(06-10-2022 09:18 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(06-10-2022 09:09 AM)poppaslaw Wrote:  

(06-10-2022 08:54 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(06-10-2022 07:27 AM)tigerfan39 Wrote:  

(06-08-2022 01:09 PM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  Yes. My wife & I are both alumni & we give, which is why I know our alumni giving percentage is extremely low & it has been extremely low for the entire 2.5 decades we’ve participated.

If this university wants to reverse that trend, then they must develop connection between alumni & the school. They’ve traditionally been absolutely dreadful.

What do you recommend? I've reached out to Tammy Hedges several times with my ideas. She's responded to me each time I've emailed her.

1. The school must become more greek friendly. In my opinion, the U of M has has treated their greek system as a necessary evil… something they’d prefer would wither away. Yet, study after study show greeks to be the most active alumni and represent .75 of every dollar donated to their school. The disconnect at Memphis starts as a student & a healthy active greek system is more important at a school like Memphis than at a more traditional university.

2. They have to bring either basketball or football on campus. It’s obviously not going to happen in my lifetime but tailgating at Tiger Lane does ZERO for the university. Alumni that are disconnected because of their “commuter” status stay disconnected because they experience nothing more than parking tickets & mile long walks to classes. There is no reason to spend any more time than absolutely necessary at the school. Sports on campus change that… hell, move baseball over from Siberia & put it on the main campus. Give students a reason to spend more time there.

3. Hammer home to existing alumni & graduating seniors the importance of giving something, even if its just $50 per year. The giving percentages impact school rankings our giving percentage is just 2-3%. Supporting the school that provided the education & means to earn a living should be an obligation, but Memphis cannot create the emotional relationship with is alumni, who treat college like HS.

Don't you think graduation rates and income earned from degree makes an impact on alumni giving?

I do not think income earned should play into the percentage, but higher earners are surely higher profile targets for the school.
Too, if students don’t graduate, then they don’t qualify as alumni & wouldn’t factor into the alumni giving percentage.