Telefund plays role in Annual Fund's record-breaking year

Thanks to a surge in donations through Telefund, the Tufts Annual Fund is looking forward to another record-setting year, even without a new capital campaign.

According to Telefund program manager DJ Stevens (LA, '03), the Telefund has already raised over $2 million with two months still left in the school year. "This already exceeds last year's entire phonathon campaign," he said.

The Annual Fund as a whole has raised $94 million this year, with $5 million slated for undergraduate Arts, Sciences, and Engineering programs and facilities.

Money raised by Telefund, which employs sixty students who place phone calls for direct solicitation, goes to a variety of areas, including financial aid, lab equipment, library resources, and faculty development, Stevens said.

Telefund employees make phone calls from different alumni calling pools, which are divided into those who have previously donated and those who have not.

"Those who have donated in the past are more receptive to giving again," one Telefund employee said. "With those who haven't donated before, you just have to encourage them, work harder to encourage them to give."

The main tactic employed by the Tufts Fund is to keep alumni involved and active in the school's network through growing communication and ongoing programs.

During his tenure at Tufts, President Larry Bacow has made a strong commitment to growing the fund, and said that results are already evident.

"I think the Annual Fund has grown in recent years because we have done a better job of engaging our alumni before we ask for their support. For example, we have tried to provide better programming for Tufts alumni groups in cities throughout the country," Bacow said. "We have also tried to reach out to alumni through better communications like E-News."

Although Telefund only makes up just over two percent of this year's Annual Fund donations, Bacow said Telefund is a crucial source of the school's capital because its funds can be used immediately. "The Annual Fund provides unrestricted support for current use. It helps provide flexibility in the budget to address immediate, as opposed to long term, capital needs," he said.

Each individual Telefund call seeks to target alumni through their personal connection to and experiences at Tufts. "If you make conversation and ask them what they were most interested in and tell them they can give specifically to that, it makes them more likely to give a donation," another student employee said.

This also leads to an increase in targeted giving, where a patron can request that their donation be used to benefit a particular program or facility. Targeted giving is available for any of the groups, programs, teams, and facilities on campus.

"If alumni had participated in one of those areas when they were at school and you offer that option to them, that gets them more excited than just giving to the Tufts Fund," the student said. "That way they know their donation is going to something that they have been a part of."

Along with alumni, parents of current and past students are also targeted through Telefund phone calls. "Parents of current students are always more likely to give to areas their children are involved in," the student said.

Telefund employees are discouraged from speaking to the press, and the students spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Donations tend to increase with older alumni, as more recent graduates are often not in a financial position to donate. One student worker said "a lot of people from Fletcher are more willing to give. They really seem to be on their feet."

Annual Fund gifts can take the form of cash, securities, properties, life insurance plans, or real estate options. Many donor plans are tax deductible.

Bacow explained that keeping graduates and parents more engaged has led to the campaign's success, and the school hopes to continue this growth in the future.

"Our goal is to build a lifelong, value-added relationship with every graduate of Tufts," he said. "We want to give them a reason to stay in touch with their alma mater."