Fundraising phonathon a roaring success

UCT Vice-Chancellor Dr Max Price was among those who recently congratulated the students who helped the university raise R5.4-million '“ three times their target '“ in the annual phonathon.

Forty one students took part in the four-week campaign and contacted over 12 000 alumni to reach a target of R1.5-million. They met this target within the first week of the campaign.

This is the fifth time that UCT held a phonathon, and the second time that this is done in partnership with Rux Burton Associates (RBA), a telephone fundraising consultancy firm based in the UK.

Price, who visited the student callers to mark the end of their campaign earlier this month, remarked that the skills students acquired during the initiative will prove to be invaluable over the course of their careers.

Executive Director of the Development and Alumni Department Dr Russell Ally praised the callers, adding, "Through your efforts, you've made an enormous difference to many students, who will benefit for years to come."

An alumnus who was present at the celebratory event, Athol Gordon, made a five-year pledge, saying: "I get many unsolicited calls from a number of organisations, and I've never engaged with the person on the other end before, so whatever the recipe is that you were taught, please stick to it."

This year, over 740 alumni and friends of the university pledged their support to UCT. Included in this group is the vice-chancellor, who committed to a gift of R100 000 a year, for five years.

The success of this campaign is significant, not only in the South African higher education fundraising environment, but internationally as well.

"I've run close to 50 campaigns over the years, but none of them have come close to this one,' explained Nathaniel Gliksman, the team leader from RBA. 'When we run campaigns like this in the UK, we usually achieve around a 30% giving rate, for a total of £200 000 (R3.6-million) in six weeks. This campaign boasted a 43% giving rate. What you have done is just unparalleled."

Project co-ordinator Cindy de Oliveira summed up the sentiments of the entire phonathon team, "For me, this phonathon was about so much more than fundraising. It was about the connections that you made with alumni, the mentorship and the advice that you received from them, the way that each one of you developed confidence and self-assurance through this process. Working with all of you on this project has far exceeded my expectations of what is possible. From all of us at UCT '“ thank you."

Did you receive a phone call as part of this year's phonathon campaign? Email your feedback to Cindy de Oliveira.