$1 Million and Counting

Quite simply, Dustin Bueltel needed the money.

"I didn’t have a job and this paid pretty well," the senior agricultural studies major from Fremont, Iowa, said. "Plus, it didn’t seem too hard."

Off and on since he was an Iowa State freshman, Bueltel has been a caller at the ISU Foundation Phone Center, talking to alumni and friends to ask for donations for the university’s various programs. In his years at the phone center, he has become a prolific caller, becoming the first student caller to raise more than $1 million in pledges.

Dustin Bueltel

Bueltel estimates he has made more than 36,000 phone calls, contacting more than 3,000 Iowa State alumni. He has received numerous gifts of several thousand dollars; his largest gift stands at $20,000.

If there is a secret to his success, it’s probably his work ethic.

"I’m a very driven person and very competitive," he said. "Most of the time in the phone center I’m competing with someone else in the room, trying to get more pledges than they will."

"I’m completely focused when I’m making calls. I definitely put a lot more effort into my calls now than I did when I first started."

Ironically, it took several shifts at the phone center before Bueltel got his first pledge — six, four-hour shifts in fact. Typically callers get their first pledge within their first three shifts.

"I was a little discouraged at first because I like to be good at everything I do," he said. "But I didn’t give up, and when I got that first pledge I was pretty excited. I get a lot of the same feelings every time I get a pledge now."

So what’s Bueltel’s secret to $1 million?

"Most of it is how I look at each call — what can I bring to their attention that will encourage them to give to Iowa State," he said. "I’m always trying to maximize what an alumnus can give. I tell them that every dollar we get is important and does make a difference."

On the night that he went over the $1 million mark, he needed just $602.33 to reach that milestone. He was speaking to an alumna who pledged $500 and Bueltel asked for $1,500.

"At one point I thought of asking her for $602.33, but eventually she agreed to $750," he said. "After I got off the phone confetti started flying — it was a really special moment."

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