Sailing charts new fundraising course

Author: James Kerrigan

In an effort to eliminate the disconnect between alumni and student organizations on campus, the Middlebury College Sailing Club has worked closely with the Office of College Advancement since early December on a capital campaign entitled "Rock the Boat" to raise the money needed to purchase a new fleet of boats and expand recreational sailing opportunities. After receiving the first donation just over two months ago, the club has raised $27,360 thus far. If it can reach $50,000 by May, an anonymous donor will give an additional $30,000.

Needing higher quality boats due to a recent resurgence of student interest in participation in sailing and the desire to become more competitive, the team became part of a broader initiative to promote stronger alumni connections for organizations, according to Doug Adams, the director of Campus Activities and Leadership. In the Nov. 13 "One Dean's View" blog posting titled "Pumping up the Volume on Student Orgs," Dean of the College Tim Spears emphasized the importance of enhancing this connection.

"Linking current students to the history of these organizations - and their alumni - is an effective way of deepening students' awareness of what they can accomplish on this campus and beyond," wrote Spears. "If student organizations were encouraged to connect to their alumni bases, build affinity groups, and raise money, there could be even greater options for students."

The Sailing Club, which has sent out quarterly newsletters to 150 alumni during the past several years, approached the Alumni and Parent Program - a major department in the Advancement division - this past fall to access its database, complete with alumni interests and preferences. After getting approval from Spears, they were able to further tap into the alumni network and target former Sailing Club members.

"The Sailing Club put together a fantastic proposal," said Director of Annual Giving Susan Regier, "that demonstrated the worthiness of its cause. They went through all the right channels to make this happen."

"[The Office of College Advancement] knew we were interested in doing some fund-raising," said Sailing Club Commodore Chandler Koglmeier '09, "and we were in a great place to jump on the opportunity."

Sailing Club Director of Fundraising Katie Donovan '10, partnered with the Office of College Advancement to develop the best possible procedure for implementing this new strategy. In conjunction with the Web site campaign, the Sailing Club sent out a case statement detailing the specifics of the fund-raising efforts to the new list of roughly 750 alumni in December 2007. This endeavor will supplement the $9,560 the Sailing Club received from the Student Government Association via the Finance Committee, the traditional approach for the over 150 clubs and organizations on campus.

The process for using the Alumni and Parent Program was not well established for clubs and organizations in the past. Sports teams have used this alumni network to raise additional funds for spring trips, for example, but the method is not widespread. According to Koglmeier, both parties have learned a lot so far.

"We needed a sample group to see how the process would work," said Adams, "and to see if it is possible to replicate."

Even though there were some hurdles, they were not insurmountable. "The Sailing Club has done an admirable job working through the logistics," said Adams.

The Sailing Club's success in fund-raising does not guarantee that the process will be easily replicated for any club or organization. The club wanted to make recreational sailing more available to the student population at large, meaning the entire college community could benefit from the money. Additionally, the sailing club's leadership was both motivated and diligent, necessary ingredients for success, according to Regier.

With four months remaining for the club to reach its goal of $50,000, the sailing commodore is cautiously optimistic. "I believe we have a great group of alumni and donors to make this happen," said Koglmeier.

If it is able to raise the full amount, the Sailing Club, which finished 23rd in the New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association (NEISA) this past fall (its highest ever), will benefit immensely. With 12 new FJ's costing a total of $66,500, the goal is expensive. However, a new fleet of boats would allow Middlebury to host regattas as early as next fall, and would make the activity more accessible and convenient for sailors of all abilities.