If we're to make sense of the idea John presented in Portland, we'll need the "data" (is giving actually down, in what classes, and by how much, if it is), and a more concrete proposal (just what would be expected of the board?). I notice neither John Sheehy nor Konrad Alt is signed into this blog, so I'm wondering if this info will come from Mike Teskey, Development, or one of them?
I suppose we could discuss the Career Services proposal in the meantime--how do put together a realizable proposal to present to the college and the alumni association?
(I guess this got posted as a "comment", which is different than a "post", so we'll see if this gets "posted". It's all new to me.)
3 comments:
David, the numbers are certainly important, but no matter how they are cast and teased out, I believe we can all agree that some new innovation needs to occur to accelerate alumni giving--at least I hope we can. Reed's relatively low endowment will continue to pose competitive pressures for the college in terms of financial aid, faculty recruitment and retainment, and facilities appeal. Talk to Falk about the visit he took to Swarthmore with his son, and you'll get a sense of where Reed falls short (sure you know this from your own recent search). Colin told me that they just lost one of their most promising profs to a competitor.
For me, it's about alumni taking ownership of the problem. That's a philosophical and policy issue for the alumni board. But in no way do I see the board becoming a fundraising body--heaven forbid! We would really suck at it for one thing. And making fundraising the criteria of board recruitment would be limiting and damaging to association.
I'm proposing that the board launch a separate project-based initiative (similar to the oral history project) that leverages the existing volunteer talent base of the alumni body. One that the board has some advisory oversight over, but, like the oral history project, reports to the college.
I wonder whether the development office would welcome such an endeavor and if so, why they haven't launched it long ago.
John, and others, I guess the issue is "What would the Board be launching?"
Gwen, based on the discussions Konrad and I have had over the past year with Jan Kurtz and Hugh Porter, I think the Development Office is very excited about such an endeavor. At the same time, they are understandably cautious, as the partnership we are envisioning would require some negotiation to make sure our goals and execution are fully aligned.
I can only speculate as to why a similar initiative wasn't launched a long time ago. I think Hugh spoke to the underlying causes at the lunch we attended--the college's reliance on a handful of local big donors created a patronage-oriented development strategy.
All the Alumni Board would be launching at this stage is an exploratory group headed up by Konrad Alt, the immediate past president, to come back with recommendations at year end.
Post a Comment