Getz says that the ratings the UDO looks at are not based on inclination to give, but the ability to do so.

According to Joel A. Getz '86, First Marshall and University fundraiser, the same names are given to several different people to review. By going through a lot of estimates of the same person's giving ability, the development office manages to put together a fairly clear picture.

Based on the information in the folders, the alumni are ranked on their ability to give from Z to 12As, with the A rankings reserved for millionaires, according to a development employee.

Each school's development office, however, works slightly differently. For example, the Law School relies only on the questionnaire and not on "alumni hearsay," according to Randy Lakeman, a development officer in the Law School's research division.

"People are rated not only for their ability to give, but also for their willingness to give," Lakeman said. "For example, an alum like [Viacom head] Sumner Redstone ['43-'44] has more money than most people, but you have to see if he has anything to do with the Law School."

Lakeman and Reardon both say that a large percentage of the alumni disclose their financial situation on the questionnaire.

Cultivation

The research the development office gathers is geared for only one purpose--to help bleed money out of donors.

Harvard must do a lot of "cultivation," the term used in the philanthropic industry to describe the process of courting a donor in the hopes of getting a contribution.

"Everything starts with an interested donor, idealism and the notion of generosity," Reardon says. "But there is an education process we use to try to get those people to give."

Getz says that every class is made up of people with differing abilities to give money and that only a few will be able to give large gifts. It is from these large gifts, however, that Harvard obtains the most money.

"90 percent of the donations come from three percent of the donors," Gordon says. In his own 35th reunion class, of which he was co-chair, $8.9 million was raised with $5 million coming from four people.

Though all alumni will be subject to mailings, phone-a-thons and reunion year approaches for contributions, the development office saves much of its firepower for the big guns.

According to Reardon, the UDO provides different amounts of information depending on what the individual requires, whether it means a brochure or a meeting with a faculty member. The office has many different methods, tailored for individual potential donors.

"Once you identify people, you nurture the relation through dean's weekends at the College or grad schools," says Overseer Peter L. Malkin '55. "It's hoped everyone at the weekends will give within their abilities. They are a combination of people willing to give and people who recruit people who have major potential."