“It’s never too early” is a phrase college students are hearing more and more these days — it’s never too early to start a project, and it’s never too early to plan for the future.
 
Now universities are teaching students it’s never too early to donate.
 
According to a survey conducted by the Council for Aid to Education, donation rates and alumni participation in fundraising have reached an all-time low, sinking 11 percent from last year. As the numbers drop, universities are targeting potential donors prior to graduation.
 
Donation patterns have changed during the nation’s economic recession, said Cliff Vannoy, executive vice president of the LSU Alumni Association.
 
“Multi-million dollar gifts are down because of the stock market and the uncertainty of the economy,” Vannoy said. “But the trend is that smaller gifts have maintained and increased.”
 
But these donations, which include time and money, are not only being generated by alumni and wealthy Tiger fans, but also by current students and recent graduates.
 
“There were 9,200 undergraduate degrees awarded during 2008 and 2009,” Vannoy said. “Of that group, 1,824 undergraduates donated to the University.”
 
That 19.8 percent of undergraduates is larger than the general alumni donor population and does not include donors to the Tiger Athletic Foundation.
 
“Students are not just donating in money, but in time and service,” said Beverly Major, director of Forever LSU.
 
Rebecca Templet, education sophomore, is one of these students. Templet has worked for the campaign for two years and encourages students to get involved.
 
“Donating is a chance for students to give back and really show their Tiger pride,” Templet said. “If they begin to give back now, they will not only truly understand where their contributions are going but what their contributions are benefitting.”
 
Loyola University New Orleans is a participant school in “Building Bridges: Young Alumni and Current Students,” a program designed to teach students the importance of alumni connections. Texas Christian University and several other schools are taking the next step by asking students for $1 donations.
 
The University created its own effort through the leading fundraising campaign Forever LSU.
 
Forever LSU began a silent planning phase in 2001 with a public launch in June 2006. The foundation set a goal to raise $750 million by 2010, the University’s sesquicentennial anniversary.
 
The campaign is divided into academic units, each having their own goals. There are also 23 regions across the U.S. that foster regional committees to help identify potential donors, Major said.
 
“[Forever LSU] has raised more than $710 million as of the end of May,” Major said. “We are very pleased with the result and pleased with the support across the Tiger Nation.”
 
While the campaign has not actively solicited students through letters or e-mails, Forever LSU is catching the attention of undergraduates through other means.
 
“We have built an amazing brand in LSU,” Major said. “The last two lines of the alma mater resonate with people.”
 
Classroom PowerPoint advertisements, STRIPES program presentations and student-produced videos are ways Forever LSU is conveying the message of giving back, Major said.
 
“Philanthropy is taught,” Major said. “It’s not instinctive.”
 
Theatre performance freshman Matthew Reed disagreed.
 
“You can tell us about why it’s good to give back, but you can’t teach it,” Reed said. “And honestly, undergraduates are struggling with the finances of living on their own.”
 
Whatever the motivation, all agreed that donating is important.
 
“It doesn’t matter if you give $1 or $10,000. This is our University, and I think every student needs to take responsibility in commitment to community,” Major said. “There is no monetary return, but the rewards are so much greater.”
 
And if students are encouraged to give now, they will be more inclined to donate later, Templet said.
 
“I think we, as alumni and future grads, have responsibility to ourselves [and] to our fellow classmates to make sure every Tiger that follows us is as successful as we have been and then some,” Major said.
 
 
 
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Contact Sydni Dunn at [email protected]