Hoping to raise half a million dollars or more, the Dartmouth Alumni Fund kicks off its 24th annual Student Phonathon this Sunday for its two week run.
During the Phonathon, student volunteers call College alumni from the Top of the Hop to ask for donations.
Despite the 16 hour days that the Phonathon requires of him, Assistant Director of the Alumni Fund Chris Boffoli says he has enjoyed organizing the event for the past four years.
"It's exhausting, but fun and rewarding," he said.
Katherine Kim '00 participated in the Phonathon last year and agreed with Boffoli. Kim is now an intern with the Alumni Fund.
"It's a really fun way to spend a couple of hours, to get a free T-shirt, free food, and to hang out with your friends," she said.
Boffoli said the Phonathon, one part of the Alumni Fund's continuous fundraising efforts, collects between $450,000 and $500,000 annually.
Besides bringing in quite a bit of money for the College, Boffoli said he hopes the Phonathon will provide students an opportunity to become acquainted with alumni on an individual basis.
"If students are interested in networking with alumni in their field or hometown, we try to accommodate them," he said.
Besides the pizza and soda that will be available throughout the Phonathon, undergraduates who help out will have the chance to win one of the prizes that have been contributed by local businesses and alumni.
For every five pledges that a student takes in, he or she will be entered into the drawing for the grand prizes this year, which include a Sony DVD player, a Sony Playstation, and a VCR/TV combination. Ten pledges will entitle a caller to a Phonathon T-shirt.
There will also be daily drawings for the many other prizes available, including gift certificates, compact discs, ski passes, and a wide variety of other incentives.
To participate in the Phonathon, students need only to go to the Top of the Hop during one of the calling sessions. Organizers welcome whatever time contributions students can make, and no pre-registration or experience is necessary.
Boffoli called the process "very straightforward" since most of the 5,000 alumni to be called have contributed in the past and will expect the call.
Various campus organizations, including Greek houses, can also sign up ahead of time to participate as a group to compete to win pizza parties.
Alumni Fund donations, on pace to total $22 million this year, including those taken in at the Phonathon, can be designated to go to either the general operating budget or to scholarships.
Citing the fact that tuition only supports about 50 percent of a Dartmouth education, College Vice-President and Treasurer Win Johnson said the Alumni Fund is "enormously important to the operating budget of the College."
Contributions made through the Alumni Fund provide money for the College that would otherwise have to come from other sources, such as tuition or the College endowment, and would consequently cut into programs campus-wide.
"The College expresses a need every year, and the Alumni Fund has to meet that need," Boffoli said.
Taken together, alumni contributions made through the Alumni Fund can be said to support two-thirds of the yearly financial aid budget or to save every student $4000 on yearly tuition.
The Phonathon will be held at the Top of the Hop on Jan. 16, 18- 20, and 23-27. Calling will take place from 1-5 p.m. on the 16th and 23rd and from 6-10 p.m. on the weekdays. There will be no calling on Jan. 17th in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
While the Phonathon has missed its goals the past two years, it came back from an extremely slow start last year to finish only 50,000 dollars short of its half million dollar goal.
-- This story was updated 01/14/00 2:20 p.m.
