Gifts Large and Small Cement Jewell’s Reputation

Not too long ago, my wife Kristen and I got together with a group of Jewell friends (names have been changed to protect the innocent).  Kristen and her friends were anxious to meet Meg’s fiancé Eric.  All were anxious to see if Eric was “worthy,” and we were going to be on our best behavior and refrain from boring him with Jewell stories all evening.  Eric was a graduate of a very fine private institution, but not ours.

Invariably, the conversation kept finding its way back to Jewell.  Meg mentioned that she had just received a Jewell Fund appeal and said something like, “Chad, evidently Jewell keeps mistaking me for someone with something to give.”  I took the opportunity to do some market research, as I am always curious to know why some people who love the College don’t schedule an annual gift. 

“Meg, do you think people feel that modest gifts wouldn’t be appreciated or perhaps aren’t worth giving?”
 
Eric turned to Meg and said, “You don’t give to your annual fund?”  I liked him already.  He sounded shocked, as if a dark secret or troubling character flaw had been revealed.  Had our “Jewell talk” placed the relationship on tenuous footing just months before the wedding?  I braced myself for a kick in the shins from Kristen under the table.

Meg laughed and then made the comment, “I could give something, but does Jewell really need my gift?”

Showing surprisingly uncharacteristic restraint, I didn’t give my talk on what the Jewell Fund provides our students each year.  I didn’t share the promise we make to students and what it takes to fulfill that promise of quality.  I didn’t share our bold plan to improve the Jewell experience.  I didn’t even mention the commitment we have to providing student scholarships.

I clarified something that perhaps has gone unsaid too long in Jewell circles: “Meg, the Jewell Fund is set up to be a place where alumni can show support in a collective and powerful way.  The Jewell Fund allows the College to demonstrate that it has a sustained commitment from many people, not just a generous few.”

I shared that foundations and other funders look to the College’s alumni giving percentage as an indicator of whether they should invest in the institution.  An increase in our annual alumni giving from 20% (2,600 alumni partners) to 30% (4,000 alumni partners) would improve our standing in college rankings like U.S. News and World Report.

Eric jumped back in: “An alumni donation says ‘I value my college education.’  It also says ‘I want future students – people who are total strangers to me – to know that I cherished my time there.’  Few people are ever able to give buildings or endow chairs, but many can give an endorsement of the experience.  It seems to me that Jewell deserves our endorsement too.”

On our way home, I told my wife just how much I liked that Eric.  May he and Meg live a long and happy life together.

For more on The Jewell Fund go to www.jewell.edu/giving/ then click on “Jewell Fund.