 "Photo: Destiny Mata")
 "Photo: Destiny Mata")
The Alamo Community College District Foundation hosted a donor thank you event Wednesday in Koehler Cultural Center in appreciation of investment groups, local and national businesses that build greater student capacity in the district with charitable donations.
Those donations help students realize a higher education. The groups also aided the foundation in saving almost $10,000 for expenditures on the event.
Pamela Tyler, district coordinator of donor relations, coordinated the event with the assistance of consultants from the foundation and development staff from the five district colleges.
After calculating total costs for the event — table decorations, linen, food, cost of a venue, save-the-date cards, invitations, printing, guest gifts and security — Tyler said it cost $4,314.25. Her pre-budget for the event was $14,110.
Tyler said she concentrated on hosting the event at a college in the district because it had two-fold benefits: Investors get the chance to see where their money is going and the cost-cutting factors.
Instead of catering to the investment groups at an outside venue — such as a local hotel — the foundation chose to organize the event at this college.
Funding for the event originated from fundraising events hosted by the foundation last year, Tyler said.
Robin Collett, project coordinator and development officer at San Antonio College, worked with the district’s institutional advancement and sought approval from President Robert Zeigler to reserve two student parking lots. Lot 1 is at Ashby and Belknap places and Lot 5 is at Lewis Street and Courtland Place.
Donor attendees included representatives from Boeing, Toyota, Valero Energy Corp., Cowboys Breakfast and Edith McAllister, Tyler said. She said the donor list had to be limited to major donors, who numbered 160, for the event to remain affordable.
Organizing appreciation events for donors is the norm for entities involved in fundraisers.
But, she said, “You always want to be frugal in how you spend money.”
There is a definite need for planning and strategy, Tyler said. That is a primary reason for inviting only major donors.
Donors do not want to see large and elaborate gifts on the tabletops. “They don’t want to see big, extravagant clocks on all the tables,” she said. “That is when they wonder and say, ‘OK, what are you doing with my money?’”
Tyler said she arranged for party favors through the college.
The theater and speech communications department donated 140 free tickets to the donors for a sneak preview of “Aesop’s Fables” and a preview of the music department’s Halloween concerts before they debut for the general audience.
Also, each donor had a satchel with two free tickets to Scobee Planetarium and chocolate bark prepared by St. Philip’s culinary arts department.
That allows the donors to see firsthand what their money supports, and the foundation is able to provide traditional swag at a bargain price.
Using the strengths of students, faculty and staff mean more than a paperweight emblazoned with a design that donors will probably never use, Tyler said.
She said the district print shop does tremendous work that employees do not take advantage of.
Instead, they outsource work for the district, which incurs higher costs because businesses charge for each design.
Most local businesses are willing to donate services, especially when the event is showing appreciation for donors, Tyler said.
Enterprise donated vans to shuttle attendees between Koehler and the auditorium in McAllister Fine Arts Center.
Tyler said she is always trying to establish new contacts because they can bring other cost-saving opportunities.
It is all about relationships, she said.
Be the first to comment on this article!