The Lilly Endowment, Inc. has made a grant offer to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) and its member colleges and universities to host a 1-day alumni training workshop focused on increasing alumni participation and involving alumni representatives in the fundraising process.
In September 2000, the Lilly Endowment’s generous gift to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund launched a Capacity Building program for our 47 member schools. TMCF successfully completed the three-year training program for development staff and college presidents in April of last year, which increased the expertise of development staff as well as of presidential skills and leadership in fundraising.
Having completed the training of these personnel, TMCF sought to further enhance the development capacity of our schools by training alumni association representatives. Again, we engaged the renowned Indiana University Center on Philanthropy to conduct the training. Since alumni contributions are a vital component of development, and a relatively small percentage of college/university alumni are reportedly regular contributors, this training has a potential for high payoff.
Through an RFP (request for proposal) process, TMCF will provide 10 member schools with $5,000 to host an alumni training workshop at their school. Activities to be supported by the funds include the recruitment of TMCF member-school alumni, meal costs, and some travel expenses. TMCF will cover the cost of training materials, workbooks, and the expenses for a representative from the Fundraising School to conduct the training. For more information please contact rthomas@tmcfund.org.
|
