The Week of Service at Tarleton State University is rapidly approaching, and with it comes the second annual Day of Giving. On April 4, students, faculty, friends and family will be given the opportunity to donate to a university program or organization of their choice. Participants can make donations from 12:01 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on April 4 at either of the two assigned drop-off stations. One of these is located in the Thompson Student Center and the other is in the Alumni house.

Tarleton’s inaugural Day of Giving occurred on April 5, 2016 and was a marked success. According to Jennifer Hawthorne, Director of Development, donations were made to 139 separate university and student-driven programs, indicating broad support for a wide range of campus pursuits. Participants are encouraged to donate “a comfortable amount” in support of a program that they deem to be important.

This allows room for each donation to be of personal significance, and it shows donors that their respective choices are “honored and important.” Making the choice to give should be an “enjoyable” experience.

According to Hawthorne, philanthropy should “make your heart happy.”

Hawthorne asserted that even the smallest contributions can have massive “immediate and long-term impacts” on student success. State funding, Hawthorne suggested, does not provide nearly enough monetarily for all of the programs, schools and organizations to flourish on campus.

Because of this, private donations make a huge impact and could have the potential to transform students’ college experiences.

Student participation is also a very important aspect of the Day of Giving’s success. Students have the ability to incite other students’ interest in philanthropy in various ways. One of these is simply encouraging their friends and family to participate in the event. Another important way that students can increase participation the Day of Giving is through social media.

The Office of Development is currently looking for social media ambassadors and encouraging students to send “shout outs” detailing the fun that they had while serving.

“Fundraising should be fun,” Hawthorne quipped.

Students have the ability to make they entire experience entertaining and rewarding for themselves and their peers, and that is incredibly powerful.

Last year, roughly one quarter of the donations made came directly from current students. One of the reasons for this is that students implicitly understand the immense importance of donations to their beloved programs.

To better communicate this, Hawthorne and her team are working on developing a Student Philanthropy Counsel. The purpose of this group would be to inform and educate students and potential donors about the positive effects of philanthropy and donations on the student experience. These students would be tasked with discussing the ways in which philanthropy has already impacted them in the form of scholarship money and funding for their organizations. This gives students the opportunity to shape their own university experience—to create the changes that they want to see at Tarleton.

For more information on Service Day and Day of Giving, go to tarleton. edu/texansteamup/.