Student Makes ‘Dean’s List’ as UC System’s No. 1 Fund-Raiser

She’s the duchess of donations. The champ of charity. The fund-raising phenom, able to drum up hundreds of dollars in a single hour.

University of California officials believe that no other UC student has been more proficient at raising money for her school than Catherine Diaz, a senior psychology-biology major at UC Irvine.

When she calls, people listen--and grab their checkbooks.

It is Sunday evening. Diaz picks up the phone, dials, delivers her pitch, and moments later-- cha-ching!-- Mr. Ihly of Laguna Beach wants to know where he can send his 100 bucks.

“Thank you, Mr. Ihly,” Diaz gushes.

Next.

Mr. Harvey of Laguna Hills is on the line.

“Now, Mr. Harvey,” Diaz says, “have you had a chance to go to the library lately?”

Yes, he has, he says. And yes, he feels lucky to have such a great library. But times are tough. Money’s tight.

“But Mr. Harvey,” Diaz says, reeling him in, “you still are a Friend of the Library, aren’t you. . . ? And, of course, you realize your gift can make a big difference for future students?”

Well, of course, he realizes that, he says. Who doesn’t? It’s just that. . . . OK. Just tell him where to send his donation. Please.

“Oh, thank you, Mr. Harvey,” Diaz says, logging his $50 pledge.

And so it goes. For every hour she works the phone, Diaz earns $6.10 for herself and brings in an average of $365 in donations. Every hour. Every shift. To the tune of $118,000 in fiscal year 1992-93.

If only the School of Science could clone her.

Diaz is a perfect example of why UC Irvine and other UC campuses began using students for fund raising in the mid-1980s instead of outside telemarketing firms: It’s harder to hang up on them.

Surveys show that phone solicitors have 14 to 18 seconds at most to “hook” you. If the caller and the potential donor have something in common--such as their alma mater--that is automatic entree.

Among UC campuses, UCLA has by far the biggest student telemarketing program, raising $2.1 million in 1992-93. Their No. 1 caller, Eric Mahoney, netted a cool $150,000 last year, but he spent 1,600 hours at it compared to Diaz’s 323. His average hourly haul: $94. Not bad, but not Diaz.

All told, UC Irvine’s annual drive raised $909,000 in 1992-93, which means that of every $100 collected by the student callers, Diaz collected $13.

“Catherine’s just the kind of person who’s hard to say no to,” said Suzanne Sprinkle, head of annual giving at UC Irvine.

Diaz contacted 1,098 people last year; 642 made pledges. That is a 58% pledge rate, nearly twice that of her colleagues and three times as much as your average professional telemarketer, said Chauncey Cupkie, who runs Telemarketing Management Inc. in Orange.

Diaz’s average pledge: $184. Her colleagues: $110.

“Hey, there’s only so many Joe Montanas in the world,” Cupkie said. “When she graduates, they’re in trouble.”

If you ask Diaz, a budding psychologist, to analyze what makes her a candidate for the telemarketing Hall of Fame, if there were one, she beams that 1,000-watt grin of hers, shrugs her shoulders and says, above all, it is important to be earnest. And that is easy, she says, when it comes to UC Irvine, which she believes it is as good a cause as any.

Being a psychology major and having had a few part-time gigs in women’s retail shops, where she learned the art of closing a deal, does not hurt either.

“Psychology teaches you to be a good listener,” she said.

What is her largest single pledge? Two thousand five hundred dollars, the only $2,500 pledge UC Irvine got last year.

Who is most likely to pony up the big bucks? Graduates of the schools of medicine and engineering and their parents.

The place she calls where people seem happiest? Hawaii.

Hardest part of the job? The hang-ups.

“But I don’t let it get to me,” said the self-described “eternal and hopeless optimist.”

“Sometimes people are busy and just can’t be bothered. I understand,” she said.

“I think everyone has a soft spot in their heart--they want to give--you just have to find it,” she said, spouting a bit of the “World of Fund Raising According to Diaz.”

What Diaz will not tell you but others will is that she does not take “no” for an answer. At least not the first “no.”

If someone balks at $100, she says how about $50? Or $25? If that doesn’t work, she breaks it down into how many pennies that is a day.

“Catherine has a lot of determination,” said her supervisor, Sang Han, who coincidentally was Irvine’s previous record-holder with $111,000 in pledges.

Of course, it helps that Diaz gets to call many of the people who have donated before and that those people are more likely to give. But in fund raising, the bottom line is the bottom line, and her numbers seem impressive no matter what the measure.

Cupkie, the professional telemarketer, said: “She’s obviously got a real good shtick.”

Susan Cobas, director of annual giving at UC San Diego, whose top caller raised $40,000 last year, had just one question: “Does she want to transfer?”