Franklin Fund drops $70,000

What this means for Franklin College is that if numbers aren’t up by the end of June, which marks the end of the fiscal year, departments and services provided by the college will have scaled-back budgets in order to accommodate for the low number of gifts received by the fund.

“Each year when the college builds its budget, it starts to make projections on revenue based on really three sources,” said Bart Meyer, vice president for Institutional Advancement. “Obviously tuition, secondly income from our endowment, and third our gifts to the college.” 

The gift portion to help meet the operating budget is really the Franklin Fund. So each year we’re trying to raise a certain amount from alums and friends that goes into the budget.”

Fundraising in a failing economy hasn’t been easy. 

“It is quite a challenge for us this year, honestly,” Meyer said.

Students at Franklin won’t be directly affected by the Franklin Fund’s low numbers and probably won’t be able to notice much of a change. The real burden will be on the departments that have their budgets cut.

“I don’t think students will notice in services, or any decrease in their aid. I think it will be all the other programs of the college that are asked to cut back in order to protect and preserve the experience for the students,” Meyer said.

Donations to the Franklin Fund flow in from alumni, parents and friends; with alumni being the largest and most charitable donors. Despite an overall lower total number for donations, alumni participation has actually risen.

Alumni participation is judged by donations to the college. The economy, though, has put a strain on the amount a donor has been able to provide for the college, even though more are donating.

“I think in this economy we are still seeing a number of alumni and friends who understand the importance of this,” Meyer said. “They just don’t have as much disposable revenue as they have had in the past, so they’re making their contributions – their contributions are just smaller.”

It’s the small donations, as well as the large, that will continue to bring the Franklin Fund closer to its projections for this year and also raise alumni participation for the college, Meyer said. 

“We really emphasize participation at any level. Those people who can make a $5 contribution are just as important as those who can make a $500 contribution,” Meyer said.

He added that steps are being taken to increase the donations by alumni, parents and friends in regards to the awareness of the fund. The college has sent out pamphlets in the mail, produced articles in the alumni magazine, e-mail and used classmate-to-classmate contact to get word about the importance of their donations to the college and for its current students.

The Phone-a-Thon, a student-driven program that attempts to get alumni to donate, lets current students directly affect the amount of donations coming in.

“We call alumni, friends of the college and parents of current students to ask for financial support for the Franklin Fund for scholarships and to give updates and news from campus,” said Marti Schrock, assistant director of annual giving. “This is a great way for current students to connect with alumni and share the experience of FC.”

Through programs such as Phone-a-Thon, Franklin College is working to bridge the gap before the June deadline hits and other departments are affected. Working harder for more gifts and spreading the word of the Franklin Fund to alumni is how people behind the fund plan to catch up.

“I think it says a lot about our alum support that they are still donating in such an economic crunch,” Meyer said.