Since 2018, the Student Philanthropy Association has been running engagement-based philanthropic campaigns both on-campus and online!
Engagement-based philanthropy means that our campaigns have involved students taking action rather than contributing financially. Thanks to our matching donor, the Carleton University Alumni Association, we have been able to secure a financial contribution in support of a student-focused fund at Carleton each time that a student has taken part in our campaigns! Check out some of our past campaigns below to get a better idea of what this looks like:
Paws 4 Purpose
Our November 2023 campaign, CU Paws 4 Purpose involved asking Carleton students to share an act of self-care they do regularly to support their mental health and wellness. Each student who participated had $5 donated on their behalf to the Carleton Therapy Dog Program by the Carleton University Alumni Association.
The Carleton University Therapy Dog Program is designed to bring paws-itive mental health and wellness supports to the Carleton community. All of the dogs are handled by professional staff and faculty members at Carleton, and their Handlers work to create welcoming and supportive environments that can provide low intensity, yet effective coping strategies for mental health and wellness.
CU Be Kind
Our campaign for March 2023 was CU Be Kind which asked Carleton students to share a random act of kindness that they have done for someone else or have had done to them on-campus – each had $5 donated on their behalf to the Endowed Student Emergency Fund by the Carleton University Alumni Association. The Endowed Student Emergency Fund was founded to give students monetary assistance in times of crisis – a family emergency, a personal challenge, an unforeseen obstacle that introduces stress and financial burden to a student’s life at Carleton. To read more about which situations do or do not qualify for receiving financial assistance from the Student Emergency Fund, please click here to visit Carleton’s Mental Health and Wellness page on the SEF. To apply for funding, review the eligibility, criteria and limitations on this page to determine if you qualify, then contact wellness@carleton.ca with a brief overview explaining your qualifications. A Manager of Care & Support in Student Health and Wellness will review your initial inquiry and provide next steps for completing an in-depth application.
CU Celebrating Pride
Our campaign for November 2022 was called CU Celebrating Pride and supported the 2SLGBTQ+ Community Access and Inclusion Fund, a fund created to provide bursaries to members of the queer community at Carleton as well as to fund programs and initiatives to better support 2SLGBTQIA+ students.
We asked Carleton students share on a rainbow coloured sticky notes a time that they as a member of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, felt supported and/or included on campus or a time when they were an ally to the 2SLGBTQ+ Carleton community, seen inclusion on campus, or an idea of how they could be an ally. When students participated, $5 was donated by the Carleton University Alumni Association on their behalf to the 2SLGBTQ+ Community Access and Inclusion Fund.
The 2SLGBTQ+ Community Access and Inclusion Fund supports a bursary or bursaries which will be given to a member or members of the queer community in financial need and who are Carleton students. The Student Experience Office’s equity, diversity, and inclusion team will use the remaining funds each year to host programs like Pride Festival, continue research on, and support other campus initiatives like expanding health and counselling services for transgender and non-binary students. This fund is one way the Carleton community is working to better support 2SLGBTQ+ students on campus and will help to ease financial stress for members of that community as well as support more meaningful inclusivity and belonging for 2SLGBTQ+ students.
When students visited the SPA table on campus and participate in the campaign, they get a CU Celebrating Pride sticker as well as a chance to spin a wheel of SPA merch and candy and win one of our instant prizes! Visit our Instagram page, @CarletonSPA, to see more of the campaign posts and the wheel in action.
CU Making Memories
The CU Making Memories was a campaign led by the Student Philanthropy Association (SPA) in the Winter 2022 semester to encourage students to share their favourite memory they have made so far during their time at Carleton: “Remember the past, support the future”.
For each memory submitted, the Carleton University Alumni Association (CUAA) donated $10 on the students’ behalf to the Endowed Student Emergency Fund. The CU Making Memories campaign ended with a total of $1300 donated by the CUAA on behalf of our student participants to this fund!
The Endowed Student Emergency Fund (SEF) is designed to provide emergency financial assistance to Carleton University students experiencing unexpected financial hardship related to critical needs such as groceries, medications, and utilities. The SEF allows students to receive financial assistance in emergency situations so that their basic needs can be met. If you are a current Carleton student looking to apply to the SEF, please click here for the intake form.
Students filling out the form also had the option to submit a photograph related to the CU Memory they shared. Click through the gallery below to view the CU Making Memories Yearbook which highlights some of the memories that were submitted by students, and Head to our Instagram, @carletonspa to check out our posts from throughout the campaign.
The CU Making Memories Yearbook
Ravens’ Reflections
The SPA Ravens’ Reflections campaign ran twice in Winter 2021 and Fall 2021. Students were asked to write a meaningful note of thanks to someone who helped them in their time at Carleton – a professor, a parent, a friend, or anyone at all!
For each student that wrote a reflection, the Carleton University Alumni Association contributed $10 towards the Wellness Fund.
Our Ravens’ Reflections campaign was ran primarily on our Instagram, @carletonSPA. If you would to check out some of the reflections, you can view them from the RR Winter and Fall 2021 highlights.
Philanthropy Spotlights – Fall 2020
For our first online campaign, the SPA ambassadors interviewed Carleton student leaders who have made an impact on campus through their work in philanthropy. The results were so fascinating! We were able to hear different folks’ stories of how they came to be involved in philanthropy, what philanthropy means to each of them, and learn a bit more about the unique roles that philanthropy plays on campus.
You can read all of the interviews at this page here!
CU Stronger Together – Fall 2019
CU Stronger Together was a campaign showcasing the strength of Carleton’s community – how all students come together to support each other! Students were asked to write a note on a paper chain link about how the CU community has supported them. These chain links were then all woven together to create one large final celebration of the student body’s support – the Philanthro-tree!
For each student that wrote a note, our matching donor contributed $5 towards the Enriched Support Program. Our goal was 400 engagements and in the end we surpassed this, bringing in over $2000 for the program!
Photobooth Campaign – Fall 2018
Our Photobooth Campaign aimed to create a meaningful relationship between students and donors, while supporting the campus community at the same time! Students were asked to take photos in a photobooth set up in the University Centre, holding Carleton-themed props that showed their thanks towards donors.
For each student that took a photo, our matching donor contributed $5 to the Student Emergency Fund. Our goal was initially 200 photos and we blew past that, securing over $1000 for the fund!