Students giving back to students

In order to help the current students at Portland State, the Senior Gift Campaign is asking graduating students to donate a suggested amount of $20.10 to the PSU Foundation. 

Senior Zack Smith, who studies criminal justice, started working with the PSU Telefund three years ago. The program employs PSU students to conduct outreach in support of numerous university initiatives.

When Smith was promoted to supervisor last year, he brainstormed with the previous Annual Giving director, Michelle Banks, about changes to implement a successful Senior Gift Campaign.

One of the major changes they made was altering the focus of the campaign to fund the PSU Financial Need Scholarship. Students were excited about the changes, as the scholarship had not been well-funded in the past.

“We wanted PSU students to understand that their tuition dollars do not completely fund their education,” Smith said.

The state makes up only a small percentage of the university’s budget, while the rest is generated in large part by donations, according to Smith.

In 2008, the Senior Gift Campaign brought in $6,000 in donations. However, due in part to the changes that Smith and his team implemented, $12,000 was donated for the Senior Gift Campaign in 2009.

Smith said the campaign’s goal this year for the graduating class of 2010 is to raise $15,000. He said students can meet this goal by pitching in small amounts. He has already found three donors to match $5,000, if the Senior Gift Campaign can raise that amount through individual donors.

Last year, the Senior Gift Campaign asked students to donate $20.09, and this year it suggests that students donate $20.10, a penny more. 

“I see that amount as less than I would spend on a Friday night out with my friends,” Smith said.

When speaking with peers over the phone, the students working with the PSU Telefund will often hear people say they never received a scholarship and are therefore wary of donating to a scholarship fund benefiting others.

“I try to tell those students that with [their] support, we can have more scholarships available [in the future],” he said.

In addition, a “Senior Send-Off” event is being planned to celebrate the new graduates and encourage donations to the Senior Gift Campaign. The event will be held on June 3 at noon in the PSU Park Blocks.

“Aramark is donating free food, and we have a laptop to give away,” Smith said. “It’s really a congratulatory event.”

Last year, the Senior Gift Campaign created a Facebook page, which Smith hopes to make more powerful this year.

“We want to be more viral,” he said. “The more students hear about [the campaign], the more we’re getting the word out.”

The campaign’s Facebook page contains a link to the PSU Foundation, where one can make a donation.

Students can also donate by visiting the foundation’s website, www.foundation.pdx.edu/publicgift/seniorgift.jsp.

“Students can give by mailing in check or credit card information,” he said. “When we start calling in May, we can also take credit card information over the phone.”

Buttons are also being made for students to wear in support of the Senior Gift Campaign, and to increase school spirit.