How can genetic endowment go wrong?

How does a university go about starting an endowment fund from scratch?

• Answer:

  Ask With a list of email addresses, it's pretty easy to pull a report including demographics and social network engagement (where they are on Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn and how much they use/prefer those networks). Knowing where they are and how they engage with the University is half the battle.  Sure, you can go old school (pun intended) and send out letters that end up in the trash OR you can leverage that data to connect with former alumni where they engage. Jane Doe has RT'd the University?  She pays attention there; make the connection on Twitter John Smith follows the University page on Facebook?  A note to him there is far cheaper and more effective than a letter. Where do you get such data?  Web service are just starting to provide it in minutes at a fractional cost of a consultant or research agency that digs for similar information.  It's what we do, if you're curious: http://www.groupcharger.com