Donor Focus: Parents — It’s Not Child’s Play

Maura Condon Umble, director of parent programs at the Office of Col-lege Advancement for Franklin & Marshall College, finds a personal message most successful.

“I think highly personalized, segmented mail or e-mail is best,” she says. “Parents seem to read their e-mails from the college — and appreciate hearing from us in this way. Parents want to give toward something that’s really going to make an impact on their child’s experience.”

Christine Weiser is a freelance writer and publisher of Philadelphia Stories, a nonprofit literary-arts publication.