Reunion Classes Boost Alumni Fund Participation
Two alums offered a participation challenge to encourage giving during Reunion Weekend.
In addition to celebrating Reunion Weekend on April 15 through 17, 2016, Yale SOM alumni in reunion classes made a big impact by giving back to the school through the Yale SOM Alumni Fund. The strong support of these reunion gifts helped participation rise from 28.8% just before reunion to 44.1% the following week—making significant progress toward the overall goal of 50% participation from all Yale SOM alumni. Participation in annual giving is an important indicator of alumni engagement with the school, and Yale SOM boasts one of the highest participation rates among U.S. business schools.
To encourage giving among the reunion classes, Edward De La Rosa ’81 and John Resor ’81 offered a participation challenge from the Wednesday before Reunion Weekend through the Friday after. For each new reunion donor to the Yale SOM Alumni Fund during the challenge period, De La Rosa and Resor pledged to give a bonus of $500 to the school, up to 200 donors and $100,000. The challenge was a success—getting 205 new donors on board and securing De La Rosa and Resor’s $100,000 bonus gift.
Regarding this gift in honor of his 35th Reunion, De La Rosa said, “During my time at Yale, and since then, I gained a tremendous amount of inspiration from my classmates, who demonstrated an incredible amount of professionalism and creativity as they advanced through their careers and engaged with various organizations to make ours a healthier society. It’s a privilege to make this contribution to help the Yale School of Management continue to educate tomorrow’s leaders who embrace these same values.”
Resor added, “I will always be grateful to SOM for attracting individuals who are motivated by doing the right thing and preparing them to be thoughtful and effective leaders.”
To date, Yale SOM Alumni Fund participation is at 38.8%, and 801 more donors are still needed by June 30 to reach the 50% participation goal. All gifts count toward class totals. See how each class is performing. Make your gift by June 30 at www.yale.edu/giveSOM.
Next year’s Reunion Weekend has been scheduled for May 5 through 7, 2017, at Edward P. Evans Hall in New Haven. The classes of 1982, 1987, 1992, 1997, 2002, 2007, 2012, and 2016 (for a one-year reunion) will be celebrating their reunions. For these classes, recruiting for gift and reunion planning committees is now underway. For more information about class gift committee, email jonathan.taylor@yale.edu. To sign up for a reunion planning committee, email cindy.charlesworth@yale.edu.