Annual Fund Callers Race to $50,000

By Gary Vaughn for Texas Tech University System | March 19, 2008

• E-mail
• Print
• Share
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Digg
  • LinkedIn
  • Buzz

Christina Hall gets paid to talk. As a caller for the Annual Fund, Christina helps raise money from alumni for Texas Tech scholarships. Christina recently surpassed the $60,000 mark.

As incentives, the callers names are listed on a hall of fame plaque in the call center. When a caller’s grand total reaches $50,000 raised, a Double-T is engraved by their name. Another student recently hit the $50,000 goal and six other students are approaching the mark.

• Jordan Williams (communications) $50,000
• Chaille Steed (advertising) $48,587
• Kellie Burns (mass communications) $46,693
• Graham Garrison (business) $40,485
• Abby Spears (advertising) $40,315
• Brittney Mahlum (business) $34,250
• Emily Threet $32,574

The Annual Fund raises money for the 13 schools and colleges at Texas Tech. The deans use this money to provide student scholarships. Students who reach the $50,000, $100,000 and $150,000 levels are awarded individual lunches with various Texas Tech administration officials.

The Office of Annual Giving hires current Texas Tech students to run its call center. Usually, after some training and feedback from managers and peers, these students become polished spokespersons who are excellent ambassadors for the university. Over the course of their academic careers, these student callers may raise $25,000 to $50,000. While raising more money than that is not unprecedented, it is a rare but welcome feat.

Graham Garrison, a junior business major from Arlington, Texas, is blazing a new trail. Since he was hired in the middle of September he has raised $40,485. That’s an incredible start for a student caller. With more training from Senior Director of Annual Giving Programs Deborah Finlayson, Assistant Director Cookie Armendarez and the student manager crew they have assembled, Graham Garrison could pass the annual giving record of $235,000 set by James “Cliff” Cavanaugh.

Related Stories

• Annual Fund Student Callers Recognized for Fundraising Efforts
• Six Student Callers Surpass $25,000 Fundraising Level