Although student volunteer participation in this year's 24th annual Dartmouth Alumni Fund Student Phonation has been lower than in previous years, donations do not seem to have been affected.
After five days, the Phonation has raised $274,996 from 1,233 donors with four days left to call, Assistant Director of the Alumni Fund Christopher Buffoli said.
One of the principle reasons for the lack of volunteers is that the Office of Residential Life has forbidden the event's organizers to send direct BlitzMail messages to Undergraduate Advisors and Area Coordinators to request help as a group, Buffoli said.
Direct contact with the UGAs has proven to be successful in the past, with UGAs and ACs holding competitions among their groups on who can make the most phone calls.
Buffoli said that due to the complaints of some UGAs regarding the direct blitzes urging them to volunteer, ORL made a ruling two years ago to ban this mode of publicizing.
The success of the volunteer turnout can be drastically different every year, with timing being a key factor.
In some years a lot of active, enthusiastic people on campus come out and participate in the event, Buffoli said. Yet in other years, the two week event may be inconveniently timed near midterms or finals.
There have been a few nights in the past week of the event when Greek houses represented by 10 to 15 members participated in the event. Buffoli said that such nights have been the highlights of the week because strength in numbers leads to more donations and creates a positive morale for the event.
The Phonation, only one of the numerous fundraising programs that the Alumni Fund sponsors each year, collects between $400,000 and $500,000 annually. Buffoli said that the organization expects to collect a grand total of $22 million over the course of the year, up from last year's $20 million.
"If we don't get as much money as we want, we can compensate for this through other fundraising efforts," Buffoli said.
According to Buffoli, paid interns from the Alumni Fund make calls throughout the year requesting donations, a program known as Green Corps. Mass mailings to Dartmouth alums are also frequently made throughout the year.
"Although we are enthusiastic about making the phonation a success, I feel that setting a goal on how much money we want to raise is the wrong way to approach the event. What is significant about this particular program that we have is the active student involvement that it promotes," Buffoli remarked.
Buffoli said that the College has one of the strongest alumni funding networks in the nation, with 50 percent of its alumni actively donating money, as compared to the national average of 28 percent.
"One of the purposes of this event is to get students informed of what the process of providing financial aid really entails. Two-thirds of all student financial aid comes from the alumni fund," Buffoli said.
He also said the development office pays for 50 percent of each individual financial aid student's education at Dartmouth, and that the collection of alumni donations accounts for scholarships.
Because the College's endowment is relatively small compared to other universities, Dartmouth looks to the Alumni Fund as a major source of student financial aid and some of the money necessary for the general operation of the College.
Buffoli reported that the Trustees have designated five percent of the endowment to be used annually for current needs of the College. The rest of the funds necessary for the operation of the College come from student tuition, large donations granted by corporations and wealthy individuals, and the alumni fund.
The two week long fundraising effort will end on Thursday, Jan. 27 and is taking place in the Top of the Hop. Calls are made between 6-10 p.m.
--updated 01/26/00 4:43 p.m.
