There is more to life as a London Business School (LBS) student than team projects or the networking tête-à-tête. Because the institution has clout, with a terrific reputation to boot, we attract fantastic speakers to campus and this makes the whole B-school experience so invaluable.

We recently had Gene Simmons and Ferran Adria give their spiel on life. Simmons is best known as the fire-breathing, larger-than-life co-founder of hard rock band KISS, while Adria’s cooking has made Michelin three-star restaurant El Bulli in Spain one of Europe’s most famous. Their genuine passion for their craft gave us a finer appreciation of what drives successful people.

Then there are the activities in the City that I get invited to. A few weeks ago I attended a Bloomberg-hosted panel discussion featuring finance experts like Ronald Freeman, Gerard Lyons, Donald Moore and Huw Pill. My main takeaway was that Europe needs to bring back the “creativity” element to its policy thinking.

This is a pressing concern, the speakers argued. At no point since early 2010 has the European debt contagion been seriously contained. The region – already lacking cash, natural resources and with a graying population – could become more marginalised with the global emergence of China, India and Indonesia.

Getting them to give

That speakers like Simmons and Adria come to LBS is not a given. To stay competitive against the top global business schools, it needs monetary support to attract good professors, enhance its facilities and provide scholarships for less well-off students.

LBS has nearly US$20m in endowments. To put this in perspective, the Ivy Leaguers in the US earn millions of dollars annually in interest alone because their endowments run into the billions.

I would like LBS to remain world class, and so I help out with its fundraising activities. Despite my heavy work load, I head to the Advancement Department twice a week in the evenings and stay for several hours, calling LBS alumni in the UK and overseas to solicit support.

Each conversation takes a life of its own. Some alumni will reminisce about how they benefitted richly from the experience, while others will be more cynical and say they have already paid their dues in the hefty tuition fees. I explain that every gift, no matter its size, is vital for the school to provide the same quality of education that they received.

I believe if alumni are motivated to donate, and do so when the request is made, the giving cycle can become self-reinforcing and continuous with cultivation. I would love to chip in with my own share after I graduate, but for now, I find it rewarding to help the school’s solicitation efforts and influence the psychology of alumni.