another somewhat serious note

i'm highly amused by the material on the class of 2009 senior class gift webpage. the senior class gift campaign is clearly a way of pandering to the college ranking system, which i suppose i have nothing concrete against. there is a demand for a ranking, and the suppliers of it have to formulate some way of doing so. senior giving is actually a pretty clever instrument (a variable that stands in for something you can't measure) for satisfaction with college life, or rather it used to be. at this point, all colleges are so good at gaming this system that it has become an unreliable measure.

now the webpage is amusing for one reason: how unabashedly it admits that the whole campaign is a way of getting points in the ranking system. no legitimate philantrophic effort would say that its goal isn't to maximize the amount of money collected. assuming the philantrophic effort is directed towards a cause (well, more on that later) that requires resources, maximizing this resources would increase the ultimate beneficiaries of the effort, which is really the point. the senior class gift is therefore not a legitimate philantrophic effort, since it is trying to maximize participation, not giving.

now you might argue that it's the same thing, but there are actually good reasons to doubt that. there are loads of choice quotes in that brief webpage that really reveals what it's all about: getting people to think that we like our school. in some ways, it's truly nationwide exercise of revealing preferences. we show that we are willing to pay for our school to improve its ranking. and all the better, it doesn't matter how much we give!

it would be less ridiculous if there was a more concrete plan to spend the money. instead, the beneficiary is an amorphous college fund, which sounds like it could be spent on any number of ludicrous things. the examples of things that it could be spend on cover such a broad range of activities that it's just impossible to tell what isn't something that could fall into the category. but after all, how could they be more specific? they don't even care how much money they get! throwing the money into a fund is probably the best way to deal with the takings as well, since it doesn't require very much effort on the part of the (extremely large) committee.

oh, the suggested donation sum of $20.09 is a nice touch. not particularly creative, but i'm sure it'll work on at least some members of our very diverse graduating class. also, having trustees and other rich folk match not our donations, but our participation rate with additonal money is almost too blatant don't you think?

now back to the question as to whether calling for participation is a bad thing. now assuming that the people behind this campaign have finite resources. they can choose to direct these resources towards increasing participation, or increasing final takings, and they have clearly chosen to do the former. that's what i think makes it such a ridiculous campaign. but the argument might be that increasing participation increases total sum donated. however, i think human psychology works differently.

for one, emphasizing participation really changes what the "product" is. if we consider a donation buying into something, and cynically assume that donations give us some kind of satisfaction, then it really depends on what we think our donation is buying. by making it so blatantly obvious that the exercise is a means of helping our ranking, that really changes the kind of satisfaction i receive. what if i don't feel that increasing school rankings will benefit me in any way? more importantly, it's so much easier to assume that our contribution won't be missed when the attitude isn't "every last dollar counts". the campaign really seems to rely upon a "what's 5 dollars anyway" mentality, hoping that people will be willing to part with the small amounts they are asking for.

but perhaps that's their best strategy. after all, they have a very large committee of people, who i assume will be harrassing us seniors in the months to come. at some point, i'm sure i'll snap and give them the 5 dollars they want, so they can take down my name and shove it in the face of college rankers to prove that i love the university.

do i have any better ideas? probably not. this campaign serves a very specific purpose, and i suppose i have no rational reason to find it so offensive. i just wish they paid more attention to what the money could be used for, and to sell the campaign more convincingly. so far, it seems only to belittle what a senior class gift should be. ironically, the college ranking organizations have it right: it's a way of showing appreciation for our college. but is a ranking boosting exercise the best we can do?