It Began With A Phonathon

Susan Andersen earned her college degree in health administration, but it was her involvement in a college phonathon that laid the groundwork for her career.

Now in her second week as program director of alumni relations for the University of Connecticut Health Center, Andersen said she’s caught the excitement of focusing her fundraising talents on alumni who have graduated from UConn’s medical and dental graduate programs.

“I was most excited about this job because of UConn’s reputation and my ability to build a strong focus on one area,” Andersen said of her new post at The University of Connecticut Foundation Inc.

Andersen, 29, is a Massachusetts native who graduated in 2000 from Quinnipiac University, then called Quinnipiac College. Her college work-study experience as a phonathon fundraising caller landed her a position as head of the entire program after her graduation.

As director of the Quinnipiac Fund for the next three years, her duties included running the phonathon program.

She left that job to try a field that lined up more closely with her college degree.

Andersen became marketing director at HCR ManorCare in Avon, an Alzheimer’s assisted living facility. Her job was to fill beds in the facility.

“I learned quickly that I felt more satisfaction from education fundraising,” she said. “I had such a great experience as a student and I wanted to make a difference in other students’ experiences.”

Andersen left ManorCare to join Cheshire Academy in Cheshire on the fundraising team, then moved on to become assistant director of development for Sacred Heart University. Her role there focused on planned giving with parent groups.

“UConn is the biggest organization I’ll have worked for,” Andersen said. “I came from a small office where I’d have to wear a million different hats, but UConn’s whole planned giving team allows each of us to work with specific groups.”

The Cheshire resident already knows from her previous stints in higher education that in fundraising, you never know what to expect.

“The college sets fundraising goals, but you never know what someone will contribute,” Andersen said. “It’s about doing the right thing for the school.”

Emily Boisvert is a Hartford Business Journal staff writer.