SUNY Oswego - Alumni Association - September E-Newsletter

September 2010 • Vol 6 No 6

Oswego Students to Call Alumni and Friends

Oswego’s team of Telefund callers is ready to ring in the new school year — and hear alumni stories of years past — this week.

Telefund callers

Telefund Manager Dominick White ’08 said he hopes his group of 34 students can top some of last year’s fundraising milestones and set new records for pledges with the help of donors. Students call alumni and friends nightly Sunday through Thursday.

Last year, callers raised about $323,400 in pledges to The Fund for Oswego, the college’s primary source of support beyond state assistance and tuition.

Fiscal highlights from 2009-10 included a 9 percent increase in the average gift from $63.40 to $69.39. Student callers also added 61 donors — a 24 percent increase over the previous year — to the President’s Circle, reserved for donors giving $250 or more to The Fund for Oswego.

“I think a lot of it had to do with the quality of callers we had,” White said. The roster included many seniors and the Telefund enjoyed an 88 percent retention rate from fall to the spring semester of last year.

The best part of the job for many is the conversations callers have with alumni, White said.

“They really like hearing about their lives and successes,” he said.

— Shane M. Liebler

PHOTO CAPTION:
Some of last year's student callers were, from left: Valentina Capone '10, Derek Fogelson '10, Marisa Pettus '10, Nicole Chiappetta '10, Lauren Barth '10, Bridget Smith '10, Christina Gallo '10, Alissa Lusardi '10 and Ryan Nordman '10.

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Oswego Alumni Association, Inc. • King Alumni Hall - SUNY Oswego • Oswego, NY 13126
315-312-2258 • 315-312-5570 (fax) • E-mail: alumni@oswego.edu • Web site: oswego.edu/alumni

Who doesn’t want to save the world? Michael Kite ’02 does that for a living through World Wildlife Fund.

As marketing specialist for one of the world’s leading conservation organizations, Kite and his team of three work to raise more than $5 million each year. The majority of that money comes from licensing partnerships and promotions with the likes of Barnes & Noble, Gap, Hewlett-Packard, Dial and Coinstar.

Retail partnerships help WWF spread its message to the general public and raise funds for its conservation work around the globe. For example, Bank of America contributes $100 for every special Visa account opened and Nabisco is supporting WWF’s “Year of the Tiger” initiative with special packaging and a $100,000 donation. The new CVS Green Bag Tag program rewards reusable bag-toting customers, and generates five cents for WWF for each tag sold.

All support WWF’s mission of protecting the future of nature, down to the finest details, Kite said.

“We like to see that the product is made from recycled material and is recyclable itself, and somehow ties into our mission,” Kite said. The Green Bag Tag, for instance, is made from a corn-based material and features a 100 percent recycled silicone lanyard.

As a broadcasting major at Oswego, Kite got involved with WRVO-FM and WNYO-FM.

“I think it gave me a lot more confidence in talking to people,” he said. It was an important part of his early career in broadcast sales and remains an important piece in the message he “sells” today.

“The best part of my job is seeing a product in the store with the WWF logo after months of working with a company to launch it,” said Kite, who joined the organization in 2006. “It’s rewarding to give people a fun, unique way to protect our planet.”

— Shane M. Liebler