University fundraising service to enter digital realm

TeleFund, Pitt’s telephone fundraising service, suspended its calling operation for a few weeks to take time to consider new ways to communicate with Pitt alumni.

“The way the world communicates is changing,” said Albert Novak, a vice chancellor in the Office of Institutional Advancement, which oversees TeleFund’s operations.

Starting Aug. 19, TeleFund’s student callers were on paid leave following a misunderstanding that led the students to believe they were out of a job entirely. The service, which raises funds for Pitt through phone calls, has been suspended as Pitt considers how to adapt the service’s operations to the current ways by which people communicate.

TeleFund connected with more than 10,000 donors to raise more than $1.2 million in fiscal year 2013, according to Novak. 

The misunderstanding among the service’s employees occurred after Christopher Bell, senior executive director of annual programs and communications for the Office of Institutional Advancement, relayed the message that the TeleFund calling service would be temporarily suspended.

He said he was clear that the operation was suspended while the Office of Institutional Advancement considers new options, not that the student callers were suspended.

But the following Monday, Novak realized there had been a mistake in the message relay. Comparing it to a child’s game of Telephone, Novak said he immediately began assuring students that they were not fired.

“We were suspending calling, not callers,” Novak said.

Bell and Novak met with the TeleFund’s student workers Wednesday to apologize for the misunderstanding and to discuss new communication resources.

“We value our student callers. They are a critical part of our operation,” Novak said. He went on to say that student callers are the ones who will help TeleFund develop and expand new forms of communication.

“They were calling night after night and not getting anybody,” said Novak of TeleFund’s existing operation.

He speculated that the decreasing use of landlines and increasing use of caller ID might have rendered the fundraising service ineffective.

Dan Ament and Will Broughton, both TeleFund employees, attended the meeting Wednesday. At the meeting, the Telefund employees were asked to brainstorm ideas on how to better reach out to younger generations of alumni.

Broughton said that those present at the meeting said social media, including Facebook and Twitter, might be more effective than calling people individually because most young people don’t have landlines.

“Twitter. With one tweet [TeleFund] can reach thousands of people instead of calling each person individually,” Ament said.

Novak said that it’s not just about calling people to ask for money. He said the callers establish a relationship with the Pitt alumni, and his office is working on new ways to perpetuate that relationship and make it more meaningful.

“We want the alumni to know the people they’re supporting,” said Novak. 

He said they suspended the calling operation because they weren’t happy with the initial plan given to the students. Novak added that it was too early to tell how TeleFund operations will change in the future, but when the students return to work, they will likely be calling as well was using social media to reach out to alumni. This would foster a connection between TeleFund’s student employees and alumni. 

“We want students to feel there’s a Panther nation out there for them to be a part of,” he said.