The Carlin Alumni House may soon welcome a private firm to direct its telemarketing program.
University Advancement Vice President Mike Leto said there have been discussions of using an outside firm to help CMU's fund raising, but the telemarketing program would not be privatized.
"I certainly hope that's not true. I'd be out of a job," he said.
Carlin Alumni House uses a number of ways to raise funds for the university, he said. These include face-to-face personals, proposals through corporations, telemarketing and through various colleges with staff members, faculty, deans and volunteers.
"I don't know how we'd privatize all that. We are talking about working with a firm that would work in Carlin Alumni House," Leto said. "The one we're considering would work on site to administer our program, using our student workers. Essentially, there will be no change from the past."
Leto verified that the firm that CMU may use is RuffaloCODY, a company headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa that specializes in telephone fund raising for non-profit organizations. RuffaloCODY also has regional calling centers in Indiana, Georgia, Washington D.C., Texas and Illinois.
Some of RuffaloCODY's higher education clients include: Abilene Christian University, in Abilene, Texas; Aquinas College, in Grand Rapids, Mich.; Butler University in Butler, Ind.; Mount Mercy College, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; University of Georgia, in Athens, Ga., and Western Connecticut University, in Danbury, Conn.
Leto said the Alumni House has used RuffaloCODY and other firms in the past to administer its telemarketing program.
CMU's telemarketing staff includes a director of annual giving, a support person and various student workers. Last year, over 100 students worked with the office to call alumni and ask for donations. Leto said the students are not permanent employees but will not be affected if RuffaloCODY directs Central's phonathon system.
"We have not made a final decision yet at all," he said. "If we do go in that direction, we'd begin sometime in the summer. But it won't impact the number of jobs or job opportunities for our student workers."
RuffaloCODY Senior Project Manager LeeAnn Krapfl said her company will hold discussions with Central in July and will begin working with the university in August or September. Krapfl said a staff has been assigned to manage CMU's telemarketing system but will not replace any student workers.
"Typically we try to hire as many college student workers that we can. We have sites similar to CMU's program like those at the University of Georgia, Butler University and Abilene Christian University."
The benefits RuffaloCODY can bring to Central are numerous, Krapfl said.
"I think the biggest thing is our experience in working with different colleges and universities. Also, the different techniques we've tried, the ways to manage the data, giving suggestions for different types of mail pieces and different ways to acknowledge pledges."
In 1999, the University Advancement office set an all-time record for fund raising through various methods with $5,633,607. Leto said utilizing RuffaloCODY's services will hopefully help increase donations even more.
"We're always trying to do that. But we are not privatizing fund raising at CMU."
Leto was chosen out of a pool of 35 candidates in July 1998 to fill the then-new position of University Advancement vice president, which oversees the university's fund raising and alumni-relation activities. Previously, Leto worked as the executive director of development for the Indiana University Foundation.