Campus-Wide Projects

Giving Day is here! You can search the projects and make your gift here. 

Area of Greatest Need

This is the most flexible kind of support you can give us, because these funds go to initiatives that will benefit immediately from extra financial help. Funds support things like the Chancellor's Undergraduate Internship Program, athletics, and student orgs and events.

Redwood Free Market

When UC Santa Cruz students need support meeting their basic needs, the campus Redwood Free Market is there. The RFM works to ensure that every student has access to the food, personal care items, and resources they need to thrive, without financial barriers. UC Santa Cruz partners with the local food bank to purchase food for the Redwood Free Market. Thanks to this partnership, every dollar donated to the Redwood Free Market goes even further. Every $1 donated provides 3 meals for a student in need.

Slug Support

College can be a challenging time for students and during times of stress it is not always easy to find the help you need.  The UCSC Slug Support Program was created to promote early intervention with students of concern to prevent culminating problems from escalating into a crisis.  The goal of the Slug Support Program is to identify students navigating difficult or challenging situations and assist them in resolving their concerns.

Arboretum Student Workers Earn and Learn!

Paying for college can be challenging for many students and deciding on a career path can be equally difficult and stressful. The Arboretum helps with both by providing employment opportunities to UCSC students at a competitive living wage...AND by providing hands-on, real-life experience in horticulture, conservation, nursery management, ecology, gardening and more!

In return, student workers provide vitally important support in caring for the Arboretum's 115 acres of public gardens and plant collections.

Your gift directly benefits student employment and career development for UCSC students working at the Arboretum. 

SAB Staff Appreciation Events

The UCSC Staff Advisory Board has enjoyed bringing new staff appreciation events to UCSC such as Staff Appreciation Night at the Men’s Basketball Game and the Milestone Event. With additional financial support, we could offer more staff appreciation events such as ice cream socials, coffee and scones, etc. Please help support current and future staff appreciation events with a contribution!

UCSC Staff Professional Development

Investing in staff professional development can positively impact productivity and staff retention; however, in an environment with budget constraints, it is often difficult for departments to find funds to provide to their employees for professional development. The Staff Advisory Board (SAB) is interested in helping to fill the gap by sponsoring professional development opportunities for staff employees. Your support will make it possible for the SAB to provide UC Santa Cruz staff with opportunities to pursue professional development.

Smith Society Stipends for Student Leaders

The Smith Society provides UCSC Students from adverse backgrounds who are on their own with membership and intergenerational community to support their academic and personal success. We provide scholarships, mentors, faculty research fellowships, paid internships and weekly lunches and leadership opportunities. We are privately funded. Please help us fund our student leaders.

Educational Opportunity Programs (EOP)

The mission of Educational Opportunity Programs (EOP) is to provide various academic and personal support programs to first-generation to college, low-income students with diverse social and personal identities and from historically marginalized backgrounds, so that they may achieve their academic, professional, and personal goals and become active leaders in their communities.

CARE

The CARE Survivor Discretionary Fund serves as confidential, short-term financial support for survivors healing from instances of harm. This Giving Day, our goal is to raise $5,000 of unrestricted funding for survivors' safety, healing, and health expenses.

Supporting the Cantu’s Emergency Fund

Many LGBTQIA2S+ experience financial hardship adding additional stressors to their UCSC journeys. Join the Cantu Queer Center in supporting students and remind them that they are not alone--solidarity abounds!

Celebrating 40 Years of the Women's Center

The Women's Center affirms the dignity and diversity of all women. The center continues and challenges feminist traditions by creating community space for all women and their allies to achieve individual and social change. 

This year the center is celebrating our 40th year at UC Santa Cruz. All funds will go toward the services and programs offered by the center. Thank you for your consideration. 

KZSC Radio - Student Run Community Broadcasting

Support FM Radio Broadcasting from UCSC. For over 50 years our students and community volunteers provide 24/7 public affairs and music programming at 20,000 watts to the entire Monterey Bay region! From the trees to the seas - KZSC Radio - Catch our Waves!

IndigeSlug's at UCSC

The American Indian Resource Center is dedicated to supporting the needs of American Indian students and increasing Native visibility on campus by advocating student-centered programs, cultural events, and tools for academic success and well-being. The center serves as a vital link between American Indian students, the University, and tribal communities to foster growth through mentoring, leadership opportunities, and scholarly development while offering a supportive space for students to help ease the transition from home to campus life. Your contribution will allow students to meet basic needs and ensure security through emergency funding, participate in cultural learning through events like pow wows, sweat lodges, attend Native American Conferences and build relationships with Indigenous knowledge holders/elders. 

With your support, you can help Native and Indigenous students not just survive college, but thrive in college. This Giving Day campaign is directly aligned with the mission and objectives of the American Indian Resource Center. Stay up to date with us at airc.ucsc.edu! 

Supporting Asian American Pasifika, & SWANA Student Professional Development Opportunities

Join us in supporting the Asian American, Pasifika, and Southwest Asian/Middle Eastern North African community by donating to our professional development fund! With your help, our students will be given opportunities to attend conferences (such as SWANA CON, PISA Con, APAHE) that emphasizes culture, leadership, and community, receive mentorship through internships, and participate in courses/institutes that center their identity development and career goals. Help us reach our goal of $10,000 by donating today! 

Black to the Outdoors

We are fundraising to create a funding source that focuses on encouraging the Black community at UCSC to get outdoors and engage with nature. This funding will be used to create programs, field trips and fiscally sponsor student org endeavors to encourage culturally relevant connections to nature.

Celebrate 30 years of El Centro: Support Latiné Students

In honor of our 30th anniversary, El Centro is fundraising $30,000 for student scholarships. Every dollar raised will go directly to scholarships for students. Your contribution will help ease the financial burden and empower our dedicated students to thrive in their academic journeys. Every donation, no matter the size, makes a meaningful difference.

Career Clothing Closet

 In Winter of 2024, Career Success at UCSC launched the Career Clothing Closet where students are able to obtain professional clothing free of charge. Student response has been amazing and we are in need of additional support to keep this space stocked and functioning. This project supports our ongoing efforts to remove barriers of access for first- generation and low- income students. Your donation will greatly impact students ability to obtain experiential learning and employment opportunities. Join us to help all Banana Slugs change the world! Fundraising Goal: $15,000

Support Local and Re-entry Slug Students

Support Local and Re-entry Slug Students

Grad Peer Mentor Program

The Graduate Peer Mentor Program connects incoming graduate students with experienced grads that provide guidance, community, and friendship to help tackle issues that graduate students might face! We serve as a  peer mentor hub  to provide support for existing departmental peer mentor programs, as well as help launch new programs across campus. Last year was our first year as a full program and currently offer funding across 5 academic divisions, and are actively looking to expand. A donation to us would directly support mentors and programs that aid graduate students through this highest degree.

Library Opportunity Fund

The digital age has had an unprecedented impact on how we consume, preserve, and browse information. As a result, libraries have experienced an enormous transition over the past 20 years. UC Santa Cruz has proactively embraced these changes—reimagining our libraries as innovative and collaborative 21st century spaces to maximize student success.

Your gift to the Library Opportunity Fund will support our students’ most pressing needs. 

For some students, it is books and learning spaces. For others, it is digital content and access to online memberships. 

Digital Scholarship Innovation Studio

Located within the Science & Engineering Library, the Digital Scholarship Innovation Studio (DSI) is a space for UC Santa Cruz students from all disciplines to create, experiment, explore, and bring their imaginations to life. The DSI provides a judgment-free learning zone with access to knowledgeable peers available for support at every step of the way. 

Employers are hungry for graduates who possess the latest skills in prototyping, design, and manufacturing. Through the DSI, students gain access to technology that allows them to explore worlds, expand knowledge, and consider their future without limitation, irrespective of their academic path. 

CIED Studio: A Co-working Hub for Student Entrepreneurs

At the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Development (CIED) at UC Santa Cruz, we cultivate entrepreneurial skills and business acumen among students. Our new initiative, the CIED Student Studio Co-working Space, offers a dynamic environment for collaboration, fostering interdisciplinary projects and freelancing opportunities. This space enhances student success by providing hands-on experiences in innovation and professional development. Funding will equip the studio with advanced technological tools and professional-grade marketing software, and support experienced personnel who mentor and guide students. Our aim is to empower students to transform visionary ideas into reality and excel in their future careers.

Emeriti Association

The Emeriti Association aims to foster an atmosphere of collegiality among emeriti faculty by providing socially and intellectually stimulating programs. Currently, the association promotes better understanding of the University’s research, teaching, and service mission through community-wide lectures, the Panunzio and Dickson awards, and recordings of its programs and lectures. 

On Giving Day, the Emeriti Association is raising funds to support the Miriam and Ed Landesman Emeriti Association Endowment that bolsters the efforts of the association, and the History of Science fund in honor of Michael Nauenberg. Contributions to this fund could allows talks from the top scholars in the field of History of Science. 

Retirees Association Scholarship Awards

The Retirees Association has two scholarship funds that support UC Santa Cruz students. The Bruce Lane Memorial Scholarship helps military veterans students, and the Silver Slug Award provides scholarships to current and retired staff or their dependents who are pursuing a degree at UC Santa Cruz.

UC Santa Cruz Premed Postbacc Central Coast Scholarships

By 2030, California will have 11.5% fewer doctors than needed. The Central Coast and Central Valley will face an 18.7% shortfall in primary care doctors, the most severe gap in the state. Join UCSC's Premed Postbacc program in raising $10,000 to provide scholarships for underserved students; help us attract talented and deserving graduates from Central Coast communities who might not otherwise have access to this advanced training. 

Scholarship funds will cover science courses, workshops and MCAT prep. Every gift makes a difference and we are deeply grateful for your support! 

Fund AI Innovation at UCSC Professional Education

Empower a revolution in education and innovation at UCSC Silicon Valley Professional Education.

When you donate to our $10,000 Giving Day campaign, your gift goes directly toward the purchase of a High-Performance AI GPU server. This advanced server will provide our students with powerful computational capabilities across various disciplines.

Semiconductor: Run the latest design tools from Synopsys, Cadence, Siemens, and OpenROAD at industrial speeds.

AI Technology: Equip students with the tools to create advanced AI applications, agents, and on-prem deployments.

Data Science and Business Strategy: Empower future leaders to conduct sophisticated data analytics and make data-driven decisions.

Biosciences: Enable the processing and analysis of large, complex datasets critical for biotechnology and bioinformatics professionals.

Education: Develop cutting-edge teaching tools that transform learning experiences.

We are deeply grateful for your support in helping us empower the next generation. Donate on Giving Day and be a part of this transformative journey!

TerraNova Bio: Using nature to breakdown a major pollutant  

Creating a fully circular solution that breaks down polyurethane, a major pollutant, using fungi. We are solving the problem of plastic pollution, by targeting a plastic that is hard to break down and builds up in the environment. By creating a circular solution for polyurethane, we are eliminating the need for new raw polyurethane materials derived from crude oil, while simultaneously reducing the amount of microplastics entering the environment 

EPC Student Success Through Engagement

The Educational Partnership Center (EPC) builds college-going communities in the UCSC service area by providing experiential education in support of students’ success - college readiness workshops; college and university field trips; industry tours and demonstrations; 1-on-1 mentorship, and family empowerment! Everything the EPC does is backed by research and data, which show the power of experiences and relationships in shaping student success. Funds raised on Giving Day will be used to provide innovative hands-on experiences for the students in our region.

Crown-Merrill Community Room-Upgrade and Modernize

Since the construction of the Crown/Merrill Apartments in 1986, the Community Room has served as a gathering space for Crown and Merrill students in residence, as well as for visiting affiliates of other colleges and nonresident Crown and Merrill students. Generations of past Crown and Merrill students have enjoyed countless hours of recreation in the Community Room, and we seek to continue this legacy of community, friendship, and mutual support—especially in a time when many campus lounge and recreational spaces are being repurposed. This project plans to provide for newer furniture, replacement of aging pool and ping-pong equipment, an upgraded speaker system with better functionality, and other important furnishings for the space. If we meet our fundraising objectives, we also plan to introduce access to desktop computers in the Community Room for student use, ensuring education—and edification—for years to come.

Alumni Association Scholarship Fund

The Alumni Association supports high-achieving students who struggle financially. More than $2 million has been distributed through this Alumni Association Scholarship. Make a gift today!

Creating Equity In STEAM (CrEST)

The CrEST (Creating Equity in STEAM) umbrella of programs and initiatives provides opportunities for middle school, high school, and college students from underserved groups to engage in STEAM research at UCSC. Our mission is to provide life-changing experiential learning programs that build self-confidence, foster equity, and inspire impactful change in our world.

The CrEST programs include: 

(1) Shadow the Scientists (StS) – https://shadow.ucsc.edu/ – a free year-round initiative that allows students to  dip their toes in the water  of STEAM research via real-time Zoom eavesdropping sessions with researchers; (2) Python and Research (PyaR) – https://pyar.ucsc.edu/ – a free Python and R programming tutorial that allows students to learn the  swim strokes  of scientific research; and (3) Science Internship Program (SIP) – https://sip.ucsc.edu/ – a 9-week immersive summer opportunity for high school students to take a  deep dive  into open-ended STEAM, Humanities, and Social Sciences research.