The Tufts Student Fund (TSF) saw record engagement in its effort to bring the Tufts community together in fundraising efforts this year.
The final count of 1,200 students contributing donations represents a nearly 50 percent increase in participation from last year, according to TSF co-Chair Kyle Sircus, a graduating senior. TSF received just over 800 student donations during the 2009-2010 school year.
The Tufts Fund for Arts, Sciences and Engineering established the fund in 2008 to ease financial stress on students. The funds raised help a single student each year with his or her tuition bill.
TSF co-Chair Daniel Slate, a graduating senior, said this year's success could be attributed to the group's ramped-up outreach efforts.
"We've done more to go to people instead of expecting them to come to us," Slate said. "These donors aren't necessarily going to go out of their way to donate, but they aren't opposed."
The group began campaigning for donations with a kick-off event at the Mayer Campus Center in March, he said.
TSF also solicited donations at the campus center, at campus-wide events such as Tuftonia's Day and Spring Fling and via the Internet and a text-to-donate application, he said. The additional option of donating using JumboCash using portable card swipe machines also boosted the numbers, Slate added.
The committee continued its practice of "dormstorming," or going directly to dorms to ask for donations, in an effort to increase donations from the freshman and sophomore classes, Slate said.
TSF also attempted a campus-wide challenge to student groups, according to Slate. As part of the challenge, students could indicate their group affiliation along with their donation to encourage competition among groups. While this effort was not as successful as hoped, Slate said improvements in the logistics of the challenge could make it a larger part of next year's campaign.
"It didn't work as well as we thought, but we'll try it again next year with some tweaks; we'll keep fixing it and making it more successful," he said.
TSF this year worked toward a goal of collecting 1,852 student donations after an anonymous alumnus donor agreed to match the donations with a $50,000 gift if they were able to reach it. TSF chose the number because it was the year Tufts was founded and because it was ambitious, Slate said.
While TSF was unable to meet its goal of 1,852 students, the donor agreed to increase the amount he would match from each student donation in order to donate a full scholarship for the chosen student recipient, Sircus said, adding that the record is a triumph in itself.
"We knew we had an ambitious goal, but the 1,200 students that did donate is a sign towards accomplishment," Sircus said. "We thought we didn't reach our goal, but we had such an increase [in donations] that is prompted the alumnus to say we can still award the scholarship."
TSF asked students to make a donation of $1 each, according to Slate. The goal was to encourage a spirit of giving, regardless of how much, he said.
"The fund this year really had one purpose — to engage undergraduates in philanthropy," Slate said. "We're trying to develop the mindset of giving [as] undergrads without having to give a lot of money," he added.
Students formed TSF three years ago, according to Sarah Pease, volunteer coordinator for the Tufts Fund for Arts, Sciences and Engineering. It emerged from the previous student branch of the Tufts Fund, the senior class gift, to engage all undergraduates in fundraising, Pease said.
Pease said the students in TSF were largely responsible for its outcome.
"I help them make great ideas happen by facilitating things, but all the ideas and marketing come directly from the students," Pease said. "They're the ones running it and I support their efforts."
Slate said the switch to having TSF be student-run as opposed to managed by the university has allowed it to be more successful.
"It is easier being approached by your peers than the administration or the Advancement Office — it's a more credible image," Slate said. "Students doing the majority of asking made a big difference."
TSF gives students an opportunity to engage in active citizenship in their own community, Sircus said.
"The Student Fund is a great opportunity for students to really walk the walk of active citizenship," Sircus said. "It's about cultivating philanthropy as students — we're responsible for continuing that legacy."
