Leveraging student groups to transform corporate donors into major gift partners

This paper focuses on the Rochester Institute of Technology’s (RIT) utilisation of student groups to create broad corporate partnerships resulting in multiyear, major gift commitments. It includes an overview of the process of converting companies into dedicated university partners, strategies for positioning oneself as the liaison between companies and student organisations, and success stories of the university’s programme. The process described can be applied to any organisation with student groups that companies seek to use as a recruitment pool.