From the 23 June–8 July, 14 current students at Churchill were kept extremely busy in the 2018 Telephone Campaign Call room in Cowan Court.
The days were long, hot and sunny but our students enjoyed a wide range of wonderful conversations with 645 alumni, a record 52% of whom decided to make a gift in support of the Campaign.
Our student callers gained a huge amount from the life experience of our alumni. You can hear more about their experiences in the short video below.
The aim of the campaign was to connect with our alumni community, build relationships and raise money for this year’s Annual Fund Campaign benefiting Student Bursaries, Graduate Housing and unrestricted Annual Funds. We have been delighted by the support that the 2018 Telephone Campaign has received to date with over £211k already raised, rising to a record-breaking £460,000 when longer-term pledges are taken into account. The gifts were pledged by 345 alumni, including 157 gifts from first-time donors to the College. These figures are remarkable because Churchill has previously had one of the lowest participation rates amongst Cambridge Colleges and the response to the Campaign is a marvellous testament to the generosity of our alumni. Wide participation is really important and it encourages others to help us too.
These figures do not include the generous matching funds for Student Bursaries and the Graduate Accommodation Project which had a massive positive impact on the campaign. Dr Adrian Hobden (U&G72) generously pledged to match fund, pound for pound, the first £75,000 of donations raised for Student Support. Donations to Graduate Housing benefited from a matching fund of £350,000 from two anonymous donors.
It is not too late to contribute to the campaign and you can find out more about the case for support and donate here. Some people have mentioned that they do not feel able to give, as the amount they might feel comfortable with is too modest to be worthwhile. All donations, of whatever size, are very welcome and really do make a difference. For example, a one-off gift of £50 from everyone contacted on this Telephone Campaign would raise almost £34,000 for the projects we are supporting this year.
