Alumna Revitalizes Lowell Fund

Kim Ducharme

After almost two years without a staff specifically dedicated to the Lowell Fund, efforts to revitalize the University’s annual giving program have taken on new life. The new assistant director of the Lowell Fund, Kim Ducharme ’05, is eager to bring the program back to its former glory by improving customer service and increasing alumni participation.

Ducharme brings much experience to the Lowell Fund, having worked for the past three years in a similar position at Clark University in Worcester. As a student at UML, she worked on the front lines of the Lowell Fund as phone room caller and supervisor, employed by both the University and its phone room vendor, RuffaloCody.

“We had a great program for a number of years when I was a student,” says Ducharme. “I’ll be working to engage more alumni and increase awareness of how important annual giving is to the life of this University.”

Executive Director of University Advancement John Davis said that another alumna, Emily Byrne ’02, kept the Lowell Fund running when she was hired in November 2007. Byrne has since moved over to the Allen House, where she uses her expertise to manage special projects and fundraising initiatives for Chancellor Marty Meehan.

Despite a record-breaking fundraising year, the lack of consistent Lowell Fund staffing has resulted in a dip in alumni participation in the annual fund. Ducharme says increasing that participation rate is her number one priority.

“We’ll be working to engage more new donors, especially with specific groups of alumni — such as those from the School of Health and Environment — to get them more involved,” says Ducharme. The spring appeal letters were segmented, so alumni received a message from their specific college asking for support.

The phone room calling will soon be wrapping up for the summer. Each night, up to 16 UML students call more than 40,000 alumni from mid-August to mid-June, raising an average of $450,000 per year for the annual fund. This year, phone room callers raised $52,000 for the Chancellor Martin T. Meehan Educational Excellence Endowment as part of inauguration fundraising activities that ultimately raised $1 million for scholarships.

As the phone room activity slows, the annual faculty and staff appeal will be gearing up, she says. Faculty and staff received a request for support in mid-June, with instructions on how to set up payroll deductions. Faculty and staff participation rates are viewed by funding sources as an indicator of satisfaction. The higher the participation rate, the more likely the University is to receive support from these sources.

For more information on the Lowell Fund, contact Ducharme at (978) 934-4821.