Phonathon Approached a New Era

As George Mason alumni, you may have received telephone calls from the university asking for your annual support. In the past, George Mason students, faculty, and alumni made some of these calls from a room in SUB II equipped with tables, manually dialed telephones, pencils, and comment forms for recording your responses. In more recent years, our growth in number of alumni prevented us from making all calls from campus, so we enlisted help from Ruffalo Cody, a firm that specializes in fund-raising for colleges and universities across the country.

Joy Kong (above) and Danial Farrukh ring up alumni.

In May of this year, George Mason University phonathons moved into a new era when the university's Development Office partnered with Ruffalo Cody to open a calling center in Fairfax. Christine Kmieczak, director of the Annual Fund, says, "We consider this endeavor as a win­win situation for George Mason University. Our students will have personal contact with our alumni, as well as an excellent employment opportunity." The computerized calling center, which features automated dialing, is located about one mile from campus and employs student callers.

Kathleen Kehoe, the liaison between the Development Office and Ruffalo Cody, emphasizes that the success of future phonathons depends on the enthusiasm of student callers. "The technology may change," she says, " but the primary quality we continue to look for when recruiting student callers is a genuine enthusiasm for George Mason University. Inevitably, that enthusiasm comes through on calls to alumni."