to try and possibly set up a pledged payment plan over time (I failed), the forcing of providing a phone number (I don't want to be actually called, which I know they will). This is called FRICTION in any online payment process and it leads to abandoned shopping carts and lower conversion rates.

Make it VERY easy for an alum to slap $5 on a credit card every month. VERY EASY. Look to Netflix, Amazon for help with this process. if 30% of our alums do $5 per month that's an extra $4.5M in the coffers every year. It ain't that hard.