In this panel discussion, our Phonathon jockeys, Meg Hickox of Washington State University, Sofia Janmohamed of Simon Fraser University, BC, and Heather Dewey of Pacific Lutheran will discuss their Phonathon tackle room. What are the essential elements to training your Phonathon horse? Specific areas that will be discussed are: selecting the right "grooming products" for a training session; effective ways to "dangle the carrot" in a reward program; appropriate "jump saddles" that allow callers to move up in the rankings; and specific "whip" selection to maximize the effectiveness of the team. 

Meg Hickox
Assistant Director of Annual Giving
Washington State University

Meg Hickox serves as the director of the Call-A-Coug Telephone Outreach program at Washington State University. In this position she is responsible for working with over 22 diverse constituencies within the university. She oversees segmentation of markets, scripting and ask strategies for each group. In addition to her strategic responsibilities, Meg also manages more than 80 student employees. Since she began her service with Call-A-Coug, caller retention has improved to 70%. The Call-A-Coug program has 23 stations and raises more than $1.7 million dollars each year from approximately 20,000 donors.

As a WSU student, Meg worked as a caller then manager of the Call-A-Coug program. After her graduation in 1998, she began her career as a Development Coordinator, organizing annual giving activities and events with the College of Engineering and Architecture as well as the College of Science. She assumed the leadership role with Call-A-Coug in the summer of 2001. Her other duties include the Senior Class Gift, as well as some direct mail projects and other special projects within Annual Giving at WSU.

Meg graduated from the Edward R. Murrow School of Communication at Washington State University. She grew up in the Seattle area and now resides in Pullman, Washington.

Sofia Janmohamed
Development Officer, Annual Campaign
Simon Fraser University

Sofia Janmohamed serves as Development Officer, Annual Campaign for Simon Fraser University. She is responsible for coordination and management of the Annual Campaign that comprises telephone, direct mail, special events, and personal appeals to a variety of SFU constituents including alumni, athletes, faculty and staff, individuals, retirees, and other community and constituent based groups.

Sofia began her fundraising career at Simon Fraser University in 1999, working with the annual program. To date, she has raised more than 2.2 million dollars from close to 42,000 alumni. Since taking over management of SFU’s Alumni Annual Appeal in 2002, Sofia has achieved new heights with the program. She increased dollars raised in a single campaign by more than 13% and has more than doubled the attempted call rate to over 77,000 alumni. Sofia’s campaigns currently hold records for highest dollars raised, highest number of pledges, highest average gift, highest number of upgrades and new donors, and highest attempted call and contact rates.

Prior to 2002, the retention rate for returning student fundraisers was 13%. Sofia’s new employee motivational techniques and team building strategies have increased the retention rate to an average of 51%. Student fundraisers now return for an average of 4 campaigns (or 2 years), as opposed to only returning for a single campaign.

Sofia has earned a Certificate of Liberal Arts and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication and Sociology from SFU. She is currently pursuing her Graduate Diploma in Business Administration, to be followed by a Masters in Business Administration Organization and Leadership Change, also from SFU. Sofia has also completed her Associate Certificate in Fundraising Management from the British Columbia Institute of Technology.

Sofia’s practical experience in fundraising management, combined with her both her academic and career-oriented education, has been pivotal to the development and continued expansion of the annual program at Simon Fraser University.

Heather Dewey
Acting Director, Annual Giving & Q Club
Pacific Lutheran University

Heather Dewey serves as the Acting Director of Annual Giving and Q Club at Pacific Lutheran University. She has been a member of the Development team since 2002, and previously served as the Assistant Director for the Annual Fund. She is responsible for developing and implementing an annual comprehensive fundraising plan to increase gift revenue and alumni/donor participation, and produce unrestricted gift income totaling $2.3 million. Heather earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication and Political Science from Pacific Lutheran University in 2001. She lives in Tacoma, Wash.