Smithtown University' s fund-raisers succeeded in getting donations from 80 percent of the potential donors they contacted  This success rate, exceptionally high for university fund-raisers, does not indicate that they were doing a good job  On the contrary, since the people most likely to donate are those who have donated in the past, good fund-raisers constantly try less-likely prospects in an effort to expand the donor base
The high success rate shows insufficient canvassing effort
This year most of the donations that came to Smithtown University from people who had previously donated to it were made without the university's fund-raisers having made any contact with the donors.