A quarterly e-newsletter from the Office of Alumni & Development Services
December 2007

IN THIS ISSUE

NEW RATES IN 2008: IRS INCREASES MILEAGE RATEThe business standard mileage rate set by the IRS will increase to 50.5 cents per mile effective January 1, 2008.  Be sure to use the 2007 rate of 48.5 cents per mile for November and December 2007, and the 2008 rate of 50.5 cents per mile for January 2008 when reporting on February 4, 2008.  This will allow the development officers to claim the higher mileage rate in their 2008 fundraising efforts.  It is important to note the dates and amounts of the changes to ensure that the claimant receives the correct mileage rate.

QUARTERLY REPORTS—NC STATE FOUNDATION CONSTITUENCYThe contributions to income, endowment spending and deficit balance reports for the NC State Foundation will be distributed in January 2008.  Theo Ashie in Budgets & Accounting will disseminate the information to Business Officers.  It is important for the business officers and/or development officers to coordinate with Theo to ensure that accounts comply with the intention of the donor.  Your prompt response is much appreciated.

MORE DATA: PARENTS AND STUDENTS IN ADVANCE Loading students and parents into Advance represents the two largest uploads into the Advance database each year. Approximately 23,100 students and 4,900 freshmen and transfer parents are in production. The Annual Giving and Alumni offices use this information to solicit and contact these two groups. The timely completion of these projects would not have been possible without the expertise of our programmers and the help of Seth Parrish, our graduate student assistant.

MAKING PROGRESS: NEW REPORTING TOOLThe University has purchased a new reporting tool that will allow our customers to run many of their own reports from any place at anytime.  Information Systems is heading up this project as the first major customers of the University to use this product.  The staff of the Information Systems office is working with the staff of the Office of Information Technology (OIT) to get the product ready to be rolled out to our Advancement customers.  University Advancement has committed financial resources for a consultant to help us rewrite some of our most frequently used reports.  Currently we have completed eight reports and are close to completing several others.  We will keep you posted on the progress of this important and exciting project!

MAKING PROGRESS: SYBASE TO ORACLE MIGRATIONInformation Systems is working with OIT and consultants from the company who owns our Advance database to migrate our database from a Sybase platform to Oracle.  This will prepare us to be able to move to the Web version of Advance.  We have had one telephone conference with the consultants and have another one scheduled for December 19 to discuss the timing of the first on-site visit to kick-off the project.

MATCHING GIFTS EXCEEDS $1 MILLON FOR THE 5TH CONSECUTIVE YEAR Matching really achieves more. For the fifth consecutive year, matching gifts have exceeded $1 million dollars. Reminder cards for matching gift forms, and "thank you" cards for matching gifts are available. Currently, Alumni & Donor Records is in the process of customizing matching correspondance to reflect college identities. Contact Gerard McNeill at 515-8399 or gerard_mcneill@ncsu.edu for more information.

NEW WAYS TO ACKNOWLEDGE DONORSAlumni & Donor Records offers a new way to acknowledge donors. A new special handling code called "in support of" is now being used to give special recognition to non-living entities, e.g., in support of a room or an event. You will be able to find the new field on the gift transmittal form.  If you use a modified version of the gift transmittal, please make sure you add this field. Using this code will allow greater ease of tracking these special gifts in a timely and accurate manner. The other special handling codes are "in honor of" and "in memory of".

LET’S TALK MAIL: EXPLORING EFFECTIVE MAILING STRATEGIESThe Records Management Committee, lead by Gerard McNeill, brought a representative from the US Postal Service to Joyner Visitor Center to share valuable information about new mailing features and postal rates. This information will enable key departmental personnel to lower mailing costs and increase response rates for mass mail solicitations, newsletters, etc., thereby increasing the overall return on investment.

MATCHING ACHIEVES MORE: 2008 MATCHING GIFTS LEAFLETSNew 2008 matching gift leaflets are now available to accompany any mail solicitations you have.  These leaflets, designed and produced by HEP Development Services, are customized to our institution’s identity and are an easy-to-use listing of employers who provide matching gifts as an extra benefit to their employees. We had a banner year for matching dollars received this past fiscal year and remain committed to finding new and exciting ways to process more matches!  Erika Roe, matching gifts manager, will be distributing these leaflets to your foundation in the coming days.

Alumni & Development Services | Suite 262 Joyner Visitor Center | Campus Box 7474