<p>I agree the student(s) who leaked the info were unethical, but I understand the pressure for high donation participation rates.</p>
<p>Matching donations and competitive grants are ONLY given to institutions who have high student/alum/parent contributions by PERCENTAGE of student/alum/parent, not be $ amount.</p>
<p>As crazy as it sounds, my kids go to a private elementary/HS on FA/grants. We know that for the grants to continue we have to donate each year. We aren’t being “forced” or strong armed by the school, but it is apparent to us if we don’t give the scale can tip and the large match grants wouldn’t be received. This would snowball to us not receiving the grant for the kids to continue. It is a crazy cycle, for sure. I know my measly contribution does not equal the grants we get. The school knows it is crazy. But, it keeps my kids aware that nothing is a free ride; it makes the large donors aware that the current families care about the school.</p>
<p>I have given money to some of my less well-off classmates so that they can donate. Small gesture on my part, but it always makes me happy to see them avoid getting ostracized for being financially disadvantaged…</p>
<p>It’s true that the article said that Dartmouth would receive a large gift from an earlier class if all of the current seniors were to donate. But I think that this sort of pressure is deplorable. It sets up dissenting seniors for the exact sort of ridicule that eventually transpired. No one should be in a position like this where they feel compelled to support an organization that they don’t wish to support.</p>
<p>It’s helpful when the naysayers explain why they are not supporting an organization or cause, but it shouldn’t be expected.</p>
<p>Yes, and in my case the explanation would be that I don’t like the collection tactics. Everyone seems overly focused on whether someone can afford to donate and for me that isn’t the issue at all. I don’t think someone should have to be in a position where they can’t afford to donate before not donating is considered acceptable. (Not that anyone on this thread thinks this.)</p>
<p>I wouldn’t donate to a cause that didn’t consider what I was doing was giving a gift. I wouldn’t donate to a cause that considered it their duty to gain my compliance. If I was this girl I would happily have my picture and name in the paper and I would stand by my decision not to donate and I would make it clear that I was in a financial position to donate but I wasn’t going to.</p>
<p>Re: Donating something so that your class can claim 100% participation.</p>
<p>What on earth is wrong with these kids at Dartmouth that they can’t figure out that someone else could chip in $X in the name of student Y? That’s what alums of my old college have been known to do to keep the donation % high.</p>
<p>Re: Nagging phone calls from your old college/high school/pre-school.</p>
<p>All you need to do is send a note along the lines of “Dear X, Please take me off the fundraising list.” If you have a long-standing history of sending them money, you can offer up a couple more sentences on such themes as “changes in family financial situation/responsiilities” or “sincere appreciation for my fine education” or “true regret at inability to continue as in the past”.</p>
<p>Re: Dartmouth</p>
<p>The alumni should be up in arms about this behavior. If it were my old college, I would be!</p>
<p>Participation numbers matter greatly for foundation gifts and participation is counted with a donation of any amount.
Personally, I think it is unethical for a person to accept financial aid and then turn around and refuse to be counted in the participation percentage with a one dollar donation. Their choice jeopardizes financial aid for other students who come after them.</p>
<p>^ It’s unethical for the school to hound that person until they do give. </p>
<p>I would gladly give my school a donation (I receive substantial financial aid) if they asked. But if they hounded me, there is no way I’d give anything back. I don’t want to feel like it’s obligatory.</p>
<p>I would just as soon donate money to Microsoft as donate money to my college. Both are run as money-making machines, set up to extract the most amount of money possible from young people and their families. And neither one needs the money.</p>
<p>Actually, the case for donating to Microsoft may be stronger since I am not already subsidizing Microsoft with tax dollars. </p>
<p>As far as this particular case goes, aren’t colleges supposed to be tolerant of independent thinking? Shouldn’t they be happy that there is diversity of thought?</p>
<p>Oh, that’s right – “tolerance” is just a code word for accepting certain approved behaviors and “diversity” is another code word for encouraging certain types of diversity.</p>
<p>I did not even know the senior class gift was something that’s done. I am definitely not giving anything next year (when I will be a Cornell senior) and I guess I will probably be deluged with emails as a result. I already know the charities I like to support and I really dislike being hassled about donations. Given my limited donating means, I know my money can help a lot more people somewhere else.</p>
<p>I haven’t read the entire thread, but I think the Dartmouth kid deserved to be criticized. LOTS of kids volunteered to give the kid $1 on condition that she donate it to the fund. She refused.</p>
<p>The donor of the matching $ had made it very clear in the rules that students could NOT donate money in the names of others to meet the goal. She had to CONSENT to have the money given in her name and on grounds of principle, she claimed, she refused to consent. </p>
<p>Eventually, the donor decided to give the $ anyway because she was the ONLY member of the Dartmouth class who refused to give. </p>
<p>I am, to put it mildly, not a huge donor to my college. I give zilch to my law school. But if someone said to me that my law school could get a million dollars if I would allow someone to donate $1 in my name, I would say yes.</p>
<p>And, since the names of the donors were posted with the countdown to 100% participation as well, it wasn’t hard to figure out who was the hold out. The student newspaper covered it as a story and “Bored at Baker” had posts in it. I’m fairly sure B at B has been taken down now.</p>
<p>My D1 just graduated from Cornell (May '10). She was one of the non-donating seniors. I do not remember how I knew this, but I questioned her because it was unlike her not to donate. She regularly does runs for charity and volunteers, etc. She explained that her class was soliciting mostly in the fall when she was abroad. Most students do not do their semester abroad senior year. She fell through the cracks.</p>
<p>She told me she would of course donate to the school. She loves Cornell and has a great high paying job (offered at the beginning of her senior yr., i.e. end of her summer internship).</p>
<p>The point is, she was never harassed or felt embarrassed. The fact that she did not donate as a student in her senior year was not a problem!</p>
<p>To those who say the girl should just have donated $1 so the matching goal would be met, …“and all would be well…” I say NO!, because it’s a GAME. The whole scheme is artificial and contrived and a stupid game. It’s like a waste of time. I really dislike what these schools are doing. Encouraging donations makes sense, childish games with fundraising do not! Come up with a more respectful and reasonable fundraising plan. Thanks, OP, for the info.</p>
<p>Maybe it’s just me, but I feel much better about giving money to highly-respected, well-run charities that help poor, hungry, homeless, or sick people (especially in third-world countries, but some in the US) than to universities with mega-million dollar endowments who keep raising tuition and fees at rates that are at least double the rate of inflation.
Helping desperate people is a much higher priority to me, and the charities helping them have seen big drop-offs in donations as this economy continues to be in such terrible shape.</p>