A Sept. 12 report by Insight magazine stated that last year alone, “$10.8 billion was donated to education, up 7.5 percent over 1986.” A good portion of this money can be attributed to the fundraising efforts of university alumni associations and foundations.

NIU’s Alumni Association depends upon three to four solicitation letters a year to each of its alumni, an annual phonathon and individual solicitations in fundraising, said Susan Lund, director of alumni programs for NIU.

“We program predominantly in the Chicago metro area. This is a strongly regional university with a strongly localized alumni body,” said Lund.

Both the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and Southern Illinois University at Carbondale have similar programs consisting of direct mailings, phone and individual solicitations.

Judy Riggs, director of development for U of I, said, “We have a network of about 450 to 500 volunteers who work to raise money on an individual basis.” The size of donations expected from U of I’s individual solicitation program brings in a minimum of $10,000 per individual, said Riggs. She also said in addition to fundraisers conducted within the state, there are programs run throughout the country with heavy concentrations of U of I alumni.

Lund said, “Although we would like to have an ongoing Alumni Association presence in remote cities where we have concentrations of alumni, we really don’t have the staff or budget to fund that at this point. We hope that somewhere down the line we’ll reach the point where we can better serve our alumni in places such as Southern California, New York and Florida.”

Where NIU’s association begins to differ with the organizations at U of I and SIU is in the fact that NIU does not require dues payments for association participation. U of I and SIU charge a minimum of $15 per person in dues for membership.

“Ours is not a dues organization,” said Lund. “You don’t have to pay to join the club.”

The U of I and SIU organizations rely upon the revenue generated by their dues programs to support their programming and operational costs. NIU’s association relies solely upon the donations made throughout the year to support its programming and operational costs, as well as funding directed toward the university.

NIU’s association is structured differently than those at U of I or SIU, said Lund.

By not charging a fee for membership, Lund said she feels the association can “foster a better relationship with the university and the alumni.”

In terms of overall university budgets, U of I’s Riggs estimated a significant part was supported by private funding, including alumni donations.

NIU’s Lund said, “NIU still is not funding any real significant percentage of its budget from private contributions. Right now we’re able to help out certain areas which need it.”

Bob Brown, director of special giving for NIU, said, “$260,813 of that ($459,654 brought in last year) went into what is called a ‘restricted giving fund.’ This is money which is directed to a particular college or deparment within that college specified by the donor.

Friday: Alumni association scholarships and comments from alumni and current NIU students about association involvement.