In an article entitled "Alumni Giving Rebounds After A Horrible Year," on the front page of the March 19 issue of the Rochester Business Journal, reporter Kathy Quinn Thomas explores the "cumulative plunge" alumni donations to Rochester area colleges took from 2001 to 2003. The article was prompted by the recently published annual survey from the Rand Corporation's Council for Aid to Education.
MCC Foundation President Brenda Babitz, who was interviewed for the article, reinforced how MCC is "in the beginning stages of developing our alumni cadre" and the importance of maintaining accurate address information. According to the survey, under 2 percent of MCC's alumni currently donate to the MCC Foundation. From 2002 to 2003 alumni giving to MCC increased by 7 percent; just under $87,000 was donated in 2003.
The survey's author, Ann Kaplan, concluded that "Alumni donations are not the only support for higher-education institutions…. But (alumni donations) are the bedrock."
Rosanna Condello
College and Community Relations
03/23/2004 |