to find it ODD that my old university thinks I have money to give IT ( not vice versa)

[SetSquare]

in its HUGE cmapus and masses of property...and sends me endless begging letters

at Custy.

Don't know if mine is sending me begging letters, I keep putting the post from them in a pile meaning to open it later, then it eventually ends up in the recycling.

As for 'on the whole, even now the full cost of a university education is nowhere near borne by the recipient', do you have any detailed figures? What is the actual cost to the university of, say, an English degree with perhaps 3 hours a week of contact time? If you are arguing undergrads aren't paying the full amount, you are going to have to start charging less for English than for other courses... and start treating students like customers.

DO remember though that each begging letter provides you with a FREE envelope to use for school dinner money

A few years ago my old college (women's college) had undergrads calling people to try and raise money. On that occasion it was crystal clear that they were going to use it to fund student means-tested bursaries and to create some extra rooms in college so that less people had to face the hideous cost of living out. So, much as I thought it was a bit off to make the undergrads do cold calling I did give them a bit. Oxford and it's generic "we need an obscene amount of money" can go whistle (and could even if my disposable income wasn't

Oh, student cold callers are the worst. They're so sweet you feel like an uber-bitch if you hang up on them or even if you're a bit short

Mine does this too - so annoying. Not just a begging letter but an entire glossy brochure! And mine is one of the richest colleges in the world.

I wonder how much they'd save every year if they cut the cost of the brochure?

I do find it obscene when they list people in categories according to how big a donation they have given.

They'd save very little UQD. Compared to what they are trying to raise, anyway.

I don't agree that only the "poor" institutions should fundraise. That's surely a nonsensical argument, though I can of course understand why you'd be less motivated to give to the pompous rich college.

I have been invited back to lovely (free) dinners and garden parties etc by my college, followed by slightly inept and embarrassed attempts to get hold of some cash.

In the end decided to set up a small standing order, because I think they need all the funds that they can get to continue to offer the same high standards of teaching and experience that I had as a student. Also, as an alumni, I think it's good for me in my career if they continue to excel academically.

Other reason is that I feel a tad guilty about all the free nosh I've had over the years...

I've had the student callers and had a fun conversation with one who told me that the minimum donation was £20. I was only working p/t and said that I could give £10 but no more and she said she couldn't accept any less than £20 which I said was daft as she had spent her time talking to me anyway why turn down a donation. I think she then had to speak to a supervisor and eventually they decided they could accept it. Funnily enough I haven't heard from them since.
Does anyone know if the students get paid for making the calls ?

Doggie - I take your point, but I think kathy (who went to the same place as me) is right when she says it's all about how it is presented. A glossy brochure full of fat-cats is off-putting - a nice letter, cheaply but not shoddily done, about how they intend to spend the money and what projects/bursaries they need to fund, could go down much better...

DH and I (who went to the same university) get the student cold callers once or twice a year, plus the odd letter. They usually ask to talk to DH, who then chats to this poor person for approximately three-quarters of an hour, and sometimes gives them £10 - they really earn their money, imo . DH can talk for England given the chance.

Too right UQD. We have a brochure with fat cats in it - we send that one to the other fat cats

The cheap letter with a cheap but lovely little flyer is for the rest.

UQD - I take it to mean not that they don't realise it puts some of us off, but that they know it will work with their target market and that is the people who give £100 000 or more. It would take a lot of donations of the size I could give to add up to the same as one hefty lump from a millionaire.

Goldrock - AFAIK students are paid, yes.

LOL Kathy at the sweet student callers!

I had a lovely chat with the last student who called me (who was about to embark on her third year abroad in Paris) and then declined to give her any money. I must be very hard-hearted!

Out of interest UQD, why is it obscene to have categories?

We've done this a fair bit for buldings, with major donors, then platinum, gold and silver or whatever. Donors seem to like it. A few don't, and they are anonymous.

I've had quite a few begging letters and phone calls from my old university in the last few years. What really wound me up was the tone of the letter asking if I wanted to "give something back" for what the university had "done for me". As I went at the age of 30 as a mother of 4 while also working 2 jobs I didn't really feel I was in the same category as an 18 year old straight from school who'd lived in halls and got the full experience.

Ours was asking for funds for bursaries for "poor students". At the time I'd just filled in the finance forms for one of my children and found that as we were married and both working my child was entitled to zero; while my niece whose parents are not together gets no end of non-repayable grants and everything paid, even though my brother earns at least 3 times our joint income

Yes, our student callers are paid £7.50 per hour. I think that's about the going rate - maybe a bit more in London and Oxbridge.

I'm sure the donors love it. They can puff their chests out and ponce about showing how much they have given. The rest of us just have to go

Should people not get recognition for giving, if they want it?

Serious question. I have a professional interest in this stuff!

I am now working full-time at the university I attended. The Alumni Affairs dept sent me a letter, to my work address (i.e., the university), that started off "Dear xandrarama, we have been unable to reach you to tell you about our fabulous new fundraising initiative". I felt like writing back to point out they didn't try very hard, as my window overlooks their office in the next building.

The letter also asked me if I'd been able to "come back and visit the campus recently" to see all the great new things they'd been doing to upgrade it, including a new building. The new building I work in.

After mocking the letter for a week to all and sundry, I read an article about how UK universities are so far behind the US in terms of alumni fundraising that it could negatively impact their quality/ability to maintain a strong reputation. I set up a standing order, so the university pays me, and then I pay them, and so on. But But I still mock that letter.

doggie - yes, I think they should be listed but not in categories. The person who gave £10 could be listed alongside the person who gave £100,000, with no indication of how much they gave.

But among people who give a lot, I imagine giving is very competitive and they are more likely to give £150000 rather than £100000 if it puts them in a different category.
Isn't allowing them to blow their own trumpet a bit worth it for the extra £50 grand?

Yes

Could be! I suppose I have to stop being annoyed by it and just put the leaflet straight in the Blue Bin!