Organizers of this year’s senior class gift aim to lessen socioeconomic pressure by de-emphasizing the goal of having all members of the Class of 2014 donate. The Class of 1964, which has pledged to match donations two-to-one, will donate three times the total amount raised if the Class of 2014 campaign can break $25,000 on its own. Last year, the Class of 2013 raised $24,785.
As in previous years, the gift will go to financial aid for members of the incoming freshman class.
“Through the 2014 Senior Class Gift, we will help give members of the Class of 2018 the Dartmouth experience that all alumni and students share, regardless of class year and financial status,” said Rohail Premjee ’14, a senior class gift intern.
While the Class of 2013 set a College record for total amount raised, they saw a decline in overall participation. Roughly 70 percent of graduating seniors donated in 2013, compared to 80 percent in 2012 and 82 percent in 2011. In 2010, participation peaked at over 99 percent, according to the senior class gift website.
The campaign team — including interns Anoush Arakelian ’14, Georgi Klissurski ’14, Premjee and Kate Thorstad ’14 as well as 44 volunteers — will not solicit funds from students who say they do not plan to donate.
In the past, class gift fundraising campaigns at the College and have drawn criticism for pressuring students to donate, including in 2010, when only one student did not donate.
“We’re not going to make people feel guilty about not donating,” Arakelian said. “It’s going to be a much cleaner campaign than in the past.”
The class gift team designs a four-week fundraising campaign, creates and implements a media and communications plan and solicits gift donations from classmates. This year, the team is also coordinating more activities to facilitate bonding among volunteers, Premjee said.
This year’s campaign will emphasize education about philanthropy as well as personal reflection for the seniors, Klissurski said.
“We want to stress that when you’re making a gift there’s really a purpose,” Klissurski said. “We want to respect senior year.”
Given recent events on campus, Arakelian said she believes this year’s campaign should promote equity.
Donating to the Dartmouth College Fund, and especially to the senior class gift, is a more direct way of giving back to students than donating to the endowment, Arakelian said.
“We need to focus on where the money is going,” she said, “especially when people don’t want to donate to a college when they don’t feel like they’re being listened to.”
Of six students interviewed, all said they believe donating is a straightforward way of showing support for the College.
Former senior class gift intern Angela Dunnham ’13 said that keeping track of student participation is crucial but difficult given the campaign’s fast pace.
“My advice to the class of 2014 is to really have fun with it,” Dunnham said. “This is the last big thing that your Dartmouth class gets to do as a whole, so take the opportunity to make a lasting impact.”
The class gift team will launch the month-long fundraising campaign with a kick-off barbecue on April 27.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction appended: April 16, 2014
The date of the kick-off barbecue is April 27, not April 28.
