My Summer With DAR: Rachel Jordan
This summer I’ve had the incredible opportunity to work for the Development and Alumni Relations division at the University of Georgia as one of their development interns. As a public relations student at UGA, I’ve worked as one of the board of directors for the Mentor Program, as well as with other student organizations, alumni and staff. Because of my involvement, I was able to find out about the DAR internship. However, before starting this internship I didn’t know what DAR was, nor did I have an understanding of philanthropy within higher education; however, almost eight weeks later, I’ve learned the many ways philanthropy and fundraising advance our academics, scholarships, study abroad programs and more through shadowing the majority of the different segments that make up DAR. Not only that, but I’ve met with development teams from other schools and colleges within UGA. For the past eight weeks, I’ve completed tasks such as:
- Completed outreach for Annual Giving at the end of the fiscal year through emails and phone calls for Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, Third Pillar donors and the Engagement Center.
- Developed briefings for Parent Giving New Parent and Student Welcome Events and also attended two events over the summer.
- Participated in a research exercise with DARCOMM to understand leveraging different angles for potential stories related to alumni, students and donors at UGA.
- Worked in GAIL to mark vacancy plans historical for Research and Prospect Management.
The internship has been structured through the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), a global nonprofit association dedicated to educational advancement, where I’ve sat in on various webinars and intern huddles with other professionals and CASE interns across the nation. I also had the privilege to attend the CASE Conference in Washington, D.C. to meet other interns and development professionals from other institutions such as Notre Dame, Georgia Institute of Technology, Yale University, Princeton University, Oregon State University and many more. At the conference, I heard from people who have worked in advancement for years as they shared their experience in development, their career paths and their passion for philanthropy. I also heard from talent recruiters, the Co-Founder of HigherEdJobs, and the CEO of CASE in a panel where they shared their experiences and the future of advancement.
Concluding the internship, there are some key takeaways I’ve developed during this experience. One takeaway is that alumni will give to causes they care about. Within higher education, this is called affinity. Does an alumni have an affinity to the institution, to the study abroad they participated in, to providing financial help to students, etc.? Another key takeaway is that there’s more that goes on behind the scenes than education in the classroom. There’s around 300 employees in DAR who work to strive to advance the academics, resources and experiences for students on campus. I had no idea how much that goes into philanthropy within UGA until I was able to have an understanding of all the teams within the division, from Advancement IT all the way up to learning about the Office of Business Engagement. My last key takeaway is that a positive work environment is essential in careers. Everyone in the Development and Alumni Relations office has been incredibly welcoming to me and the other development intern, Nikhilesh. We’ve both felt continuous support and encouragement during our time here. It’s made me understand how important it is to have coworkers and bosses who support you and make your job fun!
Thank you to everyone at the Development and Alumni Relations office at the University of Georgia! Each department has given me a deeper appreciation for philanthropy and development, but also this incredible institution.
Go Dawgs!
