A banner year for Q Club callers

A plucky team of student callers has set another record in dollars raised for PLU through telephone solicitation.

The 10 students and three student supervisors, known as TelALutes, spend evenings throughout the year calling thousands of alumni, parents and friends of the university asking for support of Q Club scholarships.

The program helps keep constituents connected to campus through personal contact and is remarkably effective in securing financial backing for the university.

The staff liaison to the TelALute team is Laura (Hunter ’03) Rose, associate director of annual funds.

“Our goal last year was $200,000 – a year when we actually raised $220,000,” Rose said.

“With the addition of some new calling software and more student callers, the goal for this year was set at $250,000. So far we have raised more than $275,000 and see the potential to hit $300,000 by the end of the year,” she said.

The student callers are proud of the work that they do.

“We have a very strong team this year,” said Katie Hasted, a sophomore. “We’ve been working for the past two years to improve the cohesiveness of our team and improve our training and keep our callers invested in the success of the program.

“We have such a good team, and we have been doing so well, that it feels like such an upbeat feeling in the office. That keeps us motivated and ready to work. That helps a lot especially when you can convey that feeling to the people you are speaking with on the phone. They can feel our excitement and want to be part of it.”

Senior Emily Dooley said that the calls are easy to make and that potential donors are glad to hear from the student callers.

“The vast majority of alumni who are called are really excited to hear about PLU and excited to bring up those memories they haven’t thought about for awhile,” she said.

“We can invite them back to campus to get a tour to learn how their PLU is progressing with new academic programs and buildings. They are really interested in learning about the new things that are going on. Then they think about giving back,” she said.

The student callers are also learning some valuable lessons about their own giving in the future.

“I think that we now understand, more than most, how important it is to give,” said Alicia Hinckley, a sophomore. “Those Q Club scholarships are received by a lot of us here on the TelALute team and we know how important they are. We see it and live it every day.”