“We’re trying to break into their giving
patterns and encourage them not only
to make that initial gift, but to be loyal
donors going forward.”
That sort of sustained stewardship
is key to any college’s fundraising suc-
cess, says Perry Hammock, executive
director of resource development for
Ivy Tech Community College (ITCC)
of Indiana. When times are tight, even
when potential donors say they can’t
give now, persistent communication
often leads to future donations.
“There’s no more easy money to
raise,” Hammock says, “so we’re trying
to get back to the basics of making
sure people are talking to people, visit-
ing with people, that they know what
our opportunities for service are, that
they know what it will take for us to
meet community needs for a trained
workforce.”
At ITCC, the percentage of state
support per full-time student plum-
meted by 27 percent in the past decade.
Meantime, enrollment has grown 28
percent since fall 2007. Hammock and
his colleagues have increasingly turned
to private fundraising to fill gaps and to
serve growing student demand.
