Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

• What is the BBA Legacy student giving campaign?
  The BBA Legacy campaign is the first undergraduate student giving campaign at McCombs. A student-led committee created the campaign in 2009 to increase student participation in the giving process and providing assistance to McCombs undergraduate student programs. The campaign creates a culture of giving and introduces students to the idea of philanthropy.
  
  This year, we want to increase the participation rate of students in the campaign. The percentage of McCombs donors is a major factor in determining the ranking of McCombs’ BBA degree program. By creating ways to increase the participation rate of McCombs students, the BBA Legacy committee contributes to the developing culture of giving, bolsters McCombs’s ranking, and helps to improve undergraduate programs.
• When is the BBA Legacy campaign?
  The BBA Legacy campaign will take place from March 25 to April 5, 2013. Students can donate to the campaign at any time during the semester, but these two weeks will be the “big push.” You'll be able to find several tables throughout the school during those two weeks.
  
• How did the campaign start?
  The campaign started in the spring 2009 by BBA students who wanted to give undergraduates an opportunity to impact their school in a new way. They wanted to mimic the MBA Legacy campaign from a decade earlier, and create a culture of giving that would persist and continue to affect the school positively even after thy graduated.
• Who is in charge of the BBA Legacy campaign?
  The campaign is overseen by the Undergraduate Business Council and the Alumni Giving Office. The Undergraduate Business Council chose a committee of 12 members to oversee the campaign's operations – the committee developed publicity, created events, and organized outreach to make BBA Legacy as appealing to students as possible.
• Where does my money go if I give to the campaign?
  The money raised by the BBA Legacy campaign feeds into an account called the BBA Alumni Endowed Excellence Fund (alumni donations go in here too). This money is managed by UTIMCO and pays out returns each year that are appropriated by the deans to various student programs including student organizations, career services, etc.
  
  Students can also choose to donate to a specific academic department or organization.  Their donation will still count in the participation rate for the BBA Legacy campaign.
• Why should I give to BBA Legacy?
  Students should be aware that their participation in the BBA Legacy campaign directly impacts McComb's undergraduate ranking in publications like BusinessWeek. Student and alumni giving is a major factor in our ranking. It doesn’t matter if you give one dollar or one hundred dollars – every bit of giving counts.
  
  Along with our school’s rank, having money available to the school from sources other than tuition and the state allows funds to be appropriated to student organizations and academic departments. The latter has a direct effect on lowering student-to-faculty ratios, and increasing elective class offerings.
  
  Finally, students should give to BBA Legacy to satisfy their appetite for competition. Students involved in MASOs will be able to compete with other organizations to determine which McCombs student group had the highest participation rate among them – the winning organization gets a prize. Students can also compete between graduating classes.
• Why is giving important to McCombs?
  Our school’s rank helps us attract the best faculty and students in the country to McCombs. This increases the value of our degrees, and helps the two outputs of the school – graduates and its research – become better known and more respected. Students can have a direct effect on the ranking of their school by giving. The participation rate of students in giving campaigns factors directly into the ranking of our undergraduate business program.
• Don’t alumni give to the school?
  Alumni Giving Office and various alumni advisory groups help to increase connections between the school and alumni in order to foster a giving-friendly environment. The BBA Legacy campaign hopes to instill a tradition of giving back while students are still in school. This will help encourage students to continue donating even after they have graduated.
• What can I give to when I donate?
  Students can give a generic gift to the BBA Alumni Excellence Fund or to a specific department or organization of their choice.
• How much has the campaign raised in past years?
  2012 Data: Participation rate of 14%
  
  2011 Data: Participation rate of 6.3% with donations totaling $10,232 
  
  2010 Data: Participation rate of 12.5% with donations totaling $6,368
• Who can give to the BBA Legacy campaign?
  Anyone can give to the BBA Legacy campaign! But only student donations will count toward the all-important participation rate.
• Are there any incentives for me to give to the campaign?
  At events held throughout the BBA Legacy campaign, members of the committee will be giving out prizes like t-shirts, padfolios, McCombs water bottles, sunglasses, koozies, and other treats. Students also have the opportunity to attend events like the Party in the Atrium, the State of McCombs address, Pie a President/Professor, and a lunch with Red McCombs himself. Some students will also be eligible to receive extra credit for attending the VIP Speaker Series event and the Faculty Research Presentation during the weeks of Legacy (it is the decision of individual professors to offer extra credit – this does not apply to all, unfortunately).
  
  Some students will also be motivated by the knowledge of that they are directly impacting the school’s ranking.
• How can I get involved with the BBA Legacy campaign?
  There are so many ways that students can get involved in BBA Legacy:
  

  1. Donate
  2. Visit our website
  3. Help us table
  4. Attend BBA Legacy events throughout the two weeks
  5. Tell your friends!
• What else is a part of the campaign aside from giving?
  The campaign emphasizes undergraduate student giving, but our main purpose is increasing student participation. The campaign educates students on what is possible if they give. The campaign hopes to instill a sense of philanthropy and giving that continues beyond graduation.
• How much do I have to give to the campaign?
  A student can donate as little as a penny, and there's no maximum. If a student is interested in any BBA Legacy/McCombs merchandise, he/she must give a minimum amount to collect the “prize.”
• What do our comparison schools give?
  Many of our competitor schools have participation rates much higher than ours. Their class sizes are much smaller than ours, so they have the added advantage of being able to reach out to a much smaller audience. But we can use our size to our advantage too – more students mean more potential donors.
  
  Other school data:
  
  

  • NYU’s Stern school has an annual giving rate of about 10%
  • Tuck School of Business (Dartmouth) has a participation rate of 66%
  • Yale School of Management has a participation rate of 44%
• How much will our participation rate affect our ranking?
  Unfortunately, it's difficult to say – the administration at McCombs doesn't know much about how our publications derive their rankings. It is for certain, however, that an increase in our participation rate will positively affect our school’s rank in national business publications.
• Do donations to the BHP Make-A-Mark campaign count in the participation rate?
  Yes, they do! Students can give to both Make-A-Mark and BBA Legacy at any point during the spring semester and they donation will still count in our participation rate.
• When are the events during BBA Legacy Week?
  The tentative event lineup is as follows:
  

  • Monday, March 25: Party in the Atrium
  • Tuesday, March 26: State of McCombs Address
  • Monday, April 1: Pie a President/Professor
  • Thursday, April 4: Lunch with Red McCombs*
  • Friday, April 12: Senior Send-off with the BBA/MPA Alumni Advisory Board*

  
  * students must have given during the campaign in order to attend this event
  
  Tabling at various locations in McCombs will take place every day during the two weeks of the campaign except for on Friday, March 29.
• What is Lifetime Membership?
  Students can sign up for Lifetime Membership at any points during the Legacy campaign. Lifetime Membership ensures that students will be contacted by the Alumni Office, and asked to give every year for the next four years at least. This year’s campaign will target seniors on the donation form with a field that allows students to indicate if they would like to be contacted in future years regarding various giving campaigns. Students should know that indicating their interest in participating in the future does not obligate them to pay - it simply means they will be contacted by the Alumni Relations office.