Fall Class Agent Meeting Friday, September 25, 2009 Testa Science Center Atrium

Why is the Annual Fund important? Academic support Library resources Campus Ministry / Student Programs Athletics Financial Aid

Assumption College Annual Budget – Revenue & Expenses REVENUEEXPENSES Note: 1). Auxiliary Services is Room and Board; 2). Other Revenue includes revenue from conferences held on campus, the book store and fundraising. Assumption is obviously a tuition dependent institution.

Growth of Endowment Net Assets Note: Like most schools, our endowment did see a decrease in FY`09. Fortunately, our conservative fiscal investment strategy limited our decrease to 16%, while other schools decreased as much as 30%

Financial Aid Did you know… –78% of Assumption students receive need- based financial aid –Assumption spends $23 million in institutional dollars on scholarship aid for its students –The number of requests for financial aid has increased significantly over the last year Note: The number of requests from families for additional financial aid doubled from 150 in FY`08 to 300 in FY`09.

Components of an Assumption College Financial Aid package Need-based grant from Assumption Endowed scholarship grant Federal Work Study Stafford Loan Perkins Loan Pell Grant Note: Stafford Loan payments are made directly to Assumption College.

Economic Conditions Affecting Financial Aid in FY`09 Assumption’s endowed scholarships decreased $300,000 due to market fluctuations. State budget cuts resulted in Assumption receiving $180,000 less in state grants Over three years Assumption’s share of the Perkins Loan Fund has decreased from $750,000 to $350,000 – a 53% decrease. Note: Added together this is $880,000 that the Financial Aid office did not have available to award to students this year. Assumption did have a surplus in FY`09 that it could use to replace this. But this surplus can’t be counted on every year. This places extra importance on the Annual Fund.

Economic Conditions Affecting Financial Aid in Families are losing jobs, diminished 401(k), home equity credit is more difficult to obtain. Tightened credit markets have led to borrowers not lending to students without co-borrowers, leading to an increased number of loans taken on by parents. Note: While many parents are taking on loans, students are still taking on the burden of financing their college education.

How the Annual Fund impacts Financial Aid and our students –Provides competitive financial aid packages for high school seniors considering Assumption –Provides additional funding that can assist current students who are in need of additional financial aid –By giving grants instead of loans, we can help graduating seniors reduce their debt load Note: We need to remain competitive in our financial aid packages so that we can: yield a full first year class; retain our students for four years; and not overly burden graduating seniors with debt.

Total Annual Fund (dollars) Note: The Annual Fund ended up 2.8% in FY’09- the second largest total Annual Fund dollars raised, second only to 2007 which was the end of the capital campaign.

Undergraduate Alumni Gifts to Annual Fund Note: Gifts from undergraduate alumni accounted for close to half of the total dollars raised in FY’09.

Total Annual Fund Donors Note: Albeit small, we saw an increase in the number of donors while most schools witnessed a decrease.

Undergraduate Alumni Annual Fund Participation Note: Our goal in the next three years is to bring our participation back to 20%- where it was 7-8 years ago. In order to raise the participation rate by 1%, we would need an additional 150 donors…

How do we Compare? (alumni participation FY`09) Note: With three additional percent participation points, we would move ourselves up the ladder among our peers in participation.

Class size vs. Participation Rates Note: Our class size is inversely proportional to our participation rate. We are committed to working hard to keep our alumni engaged through the use of technology which best suits the class.

Matching Gift Donations Note: We will continue to provide our donors with tools needed to make their matching gift in a timely manner. Remember matching gift dollars count toward PC membership.

Online Giving Note: 22% of gifts received from classes came from online gifts. While our online giving saw a 22% increase from FY’08-FY’09, we need to continue to encourage online giving.

Your Role as a Class Agent Make your gift … Share with your classmates the importance of their participation Remind them that gifts of any size are welcome Encourage online giving…quick, easy, and secure. Note: Gifts of any size are greatly appreciated as they also add to the participation rate. Visit our newly redesigned online giving form at

How we will help you succeed as a Class Agent Monthly messages with campus information and solicitation tips Templates for class letters and s. Processing your newsletters and mailings Provide scripts for phone calls Up-to-date reports on donations from classmates Note: Please contact the Office of Annual Giving at or if you have questions or concerns.