News

Donations from Durham University graduates on the increase

(2 June 2004)

Donations from past students of the University of Durham through mail and telephone campaigns have increased by 32% compared to last year, totalling £350,000 so far this year.

The funds, raised through a combination of direct mail and telephone campaigns, will help the next generation of students pursue their academic studies and help maintain the University’s high standards of teaching and research.

Nearly 65% of alumni who donated money chose to give to the Student Opportunities Fund. With growing numbers of students needing financial support, the importance of this University Fund is increasing. It helps applicants or students who could not otherwise afford to embark upon or continue their studies. The importance of the Student Opportunities Fund has led the University to making it a key focus of its major fundraising campaign which seeks to raise £175 million by the year 2007. The other proportion of the income from the mail and telephone campaigns is used to fund improvements and expansion to research, teaching, college and sports facilities.

Adrian Beney, Acting Director of Development and Alumni Relations said: “We are absolutely committed to ensuring that the high quality of our teaching and research and the overall collegiate student experience is maintained. With increasing financial pressures placed on students and universities as a whole, the income raised from our alumni is becoming more and more important. It is excellent news that an increasing number of our graduates are choosing to help the next generation. We are working hard to ensure we can sustain this trend.”

The direct mail and telephone campaigns make up the University’s Annual Giving Programme in which contact was made with 27,000 graduates this academic year. In the recent telephone campaign, about 25 current students made telephone calls in the evenings to about 6,000 alumni over a 13 week period to ask for their support. The student callers are given thorough training before taking to the phones which includes aspects such as fundraising theory, telephone conduct and the goals of the Annual Giving Programme.

The University’s fundraising campaign leading up to its 175th anniversary in 2007, which includes the telephone and mail campaigns, aims to raise income from a combination of sources including donations from alumni, challenge-based grants from charitable trusts and national organisations, sponsorships and other support from industry and business.

It has already helped to provide for new professorships, scholarships and infrastructure projects ranging from the £6 million Ogden Centre for Fundamental Physics and a £10 million Wolfson Research Institute at Queen’s Campus, Stockton to student IT facilities and a water-based hockey pitch.

Notes to Editors

1. The University has conducted 15 telephone campaigns and 11 mail campaigns since 1994, contacting about 33,000 graduates in the UK. Four telephone and four mail campaigns have been conducted to the USA and Canada.

For further information, please contact Dionne Hamil, Public Relations Office on 0191 334 6078 or by email Dionne Hamil