Class Agent Volunteers
If you’ve landed on this page, you might be hoping to learn more about what it means to be a class fundraising volunteer, or class agent. Thanks for your interest!
The class agent program is an essential bridge between Middlebury’s annual giving effort and its alumni community.
Fundraising volunteers hear from College leadership, learn about key initiatives, and share that information with friends and classmates (their networks). They also ask their classmates to support Middlebury with an annual gift (of any size).
Fundraising is a skill and can be an asset for other volunteer roles, such as board positions or committee work.
The Roles
Class agents are a crucial point of contact between the College and their classmates, they are a key driver of alumni donor participation, and they help share Middlebury news and information with their classmates.
Lead class agents do all of what class agents do and they help the Annual Giving staff coordinate with the rest of the agents, rally and motivate volunteer activity around our major campaigns, and ensure that 100 percent of our class agents make a gift each fiscal year.
The Annual Fund Executive Committee (AFEC) is a leadership group of class agents selected to work with Annual Giving staff on fundraising, alumni networking, and recruitment at a strategic level.
The Commitment
The monthly time commitment for fundraising volunteers varies. Our current annual calendar is available here. We have three major “all hands on deck” initiatives each year with smaller efforts around December 31 and in April, when we host some “micro campaigns.”
In a month when we are launching a major campaign, we ask volunteers to read our preparatory material, respond to requests for information and feedback, attend a campaign overview, and reach out to classmates in support of our initiatives (for example, the annual MiddWinter Challenge). Fundraising volunteers could expect to devote 2-plus hours of time in a campaign month.
In a month without a campaign, we ask volunteers to read our monthly update email (the High Five for Volunteers), attend a leadership webinar if one is offered, and share any noteworthy news with classmates to keep connections alive between fundraising efforts.
The Support
Each class has an Annual Giving staff liaison who offers support and resources and is available to answer questions throughout the year. We also provide several online resources at our Class Agent Hub and the Volunteer Portal on GiveCampus.
Will You Join Us?
Please be in touch with your staff liaison to ask any questions about the class agent program and whether this might be a good fit for your efforts to support Middlebury. We would love to welcome you to the fundraising volunteer family!