Gimme, gimme, gimme

Universities, it seems, urgently need to recruit more graduates to join their “philanthropy workforce” (“Sector must recruit more fundraisers or risk lowering the promotional bar”, News, 1 May).

Perhaps potential recruits are put off by the large donations some universities have received from dubious commercial or political sources. Or maybe graduates, up to their ears in debt, do not fancy having to cold-call other graduates for cash – especially when it is for a university whose vice-chancellor awards himself enormous pay rises every year.

A report claims that senior fundraisers feel like “second-class citizens” and recommends a change of culture to stop them leaving. I say, let them go. What is really needed is an end to the culture of greed that is fast becoming a defining characteristic of the sector.

Ben Atkinson
Hertfordshire