Students Raise $12,500 to Support AUC Activities, Scholarships

Since the past fall semester, AUC students have been fundraising for the University as part of the phonathon initiative through the Office of Alumni, Annual Fund and Parent Relations. During the fall and winter semesters, the students raised approximately $12,500.

“In the past, the phonathon was outsourced to a business solutions company, which contacted alumni on behalf of the University and invited them to donate to The AUC Annual Fund,” explained said Sara Bakr, senior annual fund officer. “This year, we decided to host part of the phonathon in-house — on campus facilities and carried out by a trained team of student fundraisers who called past donors. We hired a student fundraising team via the work-study program, trained them on calling scripts and provided the necessary facilities to make the phone calls. The remainder of the phonathon effort is still taking place off campus, but for the first time this year, it is being conducted by hired AUC alumni rather than student fundraisers, under the management of The AUC Annual Fund team”

Each student spent four hours per week calling alumni and parents of alums asking for donations to fund financial aid and scholarships. “We explain that their donation will help students who can’t afford to pay to attend the University,” said Marina Rafik Shawky, who applied to be a fundraiser as part of a winter internship. “I wanted to work on this because I am a communications major, and this has helped me hone the skills I need.”

In addition to helping raise money for the University, the students are gaining hands-on experience that will aid them in their future careers. “We talk to a lot of different people, so we learn how to communicate and convince people that this is something they should donate to,” noted Mirna Rafik Ibrahim, who has been working on this initiative since the fall semester.

“The students have all the qualities that make a perfect fundraiser: They believe in the causes that The AUC Annual Fund supports and the importance of alumni giving, and they are so passionate about AUC,” said Bakr.

The student fundraising initiative in the fall and winter was part of the larger alumni phonathon effort. In the spring semester, the students have been calling faculty and staff members to raise money for scholarships, financial aid and other AUC activities.

Photo caption: Marina Rafik Shawky and Mirna Rafik Ibrahim fundraising for AUC as part of the phonathon initiative