The annual student phonathon has gotten off to a slow start after five days of calling alumni for donations, falling short of the number of needed student volunteers and pledges.
Assistant Director of the Alumni Fund Chris Boffoli declined to give a total amount the drive has raised thus far but did say it has "had a really slow week" and is not on track to make their announced goal of half a million dollars.
Last night was the best night of this year's drive, however, and raised approximately $85,000, creating renewed hope among the pledge drive organizers, Boffoli said.
The phonathon occurs over nine days, and has four days remaining to raise the remainder of the target amount.
Student Intern to the Alumni Fund Debbie Bender '99 said she attributed the lack of money raised to an unusually low volunteer turnout due to a lack of student awareness about the event.
"We didn't have as many volunteers as we would have liked," Bender said. "The number of volunteers we have determines what our success is ... if you can give us callers, we can give you results."
She said she and the other student interns worked on increasing publicity and awareness of the event following the lower turnout in the opening days of the drive through posters and communication with Undergraduate Advisors and Greek houses which typically send sizable groups to the drive.
"We've been working on more publicity ... and I think it's finally paying off," Bender said. "We have more people coming in. [Yesterday] was our best day."
The phonathon's slow start did affect the interns' attitudes, Bender said, creating disappointment among the drive's leaders, but she added that with the increased participation and pledges they are "getting excited."
"This is for students," Bender said. "We really want to see students out there because they are serving themselves."
The pledges raised during the Phonathon go towards student programming, financial aid, professor salaries and many other areas of College spending.
College President James Wright is scheduled to participate in the Phonathon tonight at 6:00 p.m.
