By Melissa Martinez

News Editor

After last year’s success with the Senior Class Gift Campaign, the Foundation Board and student committee are aiming to create a scholarship to continue aiding current and future students.

The Senior Class Gift Campaign started in 2008 and began its student committee in 2011 to bring student voices, ownership and responsibilities for students to help their peers. Last year, the campaign raised 106 gifts, more than the two previous years combined. In addition to “matching donors” — people who would match what the campaign raised dollar for dollar to a certain amount—the ending amount of gifts resulted in raising just over $6,000.

While CSUSM is still a relatively new campus, the campaign aims at building a legacy in raising money for students. Following campuses that have implemented the Senior Class Gift Campaign for decades, the student committee for the campaign traditionally decides exactly what the students would like the funds to support. Last year, student affairs approached the committee with a new fund program for students called the Student Emergency Fund. It makes funds available for students who experienced unfortunate emergencies, like an apartment fire or the death of a family member requiring the student to need a plane ticket home.

Every year, the student committee decides and designates a program they wish the gifts to benefit. Unless the donors specify the program or college they wish their donation to go to, the donation will go to the student committee designated program. Last year, that program was the Student Emergency Fund.

“What we tell our students and donors is that you can designate where you would like your gift to benefit. For example, if you want to make a senior class gift and would like the gift to go back to CHABBS, you can do that,” Associate Director of Development & Annual Giving, Sean Briner said, . “If you are a scholarship recipient of some sort and would like to help the next student who might be receiving that scholarship, you can make your gift and designate it to that scholarship, you can.” The product of the gifts raised last year benefited students right away.

“Just before Christmas, quite a bit of the student emergency fund went to those very same things– apartment fire, replacing books and homelessness. We have a few students on campus who are homeless. So, the money is being well used immediately,” Briner said.

The committee aims at showing students the importance of giving back to fellow or future peers. As Briner highlights, “the idea of a senior class campaign is to teach students what giving back (some call it paying forward), the impact of giving can have on their current and future students.”

This year, the Foundation Board decided to create a student scholarship to be distributed next academic year. “What students probably don’t realize or don’t think about is [that] some of the things they’re able to take advantage of at this school is philanthropic generosity of people who’ve come before them. So whether it’s a scholarship, a building, a program, a lot of times those are funded by people who have given,” said Briner.

The senior class campaign asks students of participation—regardless of the amount of the gift—to participate and give back to current and future students in their time of need and understand the importance of giving.

Though the title states “Senior Class Gift Campaign,” the committee of students includes both seniors and juniors; students of any year are able to make a gift benefiting their current and future peers.   This year, the Senior Class Gift Campaign asks students to give $20.13 in honor of the class of 2013. To find out more information on the Senior Class Gift Campaign and ways of making a gift, please visit csusm.edu/giving/annualfund/seniorclass.html