College Advancement Student Thank-a-thon
by Maria Reyes ’08

Did you ever wonder what the Office of College Advancement does? Before I worked there, I did too.  As the student manager, I have direct contact with our alums. When my friends ask, I say College Advancement raises money for CNR by getting support from various sources for the Annual Fund and the Wellness Center. One of the most important sources is our alum. Recently Jennifer Smith, the Administrative Assistant to the Director of Annual Giving, implemented a student Thank-a-thon to show our newest donors how much we appreciated their support. As a student that receives a CNR scholarship, I know first hand exactly how their support helps my education. This year, the students that participated were Yamilette Abreu, Melissa Audain, Blanca Casillas, Tessica Campbell, Roxanne Conteh, Marjorie Fonseca, Jazmine Garzon, Dijon Parker, Kelly Wilson and I. We were on hand the first evening for orientation and training, led by Jennifer.  After about 15 minutes the smell of pizza forced us to take a food break. We were given an overview of the Annual Fund and College Advancement activities by Marilyn Saulle, Director of Annual Giving and then began test calls to some of the College Advancement staff.

Most of us were very nervous.  We didn’t know how the alums would react, we were trying to memorize the script, and we were full of pizza. After some feedback from Jennifer and the College Advancement staff (and a few more test calls), we began to get into the swing of things. For a total of three evenings a group of five to seven students called 281 new donors. Our alums were surprised and pleased to be thanked by students. Many said they would support the Annual Fund again.  In three nights we were able to reach half of the new donors.  Jazmine Garzon won the grand prize for reaching the most people. It was a fun, new experience for us and for the donors. Each of us helped make this Thank-a-thon successful and we hope it can be repeated in the future.