This year, for the first time, Harvard College will encourage graduates to donate money directly to their former Houses—as part of a new one-day fundraising initiative aimed at recent graduates and younger alumni.
“It’s a new thing that we’re doing at the College, where recent alumni will be able to donate directly their own house,” Harvard Dean of Students Tom Dunne said in a phone interview.
The program will be limited to Housing Day, the annual day of festivities during which Harvard first-year students learn of their housing assignments and upperclassmen from each House roam the Yard displaying their spirit. Rather than contributing to a general Housing Day fund that flows through the College before being allocated to House leaders, donors will have a 24-hour window to click a direct link and choose an individual House for contributions. This year’s Housing Day will be held on March 27, the Friday after Harvard’s spring break.
There are 12 residential Houses at Harvard, into which students are sorted for their sophomore through senior years.
The Housing Day donations, Dunne said, will be supplemental to the House funding for social programming already provided by the College. The idea is twofold: to give the Houses a financial opportunity to improve that programming and to give younger alumni a way to direct their donations where small amounts can have tangible impacts with personal meaning.
“This would be an opportunity for young alumni, who in some instances are better prepared to give small dollar donations to support students—some of whom they were housemates with—to improve social life,” Dunne said. “They [may not be] in a place where they’re looking to make a significant donation to the College, but this is an opportunity to give back to their House and feel like it has impact.”
“We provide base level funding for all the Houses to do social programming,” he continued. “This can bring them to a next level of, let’s say, swag that was just outside of their price range, or maybe they wanted to have a formal at the Boston Aquarium, and they couldn't afford the rental fee. Or it’d be great if we had better coffee in the dining halls during final exams. This might give them the opportunity to say, ‘Hey, we can do that this year.’”
