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TracyFD
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| Posted: July 31 2012 at 12:14pm | IP Logged
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Just wondering about this - when the alumni association calls or sends fundraising mail I would love to contribute something, but with a tight budget and the fact that I am not earning any money with the degrees I earned, my husband usually says no.
For undergrad, I was blessed with a full music scholarship and would love to "pay it forward" someday. Of course I am, in a way, by homeschooling and being a Suzuki mom. Maybe I can do more later in life?
But for my grad degree I took out loans and am still paying them back. Plus, the faculty and staff at that particular state university did very little in the way of mentoring/job placement - I imagine that to be typical, but am not sure.
What do you do?
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Tracy
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Pinewood Castle
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knowloveserve
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| Posted: July 31 2012 at 12:47pm | IP Logged
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I don't pay anything and I don't feel guilty about it. I figure I can pay it forward through other charitable organizations that I feel strongly about and have more pressing needs.
Then again, I didn't attend a Catholic college so that may skew my viewpoint.
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Ellie
The Bleeding Pelican
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Grace&Chaos
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| Posted: July 31 2012 at 12:52pm | IP Logged
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My dh and I met at our undergrad school. While we weren't the same year we did meet the year he graduated and feel a special connection to our alma mater. We've been donating to the school since we got married. Some years it has been as little as $25.00 and others a little more.
I think for us the point is not the amount but the gesture of appreciation for the time we spent at the school and all the people/studies that we gained from the experience. (And yes we both had student loans to pay off for several years after graduating  )
We now literary live down the road from the school and it is kind of sureal to see how many changes the school has gone through; not to mention talking to our kids about our college days 
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Jenny
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SallyT
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No. My undergraduate alma mater is Vanderbilt University, which has instituted "inclusivity" policies, with which I disagree, for on-campus groups. In general, it's very much not the school I attended. I wasn't a big giver anyway, but now I'm a non-giver, which I'm sure is keeping them up nights.
I went through two grad school programs, both at big well-funded state schools, so no, I don't feel that compelled to give to them, either, I'm afraid.
I used to give to my high-school alma mater, because it's a small private girls' school from which I received an excellent education, but since they've totally changed their curriculum, shafting their traditional semi-classical Western-Civ focus (read: no more British lit. No more American lit. Lit classes are now "student choice") in favor of . . . well, as far as I can tell from the alumnae literature I receive, in favor of Major Big Career Girl Power . . . I'm afraid they're off my list, too. I'm not funding an education I don't believe in. Sadly. Of all the schools I've attended, I have the most feeling for that one, and was more inclined to give, within modest means, to them than to anyone else. Not any more.
Sally
eta: That's not to say that we don't give to charities/causes we do believe in. I hate to sound like a grinch. It just happens, sadly, that our old schools don't fall under that umbrella any more.
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Betsy
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No, and I don't feel bad about it. 
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jawgee
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I went to a small Catholic college. They blessed me with many grants and scholarships. DH and I consider the school as one of our charities when we tithe and we do give $100-$200/year to them. (Someday we'll do more....)
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DominaCaeli
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| Posted: July 31 2012 at 5:21pm | IP Logged
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Betsy wrote:
| No, and I don't feel bad about it. |
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We don't, and we don't feel bad either. Both my husband and I were on full scholarships and didn't pay a dime for tuition, books, room and board or anything--and I *still* don't feel bad. It's a secular state school and not the kind of place I want to support with my money, even though we happened to have a great experience there. We choose to put all our charitable money toward religious causes.
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Celeste
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stacykay
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So funny you asked. I just got a call, yesterday, from my and dh's alma mater, with a request for money. The young man (a current student,) was very nice to talk to, and he completely understood when I told him we were already contributing to our own dss's college tuitions, even as he kept asking, "Well, could you donate $300?, No? How about $200? $100? $25?"
In a nutshell, I haven't donated since our oldest was 3 or so, and mostly because I had offered $15, which was turned down!
In Christ,
Stacy in MI
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TracyFD
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| Posted: July 31 2012 at 9:27pm | IP Logged
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I appreciate all of these replies! I never really thought of alumni giving in the same category as charity, but in a way it is, and it does seem prudent to consider what the current mission of our former universities are in 2012 and how they may have changed.
I also wonder how giving will be affected in the future with so many college grads buried in loans. If students feel like they have paid more for their education than they earn from it, or if that percentage is unbalanced, I doubt they will be inclined to give back at the rate alumni associations are used to.
This topic was on my mind again tonight - my daughter and I were in the van on the way home from violin lessons. The classical radio station was on and I was trying to help her "name that tune" - figure out the composer and period of the piece. She was impressed that I guessed correctly (Mendelssohn) and I joked that I am still paying $200 a month for that talent! 
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Tracy
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Mimip
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I consider our monthly donation to our Alma Mater a charitable contribution and if I could give much, much more I would. The difference being we went to Franciscan University and I see our money going to a very good cause. We give as much as possible and our Alma Mater is our #1 charitable donation yearly.
Now, completely different our high schools do not get any money from us. They are like the above poster who talked about girl powerhouse curriculum.  My husband doesn't give to his high school because he doesn't feel that the money is needed or well spent.
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Mimi
Wife of 16 years to Tom, Mom of DD'00, DD'02, '04(in heaven) DS'05, DS'08 and DS '12
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JennGM
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Mimip wrote:
| I consider our monthly donation to our Alma Mater a charitable contribution and if I could give much, much more I would. The difference being we went to Franciscan University and I see our money going to a very good cause. |
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Yes, that is us, too.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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JennGM
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Oh, and to add, Dh's alma mater we do not donate, as it is a public and liberal university.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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stefoodie
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I went to a private Jewish university that doesn't really need my money. We do send them a bit every couple of years or so, just because we do recognize that one of the reasons my hubby got good jobs was because of his background. My brother went to the same school too, and same thing -- no problem looking for a job because he got a good education from a good school. But we give more to our local charities/parish/diocese/pro-life causes and don't feel guilty about doing that.
ETA: sorry. Jewish U is probably inaccurate. i just know Jewish people funded its beginnings and continue to fund them to this day.
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stef
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Do you donate to your alma mater?
