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(From left) Laura
Hilscher ’09, Dustin
Quinn ’09 and Sara
Davidson ’09 at
their stations in the new Telefund room. Surrounding
them are several other students participating
in that night’s Telefund calling. |
For several nights each week, the Sheldon Hall Telefund
room comes alive with the voices of students trying
to make a difference. Equipped with a new and improved
Telefund room that opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony
Feb. 12, each student caller has his or her own station
and phone to accomplish their goal.
“It’s a lot more homey and it’s in
a great building,” Associate Director of Annual
Giving Jamie Stack Leszczynski
’04 said.
As part of The Fund for Oswego,
the student Telefund plays a significant role in raising
funds for programs on campus, scholarships, building
renovations, computers, and more. The Telefund raised
37 percent of the The Fund
for Oswego last fiscal year.
This year the student Telefund includes 38 callers who
work between 12 and 15 hours a week to contact over
60,000 Oswego alumni, friends and parents. Their goal:
to raise $220,000 for the college by May 10.
As of last week, the students had received $152,371
in pledges, which is more than $9,000 more than the
total at this time last year, according to Leszczynski.
The Telefund has been recognized for its many successes
including a record-breaking total of pledges in one
night. On
(From left) Samantha
Calabrese ’09, Katie
Szozda ’09, Dustin
Quinn ’09, and Callie
Goss ’08 take a
break in between calls. The callers try to contact
60,000 Oswego alumni, friends and parents during
the Telefund. |
Tuesday, Feb. 27, callers received $25,382, beating
the previous record of $21,000.
The accomplishments of the Telefund this year have been
extremely rewarding since the callers were off to a
rocky start missing six days to a snowstorm in February,
Leszczynski said.
“I really think of these student callers as our
ambassadors,” she said. “They talk to a
lot of people in one night, more than many of us talk
to in a year.”
With 22 of the 38 callers returning Telefund students,
Leszczynski who has been working with the Telefund since
October, is confident that they will meet the goal.
“My number one goal is to motivate students and
challenge them,” she said. “We look at the
bigger picture and have them strive for better.”
Leszczynski provides the students with different incentives
like gift certificates from local vendors, and pizza
parties.
“I try to provide a fun atmosphere that hopefully
in the end will provide better results,” Leszczynski
said.
(From left) Jessica
Pett ’10, Robin
Dienhoffer ’09,
Emily Howse
’09, Andrea
Price ’08 and Elizabeth
Olin ’07 are just
a few of the 38 person Telefund team. The students
work 12 to 15 hours each week making calls for
the Telefund. |
Student callers have extended their duties even more
while calling by keeping alumni up to date with Reunion
schedules, providing them with information about the
Lake
E-ffect
e-newsletter, the Oswego
alumni magazine and OsweGoConnect,
Oswego’s online community. They also provide Oswego’s
alumni department contact information to any alumni
looking to re-connect with an old friend.
“It’s a rewarding job,” Leszczynski
said. “You get to talk with tons of different
people.”
With 29 calling days left, you too can still be a part
of this year’s annual fund by giving
a gift to SUNY Oswego. For further information contact
the development office at (315) 312-3003.
— Emily King ’05 |
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To April 2007 E-Newsletter |
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