Fewer seniors donate at Penn than elsewhere

Princeton may be our classic rival, but for Penn seniors, Yale is the school to beat.

Yale University had over 80 percent of its 2004 graduating class give money to the senior gift drive, above and beyond the rates at Penn, Harvard University and Princeton University.

Only 55 percent of the University's graduating class contributed to the senior drive last year, and that was a record high for Penn.

Yale has "a very strong volunteer structure," said Martha Gates, a Yale college development officer. "Each senior is actually approached and talked to about giving, and I think that makes the difference."

Yale's percentage of participation may be higher, but individual members of the class do not give as much. Yale's class last year gave $24,000, while Penn's class gave nearly $50,000.

Yale has approximately 5,000 undergraduates, Harvard has about 6,500, Princeton has about 5,000 and Penn has about 10,000 students.

This year, the Penn senior class is trying to raise $55,000 from 60 percent of the class.

Class Gift Co-Chairman and College senior Eric Boschetti noted that alumni-giving is more of a tradition at other Ivy League schools, and Penn's students have only just begun to realize the importance of giving back.

"Penn has always been an awesome school, but it's only recently become more competitive," he said, citing Penn's move up in the U.S. News and World Report rankings.

"I think that's re-engaged a lot of alumni," he said, but "it's not really sunken in with the student body."

Boschetti added that the focus for the more than 100 senior gift drive volunteers will be urging students to donate as part of their student groups. Groups that have 100 percent of their seniors donate will have their names engraved on a special plaque.

Harvard encourages rivalry within its college house system during the senior gift drive, which begins in February. The tactic is "pretty tried and true," according to Harvard Fund Administrator Adrienne Strong, because house pride is strong among students.

Seventy-four percent of the 2003 Harvard graduating class donated to the senior gift, which was a record for the school. Students can decide if their donation goes toward unrestricted funds that support areas of greatest need, or to financial aid.

Princeton's senior gift fundraising works in a different way, functioning as a pledge drive for seniors to promise donations after they graduate.

"They realize that students graduating don't have a lot of resources," said Kevin Cotter, who works in Princeton's Department of Annual Giving. Instead, the school tries to educate students on the need for giving back and philanthropy.

"It's non-binding -- they don't have to fulfill it anyway," Cotter said of the pledge card. And while 88 percent of Princeton students signed the cards, only 65 percent of the last graduating class ended up actually making donations the following year.

The minimum donation for each of the schools is only $5 or $10, although the end result of the fundraising differs. This year, Penn seniors will not be donating toward a specific project. The Class of '04, on the other hand, spent the funding on the Cafe Garden Courtyard outside Mark's Cafe in Van Pelt Library.

"Our gift is to help the University where it needs to be helped right now," Boschetti said, by donating the money as unrestricted funds for the University to use in a variety of different ways.

This year's money will go to areas where funding is not already set aside, including residential upgrades or financial aid.

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