As a student supervisor at Northwestern University's Phonathon program I felt compelled to write in response to Meredith Laitos' column "When $6.5 billion isn't enough" (Feb. 27). I have come to learn about the Phonathon program, the Parents Fund, the Annual Fund and about alumni and parent donations through my six months of working as a student caller representative and more than a year as a student supervisor.
I am sure I am not alone in finding that this column was both poorly researched and written and failed to live up to The Daily's usually high journalistic standards. Meredith's writing reflects little, if any, understanding of how fundraising works. As far as I can tell, the only research she did was briefly visit the Parent Fund's Web site.
At the Phonathon I have called parents and alumni to raise funds for the university. As a supervisor I have trained and coached callers on how to make these calls. I learned that donations to the Parents Fund help support a number of functions on campus, only one of which is campus security. These funds help pay the costs of SafeRide and the shuttle service, which are made available for free to students. Money from the Parents Fund also helps cover need-based scholarships for lower-income students and fund the activities of student groups on campus. As a beneficiary of the services that the Parents Fund provides, I am glad it is in place to help improve the life of the students on campus like me.
At the Phonathon I have never read from a script and as a supervisor have never trained our callers to use one. I enjoy calling the alumni and particularly like calling the parents and do not ask for or accept any pity. The overwhelming majority of parents I have called have expressed that they enjoy speaking with me. I have spoken with them about my life as a student, things happening on campus, my pride in NU and my passion to improve it. I have found that the parents we call understand the importance of the Parents Fund and share my vision to improve the university. A majority of those I have spoken with decided to give.
2008 Woodie Awards
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posted 2/29/08 @ 9:58 AM CST
But here's the problem: In addition to the $50,000 our parents shell out, they also receive a letter from the parents' fund asking for a donation. On top of that, they receive a phone call asking for more money. (Continued…)
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