Funniest post you've ever had. Congrats.

I would guess that none of the schools you saw listed were schools where a high percentage of graduates have education degrees--I read somewhere that teachers are absolutely worthless at donating to their alma mater.  

The other thing is public school grads are less likely to give thinking that their tax dollars are already at work.

I compliment you on your inablity to engage in reasoned discourse.  Let us not leave your inability to pursue a comparison unpraised also.

Good point.  The thought that our % of donor contributions lags what one would expect given affinity for The University is an inane thought.  Intelligent discourse on the reasons why and thought on the impact (or not) of Atheletics on donations (or fice versa) is a total waste.

Can't wait for the next thread about how we'll be changing conferences or adding seats to Peden or the huge contract signed by some non-MAC school.


Look, if you don't like the topic then ignore it.  But are ya really adding anything at all by trashing because that's your blanket opinion of my posts?

Look, anyone who's posted here over 20 times repeats themself.  At least I do it succinctly and to the point.  We need big men.  I don't get your thought that we could never get any.  (The name 'Jacobs' ring a bell?)

Oops.  I forgot.  If you don't get what I post, don't agree with my content or style, then I'm a moron.

No expectation that there will be a seismic shift toward us leading the nation.  But can't we do better..a lot better over time.

It's an interesting though that most of the schools stated were, if memory serves, private.  So, probably tough for a state school (less deep pockets, probaby, to start) to pull donors in the amount of dollars and, probably, &% of giving that the privates do.

But you don't sense that the affinity for O.U. is stronger than that of alumni of Cleveland State or Pitt or Bowling Green, etc.  Is it really unreasonable to think that could be mined to the financial betterment of The University.  If you were hiring someone whose job included fundraising would you not excite them with our alumni affinity and not expect them to produce a higher % of alumni giving than Buffalo and Kent State or most other schools?

Monroe,

I guess my question is what drives fundraising? When one talks about affinity for Ohio, does that mean alumni wanting to get back to Athens moreso than alumni of other schools? Given Athens' location, does it moreso foster that feeling as alumni can't get back as much as say an Akron grad living in Cleveland? Or is the affinity driven by the fact there are less commuters attending Ohio as compared to other MAC schools in more urban locations?

At any rate, I'm not sure the affinity results in dollars necessarily. I think a big part of it is the majors you turn out. I would think a school like Miami that turns out a lot of business and pre-law folks would get more donations than maybe a school like Ohio which would have more Journalism, Social Work and Education majors. So it's more a base of majors than affinity perhaps. And, at the high end, athletics also plays a factor as well. I'm just not sure Ohio scores well in any of those areas.

Actually, Monroe has a great point here folks.

Monroe says the article tracked % of alums who donate.  He did not mention anything about how much they donate.

This is one factor in university rankings.  US News and World Report definitely includes it.

So, if more alums gave as little as $1 per year, there would be a positive impact.