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Seniors for The Stanford Fund
Join us!
Seniors for The Stanford Fund is looking for leaders within the Class of ’24 to provide their talent, perspective, and experience to create an impactful and celebratory senior campaign.
We hope you’ll consider being part of a campaign that brings students together to raise funds and awareness for areas of Stanford that directly impact the undergraduate experience.
We encourage you to complete this short interest form if you:
Are passionate about the student experience and affecting positive change
Enjoy providing strategic feedback and advice
Have an interest in learning more about non-profits and fundraising
Advisory board members are asked to commit 2 to 3 hours per month from September 2023 to May 2024. The majority of the time commitment comes from monthly one-hour advisory board meetings. The remainder of the commitment is on an as-available basis.
Questions? Reach out to The Stanford Fund team via email at seniorsgive@stanford.edu.
2024 class impact
Class participation
Hours of service completed
Class of 2023 had 89% participation, and 186 Dollars for Doers participants completed 1,384 hours of service.
Autumn Quarter events
Professional Headshots
Pick up your class diamond sticker and make your first gift to Seniors for The Stanford Fund. The first 35 Seniors to make a gift will receive a free professional headshot.
Fromage on the Farm
Enjoy some cheese and sip on some drinks as you meet the Seniors for The Stanford Fund Committee and learn about the seven different areas you can support when you make a gift to The Stanford Fund.
Giving Tuesday
In the Giving Tuesday spirit, swing by White Plaza and grab a succulent – it's on us for the first 1,500 students! Spread the love by passing it along to someone who's made your Stanford experience special.
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Do senior gift your way
Step 1: Choose one of two ways to give back
Donate through The Stanford Fund
Your senior gift can support Stanford students in the ways that are meaningful to you. See the choices and make your gift below or through venmo @SeniorsforTheStanfordFund. When making a gift through venmo, be sure to include your SUID # and the area(s) you wish to support.
Turn service hours into dollars to donate
Participate in the Dollars for Doers Challenge, where every hour of volunteering you complete (up to 10 hours) unlocks $25 from generous alumni donors, to donate directly to students through The Stanford Fund.
Step 2: Choose where to send your gift
This is your chance to support the parts of Stanford you are most passionate about.
Every senior has a unique Stanford experience. Each one of us appreciates certain things about Stanford, but there are also things that could be better, and we recognize it will take collective action to improve them. When you give through Seniors for The Stanford Fund, you can choose to support an area of campus you’re passionate about.
Financial aid
Contribute to a more equitable future in Stanford education by giving toward need-based financial aid. Nearly half of all undergrads receive financial aid each year.
Community centers
Promote justice, belonging, and equity on campus with a gift toward the Centers for Equity, Community, and Leadership.
Student social life
Sustain the campus-wide events and programming that make the Stanford experience fulfilling, unique, and fun.
Undergraduate academic research
Support all three undergraduate schools to expand class offerings and provide additional academic support for students.
Mental health resources
Help increase appointment capacity at CAPS, expand virtual and telephone visits, and improve community outreach.
Opportunity Fund
Help provide flexible grants for undergraduate students to cover unexpected expenses like emergency travel or registration fees for a conference. Learn more about the Opportunity Fund.
Student groups
Support the student-led organizations that help undergraduates develop new skills, build connections, and pursue their passions.
All of the above!
Support all these important initiatives with one gift through The Stanford Fund.
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Make your gift on Venmo @seniorsforTheStanfordFund
Don't forget to include the following information in the comment section (set to private):
-The area(s) you wish to support
-Your SUID# (starts with 0)
Why we choose to give
When you give through Seniors for The Stanford Fund, you support programs and initiatives that make the Stanford experience exceptional for all students.

“We can make Stanford even more exceptional by making it more accessible. I support The Stanford Fund to ensure that students can attend Stanford regardless of their family's financial situation and have a robust extracurricular experience when they arrive on campus.”
- Christopher Maximos, ’23

“Stanford has introduced me to some of the most important people in my life, and I will always be grateful for that. By focusing on enriching student life with Seniors for the Stanford Fund, I want generations of future Stanford students to be able to have those same valuable experiences that help them find their people.”
- Roshni Padhi, ’23

“Supporting the Stanford Fund offers me a chance to shape the Stanford that I want to see for future generations of Stanford students—one with support for a diversity of students, quality academic experiences, vibrant student-run organizations, and a rich social scene. I'm particularly excited by the Stanford Fund's emphasis on public service as another way for everyone to contribute: both to our community and, with Dollars for Doers, to the future of Stanford.”
- Liana Keesing, ’23

“As a leader in various student organizations on campus, I have seen firsthand how The Stanford Fund can help us bring our programming ideas to life, whether they are educational, service-oriented, or social. TSF helps ensure the longevity of VSOs and allows all of us to maintain the quality of our events.”
- Jada Harris, ’23
Frequent questions
Philanthropy, or as you’ll often hear us say, giving, literally means goodwill to other humans. In practice, it refers to providing support for organizations, causes, or initiatives that are important to you.
For example, a gift to Stanford allows you to give back to a community that has helped you become who you are today and ensures the same or better opportunities are accessible to other students. Your philanthropy also includes your support for organizations that align with your passions, such as an animal shelter or relief aid during an emergency like the California wildfires.
All that to say, every one of us can be a philanthropist through our gifts of our time, talents, or financial resources.
Opportunities to support students can be driven by different things, whether it’s the priorities determined by university leaders (i.e. The Stanford Fund), your own passions (i.e. funds for specific programs or departments), or community mobilization (i.e. mutual aid and solidarity funds).
You can explore and choose the ways to give back that are meaningful to you. Whatever you choose, you will help ensure every undergraduate student has the best possible Stanford experience.
The endowment provides a steady stream of income, but only if spending is held to about 5.5 percent each year. So, the university must fund more than three-quarters of its operating expenses, including financial aid, student and academic organization support, and other areas integral to the undergraduate experience, every year from other sources, including through donor support.
Additionally, nearly 80 percent of the Stanford endowment is restricted or designated for specific uses. The endowment is actually made up of more than 8,000 different funds. Of these, 7,300 were established by donors, and most of them are designated for specific purposes, such as supporting first-generation college students or advancing a particular field of study. Stanford has a legal and fiduciary obligation to use these funds as intended.
For more details about the purpose and limitations of the endowment, we recommend this article in Stanford Magazine.
The Stanford Fund, the annual fund for undergraduate education, provides vital flexibility for supporting students.
The majority of gifts to Stanford—and almost 80 percent of endowment funds—are restricted. Funds given for research, for example, cannot be used for financial aid. Gifts through The Stanford Fund can be used to address the areas of greatest need or to meet unexpected expenses.
When you give through The Stanford Fund, you are also able to designate the destination of your gift to either financial aid, mental health initiatives, academic innovation, student life, or the Opportunity Fund. Targeted gifts sustain these initiatives and allow you to advocate for positive change within the university.
Every cause is important and no gift is too small. When seniors give through The Stanford Fund, gifts are tripled by a generous donor, amplifying our impact on the causes that matter to us, helping to transform Stanford for future generations.
As Stanford’s soon-to-be most recent alumni, you know best how programs and initiatives impact the undergraduate experience. Giving to Stanford, no matter the size of your gift, is a way for seniors to have our voices heard amongst larger, institutional donors in support of the future of undergraduate programs at Stanford that matter most to us.
Many philanthropists also give simply because they like knowing they are helping someone, regardless of the size of their gift. Gifts can be personally impactful, as well.