As bills pile up and the honey-do list around your home grows longer, the last thing on your mind may be donating to your alma mater. You’ve already paid them thousands of dollars to get your education, so they don’t need your money anymore, right? Wrong. Through donations from you and your other alumnus, colleges and universities across America are able to meet their budgetary needs and fund projects that would not have been possible otherwise. So the next question is what prompts alumni to continually give back to their alma mater? Here are some of the reasons alumni find giving donations so important:
College Reputation
Your diploma is an investment in your future. You want it to mean something when you apply for a new job. When the people interviewing you see what school you attended, what do you think their reaction might be? Donations are used to fund research or back teaching methods, which can help improve the school’s reputation. It helps build new facilities and add innovative technology to the campus to increase student success.
Part of the donations from the University of Denver alumni from 2007-2014 went to building 11 new classrooms, renovating the Margery Reed Hall, and adding additional faculty and staff. Doing these things and improving the reputation of the college can attract more students and high-caliber faculty members, which can help improve the school’s ranking in the national polls.
Future Generations Can Benefit
The ASCEND program in the Daniel’s College of Business worked to provide over $50 million of new scholarships and programs to students from 2007-2014. The cost of college is on the rise. The average cost of attending a public school is around $15,000 per year and the average for a private school is around $40,000 per year.
Students struggle to find the funds to cover the costs, and an increasing number of students are wary of taking on debt that they may struggle to pay off once they graduate. Scholarships ensure that these students can manage the costs while getting a great education. When you donate to your alma mater, you’re investing in the students and providing a legacy for future generations.
Engaging the Community
Another way to improve a college’s reputation is through community engagement. A college or university can hold community-building activities to help achieve inclusive excellence which allows the schools to grow and succeed. This includes the offering of training programs, case competitions, outreach activities, alumni communications for professional development, and awards for outstanding professors and alumni. Donations can be used to help other alumnus ensure that they can succeed outside of school and have the necessary tools and skills to find employment in their field.
Giving Back Shows Gratitude
For many, the percentage of alumnus that donates to the college can inform them about the quality of the school. When someone enjoys the school that they attended, they want to give back. As you look back on your days in school, you may remember the wonderful friends that you met, the memories that you made, the experiences that you had, and the lessons that you learned. You think about the professors that influenced you in your professional and personal life.
When you think about everything that your school did for you, you want to give back as a gesture of gratitude. It doesn’t matter how much each alumni gives, but the number of alumnus donating will show you that they look back on their time at the university or college fondly and are grateful for the experiences they had within its walls.
The University of Denver’s Daniel’s College of Business is grateful for the number of alumni that donate every year to continue to prepare the future leaders of tomorrow to make positive impacts on the world. To learn more about donating or to find out what types of donations are accepted, you can contact us or consult the wealth of information available on our website.