By The Long Beach State community raised $173,988 for student scholarships and programs in honor of Giving Tuesday.
Gifts from the university’s faculty, staff, alumni and other donors within and outside of the campus community were accumulated on Dec. 3.
Dan Montoya, vice president of CSULB University Relations and Development, said many of these gifts could be matched dollar-for-dollar to incentivize donations, especially for scholarships, which are the main focus of the campus’ Giving Tuesday efforts this year.
“Scholarships are vital to everything that we do here at the Beach. And so, our theme this year [for] Giving Tuesday is to fundraise for scholarships,” Montoya said.
According to the university’s 2024 Giving Tuesday website, the 49er Foundation Board Chair Ken Miller agreed to match up to $7,500 for Beach Athletics scholarships while CSULB President Jane Close Conoley agreed to match up to $25,000 for President’s Scholarships.
Created by President Emeritus Robert Maxson in 1995, the President’s Scholarships are awarded to the top-performing students in the University Honors Program.
“He raised a lot of money for it to attract the very best students to CSULB. The program was a turning point in beginning our campus’ development as a campus of choice,” Conoley said. “I wanted to honor that memory and continue to offer students who are very talented a spot in our Honors Program.”
Conoley said CSULB graduates who were President’s Scholars have gone on to do great things in business, government, medicine, law and education, citing that promoting a sense of civic duty is one of the most important aspects of the program.
President Scholars consist of 115 top-performing students at the University Honors Program. The University Honors office is located at the University Library 507. Photo Credit: Lillian Nguyen
In order to increase donations, Long Beach State created diverse challenges. For instance, the CSULB Beach Athletics scholarships were funded via a Giving Day Leaderboard. By the end of Dec. 3, scholarships for the university’s softball, soccer and beach volleyball teams were the most funded.
“Athletics is also a very important area to provide funding for the student athletes… because they need a lot of things, especially when they travel and when they need food and nutrition,” Montoya said.
A Student Emergency Fund Challenge was also created in order to raise funds for the CSULB Basic Needs program, which according to Montoya, was another important area of support during Giving Tuesday.
“I think the Basic Needs Program is always an important program that needs funding because students have food insecurity,” Montoya said. “And so, always having the opportunity to provide in some way, shape or form is important to them as well.”
While the majority of monetary gifts originated from California, some gifts came from other states such as Arizona, New York and Virginia.
The social media hashtag #SupportCSULB was used on Instagram, X, Facebook and LinkedIn to spread awareness of Giving Tuesday efforts from the university.
“Giving Tuesday happens across the country every year,” Conoley said. “I hope we continue to attract donations that help our students be successful.”
