What Can Be Done To Increase HBCU Alumni Giving?


Click here to visit HBCUSportsStore
Tuskegee, Morehouse, Hampton and Bennett were mentioned, at the 4:00 minute mark, as institutions that have a giving-back rate above 30%. Those institutions should be contacted collectively by all HBCUs to determine best practices for reaching that threshold. The truth hurts, but my alma mater definitely needs to examine/study their approach towards encouraging alumni to give back.
 
This was actually the focus/topic of my dissertation lol Claflin is another one that usually has a high giving rate. The brother that was running their alumni relations area a few years back (not sure if he is still there) used a lot of grassroots efforts. PV was actually climbing a few years back, but they wouldn't/couldn't give Nelson a raise and lost him. The problem with a lot of our institutions is that we don't ask and when we do, we haven't properly cultivated the graduate. Let's face it those of us on this board, and within our national alumni associations, 9 times out of 10 are making some financial contributions to the institution. Unfortunately, that number is small and few between. As a result, we need to figure out how to reach and engage the "homecoming only", "left and never returned to campus" crowd that far outweighs the loyal bunch.

Top Areas to Address in order to increase HBCU Alumni Giving
1. Provide Alumni Relations with appropriate resources: many of our schools don't have enough resources to do monthly, quarterly, or even annual alumni finder/data appends. Ex: I update my information with TSU because I know this is an issue. However, one of the PWIs I graduated from finds me the month after I relocate, sends me a "hey we see you moved letter and these are the alumni chapter contacts in your area" info. On top of that, a number of advancement/development staffers at HBCUs are not trained fundraisers. There was actually a survey and article on this a few years back by Marybeth Gasman. When the current folks leave/retire, we have to be willing to pay the funds to get actually fundraising professionals on our campuses.
2. Alumni Relations must work closer with Student Services so they understand their bad attitudes, neglect, etc. hinders alumni giving. We have four to six years to win the respect of a student and their future gifts. The second part of this problem is reaching out and cultivating a relationship with those donors who are doing well in their careers. but still feel jaded by the University for whatever reason. We often just say "oh they won't give" without discussing how they feel and addressing it.
3. Be willing to use grassroot, non-traditional giving options to attract smaller gifts from young alums (crowdfunding, etc.) These are small gifts now, but it gets them involved and creates a new donor pool that will ultimately become loyal if you keep them engaged.
4. Create real cultivation programs. While students are still on campus, we have to start training/ingraining in them what it means and why it is important for them to give. Many of our campuses don't have cultures of giving. PV was trying to do this a few years back with one of their student orgs and it had grown pretty successful. Not sure where it is now. Also, we usually just ask alums to give simply because they went to our institutions. Some people do give out of obligation, but that is not the case for everyone. Would you re-marry an ex that you are giving a second chance, if they immediately asked you to "go to bed" on your first date back together? Most of us would say no because we believe there should be some steps of trust built in between point A and point B. Fundraising doesn't work like this either.
5. Lastly, once we have developed a cultivation program and implemented it, we must ask for the gift. My study and a few others revealed that a number of cross-generational HBCU grads, said they had never been formally asked by their alma mater to give. I think this stems from the fact that we don't have good data most of the time due to limited resources, but either way "Close mouths don't get fed" lol
 
Last edited:
reach and engage the "homecoming only", "left and never returned to campus" crowd that far outweighs the loyal bunch.

THAT is the problem ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^. Those people.

Only a handful of us are being burdened to shoulder the lack of effort from the others. I stopped attending HC'ing for a few because I didn't want to be near those drunk people and even today, I try my BEST to sit on the visitors side of venues away from those people. The professors on campus weren't/aren't shy w/ letting us know who was there during non-seasonal times and visiting/helping whenever and wherever possible throughout the year(s).
 
TSUgirl, some simple ways I have suggested: An Alumni kiosh/booth at home games to update/input info on alums....REally, all you need is a table of laptops bolted down and a banner asking alums to do an Info Check....2) every student has that Intro to university life type of course...during this course philanthropic giving should be explained. And incorporated a chapter into the m majority of core courses where you can and specialized courses also. You have to keep it before them. and 3) become studentcentric FOR REAL. We need mediators for some issues...that would stop some of the PR nightmares we allow to rise....
 
It's really simple. If every alum set up an automatic payment to their school of $100 a month via paypal a lot of problems would be solved. Simple as that.

$100 x 5000 = $500,000

$500,000 x 12 = $6,000.000

Hell some of us blow $100 on bullshit.

I believe every school has at least 5000 alumni.
 
Back
Top