Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Anonymous Donor Pair Matches Class Fund Donations

12An anonymous donor pair described as a “parent couple” have agreed to match senior donations to the Class of 2011 Fund, raising the total to $116,892 according to an email from the co-chairs.

Continuing an upward trend of seniors giving back, before the matching agreement the fund had raised $58,446, a record high in the last 10 years with over 71 percent of the senior class donating. The total exceeds last year’s figure by over $25,000; the Class of 2010 Fund had earned $32,157 by convocation. Last year, about 66 percent of seniors gave back to the university through the fund.

Kirsten Hardy, co-chair of the Class of 2011 Fund, attributes the rise to a growing number of students realizing that they can selectively donate to individual departments, clubs, teams and other groups that have shaped their Georgetown experience.

“By personalizing their gifts, seniors and alums are able to make a gift to the part of the university that has had the greatest impact on them. That gift is then allocated to the specified area immediately,” Hardy said in an email. “Wherever a student makes a gift, that area of Georgetown will see the money right away.”

The groups that got the most student support are the Athletics Excellence Fund, Campus Ministry, and specific academic majors and sports teams, according to Ben Jarrett, associate director of development in the Office of Advancement.

Since 2008, seniors have been able to make personalized gifts as well as give to the Georgetown Fund, which supports the 1789 Scholarship Imperative. According to Jarrett, 71 percent of seniors chose to give to the Georgetown Fund.

Jarrett said that the giving to the class fund will hopefully be just the first step for soon-to-be-alumni in their efforts to give back.

“This year’s class had over 1,000 donors, surpassing the Class of 2010,” he said in an email. “We feel that seniors will leave with a better understanding of the benefits of engaging with the Georgetown University Alumni Association and we hope that these gifts mark the beginning of a meaningful philanthropic relationship with Georgetown.”

Jarrett praised the efforts of the Class of 2011 Fund Committee in ensuring that their peers understood the importance of giving back. According to Hardy, the committee planned events such as Careertoberfest, senior socials at The Tombs and alumni networking events to expose seniors to the resources available to them as young alumni. Fund Co-chair Quinn Portfolio (COL ’11) added that alumni gifts were important in order for the university to sustain and expand these resources.

“I was excited to be a part of the Class of 2011 Fund Committee because I wanted to lead the effort to educate students on the importance of giving back to an alma mater that given us so much and the direct impact they can have on the future of the university,” she said in an email.

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