IU Telefund raises $4M this year; donations help academics, groups

Fifth-year senior Dan Yarzebinski has been working with the IU Telefund for more than a year since finding out about the opportunity through a friend.\n“The job seems really easy, but it challenges me and I like that,” Yarzebinski said. “Once you get an IU alumni and parent to donate, it gives you a feeling of accomplishment.”\nThe Telefund is a service where IU students call alumni and parents to ask them for donations to the University. The Telefund callers are current IU students. \n“Rasing money isn’t easy, but the callers at the Telefund make it all possible,” said Leland Unruh, assistant manager at the Telefund. \nLast September, the Telefund broke an IU record when the group raised $1 million for the entire month, Unruh said. Unruh said this year, the Telefund has raised more than $4 million in donations. \nUnruh has been a member of the Telefund since August 2005 and has noticed how alumni and parents are getting involved and donating more to ensure other children receive the same education. \n“The funds raised go to benefit IU academic schools such as the College of Arts and Sciences, SPEA or the HPER and other IU organizations such as the Varsity Club, IU Alumni Association and the IU Foundation,” junior Ellen Baird said. \n“Having current students make the phone calls help keeps the conversations personal to alumni or parents,” Baird said. \nSenior Jessica Ripperger has been working for the Telefund for two years and said she enjoys talking to the callers. \n“It’s interesting to find out the lives of alum and parents when (conversing) with them as you ask for donations,” Ripperger said. \nFifth-year senior Derek Bult is one of the Telefund’s four supervisors. Bult teaches the callers at the Telefund how to properly contact alumni and parents. \n“One of the challenges I face when training callers are their comfort levels on the phone and mostly their nerves,” Bult said. “We want our staff to feel comfortable because it helps the callers relax and feel confident when placing calls.” \nIn his third year with the Telefund, Bult has seen many changes throughout his time with the service. \n“Every year, the staff better learns how to communicate or explain the need of IU to the alumni and parents,” he said. \nStudent callers try to keep strong ties with the potential donors, Baird said. \n“The Telefund service keeps providing support to the University, and the student staff helps to make that possible,” Baird said. \nThe donations impact IU’s academic schools as well as the Telefund’s student workers. \n“The working environment is a learning environment,” Yarzebinski said. “I have learned through the Telefund what it means to donate, and I know in the future I will continue to donate to such services as ours.”