The economy may be down, but the number of alumni donating to the university’s annual fund and the amount of money they are giving is on the rise.

Fiscal year 2009 saw 5,388 alumni donate to the university, up from 5,266 in 2008. The number of overall donors also rose, from 6,763 in 2008 to 7,118 in 2009.

“Typically, the gifts are smaller in scope,” said Jill Nilsen, vice president for external relations. “We define an annual fund gift as anything $1,000 or less.”

Most of the money that comes in goes straight to the alumna’s or alumnus’ department.

“The departments use those dollars in various ways – to support students, to support faculty travel, to support programs and bring in speakers,” Nilsen said. “Every department utilizes the fund slightly differently.”

If the donor does not specify where the money should go, it is left to the discretion of the president to decide what the money will be used for.

“This president has always specified it go toward support for students,” Nilsen said. “President Lou Hencken put money in Presidential Scholars, which is also support for students but it’s for honors students.”

By keeping in contact with alumni, the university is able to attract donations. The Alumni Association has recently found around 17,000 new addresses for alumni.

“A whole new way of reaching alumni is through social networking,” Nilsen said.

She said the Alumni Association has a Facebook page with around 2,394 members currently.

President Bill Perry said the Alumni Association has reconnected very well with alumni over the last few years.

“We know we’re not perfect yet so we’ll continue to work in that direction,” he said.

Building connections with alumni is accomplished in many ways, including direct calling, newsletters, the alumni magazine and departmental newsletters among other ways.

Perry said he stays in contact with alumni through phone calls, e-mails and handwritten notes. When he speaks with them, he said they want to give back to the university.

“Eastern Illinois University is their university,” Perry said. “When a student comes to Eastern, it’s their university for life. We care about our alums and their lives. And they care about Eastern and what happens to Eastern.”

For many alumni, it was a scholarship that helped them get through school, and the university makes it a point to remind them of the continuing need in that area.

“When I speak with alumni they talk about wanting to give back to the university, wanting to support this new generation of Eastern students,” Perry said. “We’re all in this together. We’re the Eastern family.”

Sarah Ruholl can be reached at 581-7942 or seruholl2@eiu.edu.

Donations

5,388 – number of alumni who donated in fiscal year 2009.

Up from 5,266 from 2008.