Albion College Annual Fund - Alumni Giving Percentage

Albion College revised a number of its procedures related to annual giving. Starting with fiscal year 2007 (July 1, 2006-June 30, 2007), new procedures changed how the alumni giving rate was calculated. More information on the procedures and their impact is given below.

How will Albion calculate the percentage of alumni giving?

Albion calculates the number of gifts from individual alumni (including gifts from May graduates) as a percentage of the total number of alumni solicited (again, including May graduates who make gifts). The alumni who are solicited are limited to alumni for whom the College has current contact information. As in the past, requests for contributions do not include “lost alumni” and alumni who have requested that they not receive communications from the College, including solicitations. At Albion, “alumni” are defined as those who attended Albion for at least two semesters, according to the Alumni Association Constitution.

Albion has always maintained a program of updating addresses by printing address correction requests on mailings, using the Web site and alumni magazine to facilitate address changes from alumni, and working with reunion class leadership to obtain correct addresses of classmates. Finally, the College uses a variety of online and other professional services to locate lost alumni. All of these steps continue.

What is the impact of this change in the procedures?

For several years Albion offered new graduates the opportunity to have a single gift credited as a multi-year pledge, given that their financial resources were limited. For new graduates making such gifts, the College counted the pledge each year over the multi-year period. The pledge period was set at three years through the 2002-03 fiscal year, and then at five years until this program was discontinued in the 2006-07 fiscal year. Beginning with the Class of 2007, Albion will solicit all classes every year, thereby ensuring consistency in our approach to alumni.