grants. They are afraid that the government would then want to regulate them more. They are accredited and follow education guidelines but they want no restriction on curriculum as they are a religious college. They survive on donations by many people and the founder set up a fund based on some very large investments. This fund is primarily where the college gets it's money to function. They have recently become stingy and cut back on the benefits that my father-in-law (he's a professor there) receives even though he's been with the college for about 20 years and has been there 3rd longest of any of the faculty and staff. They have treated him like dirt more recently and hired castoff professors for their sister college. The quality of the school had begun to seriously deteriorate the last year I attended and people are no longer treated as a person but a number and source of money. I won't donate now. If they return to their original heart and treat people - faculty and students alike - like real humans instead of a dollar sign, then I may donate. Not now though.

I would love to donate to my University, I had a great time there, and I will forever be grateful for all the experiences I had there. Unfortunately, my financial situation right now doesn't allow for such acts of gratitude towards my Alma Mater.

However, given time I am sure I will be more than happy to donate within my means. I already know I'm sending my kids there, when the day comes..... a long long time from now. :thumbsup: