1-800-Alumni
Call center opens jobs for students, info for alumni
Rosie Githinji
Issue date: 10/22/09 Section: News
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The SIUE Call Center started this year. The purpose of the call center is to contact alumni to let them know what is going on now and ask for donations.
Josh Olmsted is the assistant director of Annual Giving. He began working for SIUE in August of 2009.
According to Olmsted, in the past the calls to alumni had been outsourced to Eastern Illinois University.
Now that the call center is located on the campus, the center has hired 27 students to call alumni. There is a good mix of students, according to Olmsted. The school has hired seniors, juniors, international students, etc., all from different programs and majors.
"It's a nice way to keep the alumni connected," Olmsted said. "I sort of view it more as offering alumni a way to stay connected to SIUE."
There were many reasons the school used to outsource the calls, according to Olmsted. The university had to find money for computers and phone lines. Olmsted said the company that previously made the phone calls is a good company.
"It wasn't a bad option, but I think this is better," Olmsted said. "All of the students share a passion for SIUE, and they remind the alumni of that."
Olmsted said he thinks the alumni prefer speaking to someone who is associated with the school.
According to Patrick Hundley, vice chancellor for University Relations, alumni appreciate receiving calls from students at SIUE.
"Alumni are already calling about what a nice thing it is to have a conversation with students," Hundley said. "We keep up with all of our alumni. We have contacts for about probably 90 percent of our alumni."
Hundley said there was a lot of work that had to be done and Chancellor Vaughn Vandegrift helped make it happen.
Director of Annual Giving Julie Babington said having the call center at SIUE is making a difference.
"What [the alumni] are enjoying is hearing about what the campus looks like today," Babington said. "We wanted our students making contact with alumni, and our administration was able to get us the funding."
The university has been working on relocating the call center to the SIUE campus for about a year, and made the switch last fall, according to Babington.
"The biggest difference is the impression we are leaving on the alumni," Babington said. "Our average gift dollar is up."
The program has been outsourced since 2001. The school has received donations from alumni of about $165,000 a year. This year they are making a projection of about $190,000.
Senior psychology and philosophy major Jordan Shaw of Highland is one of the students working at the call center.
When he calls alumni, he starts out by talking to them about what is happening on the campus. Shaw also has conversations with the alumni about what they are doing now and their experiences while they were attending SIUE.
"We ask them what's going on and promote the campus a little bit," Shaw said.
The alumni can donate money to specific areas of the university, such as the School of Business or the College of Arts and Sciences, so they know where their funding is going, according to Shaw.
"It's not just fundraising; it's friend raising," Shaw said.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Katie
posted 10/21/09 @ 9:21 PM CST
My father cringes when his old college calls him asking for donations. It's pretty annoying. Good luck with this -- I'm pretty sure all of the Alumni are going to end up resenting SIUE. (Continued…)
Jordan Shaw
posted 10/21/09 @ 9:36 PM CST
Hey Katie,
I think part of the reason for that has simply been that there has been a negative stereotype about Alumni Giving centers. Namely, that the people at the centers just don't care. (Continued…)
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