A Realistic Look at Annual Funds

Certainly, if every event and every magazine article was about asking for money, that argument makes some sense. But is it really that simple? Alumni relations is about engagement. At nearly every institution of higher learning, a simple overview will demonstrate that the vast majority of engaged alumni never attend an event. The principle means of engagement is the annual gift. Maybe a large number also engage through the magazine, website or the online community, but is that engagement as active and meaningful as the check they write? That’s hard to measure.