Families For Free, Millions in the Mail

While more than 2000 alumni and their families frolic at the Essex County Club this week, Harvard will fork over almost $1 million to pay for the major reunion festivities. But with nearly $7 million already donated this year by members of the three major reunion classes, University finance administrators are assured that their investment is paying off.

The University subsidizes 60 percent of the $905,000 cost of the top three reunions--the 25th, 35th and 50th, says Marion R. Briefer, associate for major reunions. The other reunions are paid for in full by the participants, she says.

For a $560 price-tag, members of the Class of '61 can bring as many family members as they want to stay in the Yard, eat food catered by Harvard, and partake in the University-funded festivities. "We don't charge extra [for children] because we want to encourage families to come," says Briefer. Widows and their families are admitted free of charge, adds Briefer.

The biggest costs of the week are Harvard-provided meals, outings to the country club and child care, Briefer says.

Although the 580 families coming to the 25th reunion will only cover half of their get-together's $600,000 cost, they have already paid their dues this year with "record giving" to the Harvard College Fund, says Thomas Reardon, director of the University development office.

In the anniversary year, the 25th, 35th, and 50th reunion classes not only hand over more donations than usual, but also tend to give larger gifts, says Reardon. "People who have a good time at the reunion pay it back significantly," says Briefer. "It wouldn't be worthwhile to run reunions if that weren't the case."

The Class of '61 has already donated $2.9 million to bring the entire College Fund kitty only $500,000 away from its $17 million goal, according to Reardon. The other two major reunion classes may pay a lower price to attend the reunion--$480 per couple--but their events cost Harvard less to run and their donations this year have dwarfed the reunions' costs. The Class of '36 has forked over $2.4 million to the College Fund; Harvard will treat them to a $180,000 shindig this week.

The development office, Harvard's central fundraising organization, can expect to capitalize on the reunion excitement even more. "My guess is that we will be getting a lot more back than seven fold [greater than the reunions' $905,000 cost]," says Reardon.

The week-long visit to Harvard results in increased donations once alumni return home, say University finance officers. "The reunion has tremendous value" in reminding graduates of Harvard's programs and problems, which results in "residual benefits that run deeply for a long time past the event itself," says Reardon.

However, immediately after the reunion there is usually a 3 percent "let-down" in giving, says Reardon.