A Face Behind the Phonecall: Will Van Treuren
If you’re a CU graduate or a parent, you’ve probably heard from a student asking for a contribution to the annual fund. And when you answer that call, there’s a chance that the voice on the other end of the line might be Will Van Treuren, a Colorado native and CU-Boulder sophomore.
As a newcomer to the CU Foundation call center, Will’s first call didn’t go so smoothly. “The woman I spoke to was very nice, but I stumbled a few times. She must have known I was new to it—maybe that’s why she was so nice!”
Since that initial call, however, Will has settled in. “I really like talking to alumni and parents. They have a lot of interesting stories about their time at CU or how their kids are enjoying college. My favorite call was to a software engineer. We spoke for twenty minutes about programming languages and some of the great questions in the computer science field.”
But connecting alumni and parents to current students is only one benefit of the annual fund. This year, donors pledged nearly $2 million in annual gifts to the university through the student calling center. Gifts to the annual fund give CU deans the flexibility to cover priority needs not supported by tuition or state funding.
“I’ve spoken with mathematicians who started out as language majors, until a professor inspired them to make the change. Each call is different, but most people give because their own CU experience or their child’s opened doors and shaped their futures.”
Visit Giving Opportunities to select an annual gift.
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