AU sent its first charitable estate planning eNewsletter to alumni and other community members as part of a new effort to engage alumni with their alma mater.
The e-mail, sent March 9, was designed to educate graduates on how estate planning can enhance their own individual financial futures, as well as AU’s, according to Emily LaClair, assistant director of Planned Giving.
Alumni, including the class of 2010, as well as faculty, staff, other supporters of AU and local residents received the e-mail.
“We know that this is a long way off, but it’s something you should be thinking about,” LaClair said of students who recently graduated.
But for students who are still looking for jobs, they can donate their time in the form of volunteering at AU, LaClair said. “Every little bit helps,” she said.
Steve Dalton, a 2010 School of Public Affairs graduate, said while the idea of asking alumni to donate to AU is a good one, he believes age groups should have been targeted separately.
“I haven’t begun any sort of estate planning,” he said. “It doesn’t look good. Estate planning is about death.”
Dalton said he was asked to donate $20.10 soon after his May 2010 graduation. “I think that is an appropriate way for someone around my age [to donate],” he said.
LaClair added that alumni should remember they can still use the Career Center.
“I think that it’s important to remember that after graduation, AU remains a resource for you,” she said.
Other donor initiatives
AU began its “50/50 Challenge” on March 11, a new social media-based fundraising effort targeted at young alumni, according to Casey Jacobs, director of Annual Giving.
The challenge is to get 2,500 alumni to donate — 50 a day for 50 days — as part of a Strategic Plan goal to increase the number of alumni donors 12 percent by 2013.
More than 150 people had donated by Monday afternoon, Jacobs said. The campaign is on track to meet its goal, she said.
Jacobs said one of the largest groups of growing alumni are recent graduates — and AU understands that these students still have a lot of financial obligations.
“It’s any amount,” Jacobs said. “You don’t need to give a large gift to really benefit the University.”
AU has Facebook ads and is working on a video to target these young alumni, Jacobs said.
This fiscal year’s goal is to have 10,500 alumni donate to AU, she said. Currently 8,000 alumni have donated during this fiscal year, which ends April 30. Last fiscal year, about 10,000 alumni gave to AU, Jacobs said.
sdazio@theeagleonline.com