Income and investment

There's an interesting piece in this week's THES about fundraising from alumni, written from the perspective of one of us academics who is both in the position of needing donations to help to fund a present employer/institution but also, as an alumnus, is on the receiving end of regular such requests. It makes the obvious but important point that how someone feels treated as a student will determine their reaction to later approaches for donations. The last paragraph sums it up very nicely:

The best way to ensure that current students will turn into generous donors of the future is to treat them well when they are there. This does not mean dumbing down, lowering standards or making things easy. But it does mean not being petty, discourteous or worse, seeing students as easily fleeceable paying customers. If you want customer/scholar loyalty, start by treating them as adults from the day they arrive. They may even reciprocate.

Something worth bearing in mind.