CSUSB raises money for scholarships with Giving Tuesday

On Nov. 28, CSUSB held its first Giving Tuesday, where a new tradition was formed involving students, alumni, parents, faculty, and staff coming together to fund new student scholarships.

Known as a nationally recognized event, Giving Tuesday is celebrated around the world as a way to use social media as a platform to spread the gift of giving after the Thanksgiving holiday.

Tables were set up for students to donate all around campus. Photo courtesy of Crystal Harrell.

“Giving Tuesday is a campus-wide campaign to give back to Coyotes just like me by raising money for scholarships. I’m very excited to participate in this new tradition of giving,” said student development partner Meem Kowri Masud.

The Giving Tuesday event was organized by the CSUSB Annual Fund, which is a program that focuses on acquiring regular, annual contributions for the university to create a dependable source of non-legislative funding.

Donations were able to be received through smartphone by texting CSUSB to 71777 and by going on the CSUSB MobileCause website prior to the Nov. 28 date. On the actual day of Giving Tuesday, various tables were set up around campus, including University Hall, the Santos Manuel Student Union, and Jack H. Brown Hall, where students were able to donate and learn more about the cause.

Students pose with the #Unselfie frame for Giving Tuesday. Photo courtesy of Crystal Harrell.

To raise more awareness for Giving Tuesday, the Annual Fund’s set up a social media campaign on their official Instagram page, allowing students to take and share their own “#UnSelfie” pictures to help spread awareness online. The hashtags used to share the images were #GivingTuesdayCSUSB, #Unselfie, and #SupportThePack.

Contests were also held on the days prior to Giving Tuesday, by having gifts available to those who were the first to donate available to pick up at the Annual Fund headquarters in Chaparral Hall. Food and refreshments were also available at Chaparral Hall for those who went in person to donate.

Giving Tuesday was not only observed at the main campus, but in the CSUSB Palm Desert campus as well. Students were invited to come to the Mary Stuart Rogers Gateway Building Lobby on Nov. 28 from noon to 2 p.m. to make a donation and receive a certificate for FREE CRUISIN’ TACOS and the chance to win a 50 dollar Papa Dan’s gift card.

Trophies were given as prizes for the highest earning fundraiser and donors. Photo courtesy of Crystal Harrell.

President Tomás D. Morales made a personal commitment to match donations up to $10,000 to help support CSUSB students directly through scholarships. By midnight, over $42,000 had been raised by the Coyote community, with 963 donors contributing.

An opportunity to create fundraisers was also offered, enabling donors to affiliate with either the alumni, student, parents, or faculty and staff parties. Over 30 fundraisers participated in Giving Tuesday, including representatives of the different residential housing villages on the CSUSB campus and the department colleges.

Giving Tuesday is set to be an ongoing tradition at CSUSB, and with the support and funding from the Coyote community, more scholarships will be available for students to pursue their higher education.