In a crowded basement room, lit by large windows along one wall, students are busy calling alumni, parents and other friends of the university.
Tony Marcolina | Argonaut Camille Gomez is a Vandal Connect caller and works in the basement of the Blake House located on campus. The callers there work on getting donations for the University of Idaho from alumni and past donors. Gomez has been working for Vandal Connect for two and a half years and is just short of raising $.5 million dollars in donations.
They are employees of Vandal Connect, seeking donations for individual colleges, programs and projects on campus.
Jessica Billings, program coordinator at Vandal Connect, said they are hoping to raise more than $1 million in donations. They currently sit at around $870,000.
Dana Wardwell, a senior caller at Vandal Connect, said they contact about 60,000 people every year.
Billings said the focus is less on the amount each person donates, but rather the amount of people who donate.
“A big bulk of our job is to get new donors,” Billings said.
Billings said student callers are encouraged to make connections with alumni — they can share their experiences or ask for advice.
Wardwell said even if alumni choose not to donate, she still tries to leave them with good feelings about the university.
“I’m really passionate about the university,” Wardwell said.
Callers each have a screen that displays information about people they are calling — names of alumni, their spouses, even children who attend the university, Wardwell said.
They also have information about which college they graduated from, and how much they’ve given in the past.
“It’s information alumni have already disclosed,” Billings said.
Billings said there are 2,500 different designations for where money goes. She said alumni have complete control over where their donations go.
Alumni can give to the college they graduated from, or university programs like the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival.
Billings also said they are running a special program right now to collect money for the library.
Billings said Vandal Connect is looking to hire 25 to 30 people in April, to begin working next fall.
She said they are looking for motivated, enthusiastic candidates who are especially proud of the university.
Working at Vandal Connect is a good opportunity to build communications skills, Wardwell said.
Wardwell is one of the people in charge of helping new recruits. She said training includes an overview of scripts, terms and mock calls.
Billings also said callers are coached nightly.
“We focus a lot on the art of negotiation,” Billings said.
Wardwell said the most common objection raised by those they contact is a lack of money. Billings said the current economy makes it particularly difficult. She also said most of the people they contact say no.
Billings said they call during the evenings, but not during holidays or days the university is closed.
Briana Gabiola, a sophomore business major, has been working at Vandal Connect since September. She said she found out about the job through university postings.
She said she likes seeing how the university gets the funding for some of its activities.
The hardest part about working at the call center, Gabiola said, is starting out and learning how to direct calls.
Gabiola plans on working at Vandal Connect next year.
Billings graduated from Washington State with a degree in human development in 2009. She said she didn’t plan on working in fundraising, but can’t imagine not doing fundraising in the future.
Wardwell, sophomore double majoring in human resources and Spanish, said she is also considering a career in fundraising.
Kasen Christensen can be reached at [email protected]