Courtesy | Bob Cenk
This week, Hillsdale parents will spend more than 30 hours on the phone to talk about the college. The Spring 2022 Phonathon began Feb. 21 and will end on Feb. 24.
Since 1997, 20 parents meet in the Contact Center the week leading up to Parents Weekend to call other parents, including parent alumni, to raise funds for the college.
“The Phonathon is parent-to-parent calling to raise funds for the college,” Phonathon leader and Parents Association Steering Committee member Bob Cenk said. “We’re planting the seeds to talk to parents about fundraising, and we’re also making personal connections.”
PASC is Hillsdale College’s parents association, which runs fundraising, freshman, career opportunities, prayer partners, and admission assistance subcommittees.
The Phonathon, led by Bob Cenk, is part of the PASC’s fundraising subcommittee.
“The Phonathon members are ambassadors,” Cenk said. “They develop enthusiasm about the college.”
The parents build camaraderie by striking a gong every time a donation is made, and by participating in leisure activities together.
“We eat together, pray together, shoot together, ‘wine down’ together, goof off together, decompress together – it’s a pretty special week,” said Retired Major General Matt Malloy, who volunteers at the Phonathon.
These additional activities allow the Phonathon volunteers to enjoy their time at Hillsdale College while they help raise funds.
“It’s a summer camp for adults,” Malloy said. “We have too much fun.”
Malloy and his wife chair PASC and have volunteered at the Phonathon together for two years.
“I don’t need a professional salesperson,” Cenk said. “I don’t ask if they’ve had any sales training. I just want to see someone that’s excited about doing it and learning something new and giving back to the college.”
Cenk interviews each of the volunteers before they work on the Phonathon and trains them when they arrive at Hillsdale College.
“We begin Sunday at 6 p.m. for training and fellowship,” Cenk said. “Monday morning is sales training, and talking about what we’ll say and do on the phone. We then meet at 4 p.m. for dinner together, and begin calling from 5 p.m. until 12 a.m..”
During that time, Phonathon volunteers talk to parents across America, from the East Coast to Alaska and Hawaii.
“There is always plenty of coffee,” Malloy said. “We have some people that are absolute cheerleaders. Someone even played music to dance to the other day.”
As much fun as the Phonathon is for the parents, it is also an act of service, Malloy said.
“When I retired, I found that this was an opportunity to continue to serve,” Malloy said. “The Phonathon is such an opportunity to give back to the school. We know that our funds are integral to cutting tuition costs for students.”
This year, the Phonathon is raising funds for state scholarships.
“Donors can designate their giving towards a state scholarship, which then goes to the students from those states,” said Marie Socha, director of the President’s Club and parent relations at Hillsdale College.
The Phonathon continues to break its own fundraising records.
Volunteers at Hillsdale’s 2021 Phonathon made almost 11,000 phone calls in four days, according to Socha.
“The parent caller who gets the most ‘no’ in the week, has the largest pocketful of ‘yes.’ You ‘no’ your way into success,” Malloy said.
The callers are encouraged to continue calling other parents, and not to be discouraged.
“I would put this sales team against professional sales teams anywhere in the country,” Cenk said. “But the thing I am most proud of is leading and helping to create fellowship and an impact on Hillsdale College.
