BCom'78

We had the opportunity to get insights from Michael Gilbert, BCom’78, who, with classmates Michael Kehoe and the late Gia Steffensen, ran the most successful class giving campaign in Smith history, raising over $1.6 million.

In recognition of their 40th reunion in 2018, the Class of Commerce 1978 established a bursary to help eliminate some of the barriers that students face when they seek to become the first in their families to attend university. This bursary is awarded based on demonstrated financial need to students entering their first year in the Bachelor of Commerce program, with a preference for first-generation students. Bursaries such as this help to encourage applications from a broad range of underrepresented and diverse populations.

1. What is the most rewarding thing about your class campaign experience?
Make all of your reunion activities fun, not just the ones that have key fundraising campaigns - future fundraising success depends on keeping the class engaged from a social perspective. Make it competitive – it’s great to know that you are setting the bar for other classes to beat.

2. What challenges did you face during your campaign, and how did you overcome them?
Manage and set realistic expectations based on what you know about your classmates. Make sure that the goals you are putting in place are attainable, it is much better to exceed a conservative goal than to fail at meeting a lofty one . Encourage individuals to make designated donations to areas within Smith  that fit their philanthropic interests,, letting them know that all dollars raised will count towards your overall class fundraising goal. Make sure you have the right people around you on your committee, those who can influence and are great leaders; this has made all the difference for our class.

3. What advice would you give to a class leader running their campaign?
Discuss funding priorities with the your Advancement contact at Smith. Then determine which of those priorities is most important to your class and select that as the primary initiative. Prepare a planning and outreach schedule that allows you time to sort out the theme of your campaign, to get larger donors committed early and then reach out to the rest of the class in lead-up to your reunion.

Why I give back?
Simply, the Commerce program at Smith is very strong so I want to make sure that we attract the best and brightest students that can leverage their Queen's experience to help them develop into future leaders in whatever sector they work in, and to do so, we must remove financial barriers that could prevent those students from attending.