spring 2014 / 43
PHILANTHROPY
Have yougiven to theAnnual
Fund this year?
Donations to theAnnual Fundprovide avital source
of unrestricted support for the college’s greatest needs,
especiallywhen it comes to student scholarships. A
thrivingAnnual Fund is a key component of every
successful college’s fundraisingoperations, and giftsmade
by alumni, parents, faculty, staff, and friends continue
to ensure considerableprogress for the institutionwhile
making adifference for current students, including those
who couldn’t attendBirmingham-Southernwithout
financial support.
While theAnnual Fund thrives on generous gifts from
all sources, giftsmadeby alumnimake thedifference.
BSC alumni support has grown significantlyover the last
few years,moving from28% in2011, to34% in2012, and
then tomore than36% in2013. This rapid growth is a
signof confidence—major corporations and foundations
consider this factorwhen reviewing applications for grants
and large gifts, andnational rankings andpublications
alsouse this statistic as an indicator of alumni
satisfaction. It takes about 120 alumni gifts tomove just
onepercentagepoint. Thatmeans that, while the college
depends on large gifts, all donationsmake an impact,
regardless of size.
Helpusmeet our goals of $2million and40% alumni
participationbyMay31, 2014, by giving today!
Tomake a gift to theBSCAnnual Fund, simply
complete andmail the enclosed form and envelopewith
your gift, ormake a secureonline gift atwww.bsc.edu/
egiving. Questions about theAnnual Fundor anyother
gift-relatedmatters shouldbedirected to theOfficeof
Institutional Advancement at (205) 226-4909.
College raising funds for endowedprofessorship in accounting
Birmingham-Southern is excited tobemoving forward in its efforts to return accounting as amajor.
Beginning inmid-2013, theOfficeof Institutional Advancement, BSC’s provost, andBSC’s deanof thebusiness programbegan
meeting regularlywith local and regional accountingfirms to solicit input on theproposedmajor from the leadershipof thesefirms.
Theoverwhelmingmessage taken from thesemeetingswas anunderstanding that accountingfirms are looking forwell-rounded,
critically-thinking young graduates—exactly the typeof student BSC excels at producing.
Akey step in re-establishing themajor requires funding aProfessorship inAccounting. This professorshipwill solidify the accounting
program at Birmingham-Southern and allowbusiness students topursue an accountingmajor once again.
If you’re interested inmaking adonationor pledge to theProfessorship inAccounting, contact John Sweeney, director of corporate
and foundation relations, at
(205) 226-4910.
Becomeaclassagent volunteer
Fortypercent—that’s the goal for alumni participation
in theAnnual Fund this year, and tohelp the college get
there, ‘Southern alumni are stepping forward to serve as
“class agents.”
Class agents havemade a commitment to reachout to
their classmates for financial support, and their grassroots
effortswill be an integral part of achievingour Annual
Fund goal this year and in the future.
“Class agents are responsible for contacting their
classmates to ask for their financial support,” saidErica
Crump Sellers ‘05, director of annual giving. “They can
also enlist other classmates tomakephone calls, but they
are takingon responsibility formanaging their list and
reporting results. The alums takingon these roles are
going above andbeyond tohelpus achieveour goals,
andwe are so appreciativeof their valuable assistance.”
If you are interested inbecoming a class agent, please
contact Sellers at (205) 226-4908or
.
Learnmore atwww.bsc.edu/advancement/agents.cfm.
40
%
Reachanalumni givingpercentage
of at least 40%
