Dear Alumni, Students and friends,

On October 9, Johnson School AA&D staff visited the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia and completed a benchmark study on "alumni participation," -- the percentage of alumni who give to their alma mater. This rate directly impacts a business school's ranking. For example, the U.S. News & World Report uses the alumni participation rate as the key indicator of alumni involvement and satisfaction when computing rankings. A high alumni participation rate is indicative of the support base of a college and represents the confidence alumni have in the direction of the institution. The Darden findings, combined with those of Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business and the Yale School of Management done previously, gave us a number of insights into the reasons behind the high participation rates of this competitive peer set. In particular, each of these schools has two practices in common, which we believe contribute to their success: A Class Correspondent Program, and a Class Agent Program. The Class Correspondent Program facilitates class communication, builds upon the bonds made while at school, and encourages classmates to contribute information to the Class Notes section of the school's signature magazine, Cornell Enterprise. The Class Agent Program directly impacts giving - especially in non-reunion years. Selected volunteers in each class reach out to their classmates and encourage them to give and support the school, reminding them how important their participation is to our reputation and standing as a top business school. We are currently evaluating both of these programs for implementation.

On the campaign side: In the past few months, our fund raising teams are reporting that our alumni are starting to feel a little more hopeful about the economy. While we recognize that some of you are still struggling with jobs, things appear to be stabilizing, and more of you are willing to have conversations about campaign gifts again. I am pleased to report two significant scholarship endowments were committed to the school in September: one by Advisory Council Member Randy Chafetz, MBA '85, to provide support primarily for international students; and one by Michael Jenkins, MBA '93, who has opened the scholarship to receive endowment gifts from other alumni who want to support scholarships, but cannot commit to the endowment level required.

Thank you all for your loyalty, and, as always, your continued support of the Annual Fund.

With kind regards,

Bill Huling
Interim Associate Dean for Alumni Affairs and Development

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