Phone-a-Thon Starts October 2, Volunteer Callers Needed
September 23, 2018
NDA has been using Phone-a-Thon as a way to keep tuition low since its opening in 1990.
In this event, students call alumni and ask for donations to keep tuition low and help with general costs around school.
Besides charging for tuition, NDA’s advancement office raises money throughout the year and around 30% of their earnings come from Phone-a-Thon.
This year’s goal is $145,000. Each caller last year, according to Mrs. Claire Teitz, the coordinator of the program, raised about $770.
Most students make dozens of calls in a night, depending on how their calls go.
Each time a student volunteers for Phone-a-Thon his or her name is put in a drawing for a $100 Visa gift card at the end of the event.
There are also prizes every night for the students who earn the most money, the most donations, the most “no” calls and the highest donation.
In addition to these benefits, volunteer callers get pizza, snacks and service hours.
“I just want to remind everyone that every NDA student benefits from the money raised during Phone-a-Thon. If we didn’t raise money to offset the cost of an NDA education, tuition would be over $10,000 a year,” said the coordinator.
Teitz has been running this event for three years but worked on it three years before taking the lead role. Her favorite part is “working with all the volunteers and seeing how kids who didn’t know if they would like calling donors find out that it is a lot of fun.”
Her biggest challenge is getting groups to volunteer. Most volunteers come from clubs and teams whose advisers stress the importance of making those calls and getting those donations. The first two groups to volunteer were ASTRA and Girls Basketball.
However, one does not have to be in a club or on a team to participate.
“If you can get a group of your friends together, just contact me, and I would be happy to have you volunteer one night,” Teitz said.
Phone-a-Thon begins Monday, October 2, with 13 nights to volunteer. Calls are made Monday and Tuesday nights from October 1 through November 13, 5:30-8:30 p.m.
