Steve Bates D'69, T'74 dares to dream, and he knows that dreams can come true—with hard work and enthusiastic support. Bates, who chairs the Tuck Annual Giving (TAG) executive committee, announced goals of $5 million in revenue and 100 percent participation in 2006. The goals were announced to more than 30 volunteers at their annual conference, held in Hanover in September. In 2005, TAG raised $4.5 million from 64.2 percent of Tuck alumni.
"One hundred percent participation may seem astonishing—especially to our friends at peer business schools," says Bates. "But we know that Tuck grads are capable of astonishing achievements. I'm confident that we will reach these goals, and I'm already thanking our volunteers and our alumni for getting on board."
The volunteer conference began Saturday morning, September 17, with a meeting of the executive committee. This was followed by a full day of sessions at which volunteers learned about effective strategies, talking with classmates about their gifts, and Tuck messaging. Senior Associate Dean Bob Hansen met with volunteers for a discussion on the Allwin Initiative for Corporate Citizenship, and Assistant Dean and Chief Operations Officer Steve Lubrano T'87 gave an update on the state of the school.
The conference concluded with dinner, at which students Shawn Hoy T'06 and Darin Souza T'06 shared their e-ship business plan for creating a New England Sports Hall of Fame. The evening culminated in an awards ceremony, where volunteers were honored for their exceptional efforts in the 2005 TAG campaign.
"Because the 2006 TAG campaign is striving to reach new records in both participation and revenue," says Jennifer Demoff D'99, acting director of Tuck Annual Giving and alumni services, "every gift from every Tuck grad is extremely important. As Dean Danos reminds us, tuition accounts for only 40 percent of Tuck's operating expenses, and alumni support is critical to Tuck's mission of providing the world's best business leadership education."
