Fund raising open for USU students to give thanks
In an effort to “say thank you” to university donors and to raise money for individual colleges, the president’s ambassadors have instituted a fund-raising effort for students, said Jesse Randle, president of the president’s ambassadors.
Starting Monday, Feb. 11, the president’s ambassadors, a small group of senior university ambassadors who work with USU President Stan Albrecht and his wife, Joyce, are asking all USU students to donate at least $1 to the fund-raising campaign started by Albrecht last year, Randle said. For every dollar donated, outside donors will donate $2 more, making a total of $3 for that initial dollar, he said.
“The underlying reason for this is for future donations,” Randle said. “By seeing we’re an active student body, it will encourage donors in the future.”
Randle said within the last year, donors have raised nearly $10,000 per student, though the money does not necessarily break down to a per student basis. Rather, that money “directly comes into the university to improve the programs and the prestige.” Randle said if donors can raise thousands of dollars, “every student should be able to give a dollar.”
“One dollar to $10,000 is a nice ratio,” Randle said.
Not only is every donated dollar matched by two additional dollars, but Randle said the money raised will stay in the college in which it was donated. So, if the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences was to raise $2,000 from its students, $6,000 would stay in the College of HASS, Randle said. The individual colleges, with input from the students, will then decide how the money should be spent.
Students are encouraged to donate more than one dollar, and any amount raised will be matched twice by two donors, Randle said.
“If you donate $5, it’s really $15, and it all comes back to your college anyway,” Randle said.
The deadline for the student fund raising is Feb. 27, Randle said, and until then, students can donate to the ambassadors of their specific colleges. The donation locations will be announced to the students within each college, Randle said, and ambassadors in most colleges will be visiting classrooms with a PowerPoint presentation about this donation program.
Following the donation period, the raised funds will be totaled and announced during a special presentation Albrecht will hold in March, Randle said, to show the donors the appreciation of the students for the money that has been donated to USU.
In the past year, $177 million has been raised through donors under the vision of Albrecht’s Campaign for Utah State University, with the goal of $200 million soon to be reached, Randle said.
Randle said this is an initiative the president’s ambassadors and the university ambassadors have teamed up to create. Randle said he and the other president’s ambassadors came up with this idea when Joyce Albrecht asked Randle if there was a way students could give back and thank the donors for their generosity.
Pending the success of the fund-raising effort, Randle said he would like to see this become a yearly tradition, having donors match money raised by students.
-seth.h@aggiemail.usu.edu