Alumni Fundraising for Reed
What is Alumni Fundraising for Reed?
Alumni Fundraising for Reed (AFR) is a group of dedicated volunteers living across the globe and working to promote philanthropy at Reed. AFR volunteers contact alumni donors through email, phone calls, texting, and social media to encourage gifts to the college. Outreach is easy, takes very little time, and makes a big impact on the overall financial health of Reed. Plus, you can do it from anywhere in the world!
Why AFR is important
At a time when other liberal arts colleges are closing or in trouble, alumni giving has never been more important. Peer-to-peer fundraising is effective and AFR outreach is the friendly reminder to many alumni that giving to Reed matters. Last year, AFR volunteers contacted more than 1,200 donors and urged them to renew their support.
What AFR does
AFR conducts three outreach periods a year (December, March, and June) that coincide with large fundraising campaigns from the college. AFR volunteers normally contact 10–15 alumni during an outreach period by email, phone, or social media, to share why they support Reed and to encourage their peers to renew their gifts. AFR volunteers are supplied with all the materials needed to do outreach from staff liaisons including contact lists, the Making the Ask manual, and one-on-one coaching.
AFR Social Media Ambassadors
Are you a social media maven? Or is AFR outreach not quite your style? Be an AFR Social Media Ambassador! Ambassadors activate in the last few days of each outreach period to spread a positive message of philanthropy on social media platforms. Share why you give to Reed, like and share Reed's fundraising posts, and more. Find out more here.
AFR Resources
Sounds interesting! How do I get involved?
Simply email alumni@reed.edu to get connected to your staff liaison! We’d love to hear from you!
Alumni Fundraising for Reed Steering Committee
Advait Jukar ’11, Co-Chair
Katherine Lefever ’07, Co-Chair
Sam Elgin ’13
“Thank you for volunteering. At a time when other liberal arts colleges are closing or in trouble, alumni giving has never been of more importance. As a nonprofit, Reed relies on our philanthropy and every gift makes a difference. Encouraging alumni who made a gift last year but haven’t yet renewed their support is often the reminder they need to make that gift. And let’s be honest, a lot of us are procrastinators. We wait until the last minute possible. And then sometimes forget. Not because we don’t care, but because we have a lot of other things going on. AFR outreach is the friendly reminder that giving to Reed matters.”
—Christine Lewis ’07, AFR Steering Committee member