Campus-Wide Projects

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.

Learn to Love Reading Again

In Spring 2025, Kresge launched Learn to Love Reading Again (LRRA), a series of small reading seminars open to all undergraduates and based on three principles: 1) we read for the sake of reading, not for a test; 2) we engage in discussion to deepen our insight; and 3) we read on paper. Students receive all course materials on paper, for free.

Our goal is to show the smart-phone generation that old-school reading is still a rich and rewarding experience, so that they continue this practice on their own.

CARE's Survivor Discretionary Fund

The Survivor Discretionary Fund provides short-term financial support for survivors healing from instances of harm. When a student leaves a harmful situation, financial burdens restrict healing, safety, and access to resources. Your contribution is critical to relieving financial stress for UCSC survivors. You can help support survivors by donating to CARE’s Survivor Discretionary Fund.

Support Queer and Trans Students! 

Please support the Cantu's Emergency Fund that offers assistance to students experiencing financial stress and hardships.   The fund has supported student's accessing gender affirming care, paying rent, and covering expenses resulting from emergency situations.   Contributions of all amounts are needed, appreciated, and make an impact! 

Slug Support Emergency Fund

The goal of Slug Support is to address emergency situations, remove financial barriers, and to provide resources so that every student can make academic progress and ultimately graduate from UC Santa Cruz. The emergency fund is used to support students in having access to their basic needs such as food, emergency housing, transportation, and medical and mental health needs. The funds are given directly to students in need.

AIRC Giving Day 2025

The American Indian Resource Center was established in 2000 with the goal of creating a space where Native and Indigenous students at UC Santa Cruz could feel supported, seen, and celebrated — a space where they could preserve their cultural heritage, ensure that their basic needs are met, and have the ability to succeed and grow during their time here.
With your help, the American Indian Resource Center can continue to promote the holistic and cultural wellness of Native students at UC Santa Cruz. We aim to provide students with the opportunity to attend cultural events like powwows and sweats together, meet and learn from Indigenous knowledge holders, and share tools and resources for achieving both personal and academic success and well-being.
This Fall, the Gift Fund will additionally be utilized to fund the Prison Reading Project, which provides Indigenous literature and media to incarcerated Natives across the country. The project will allow for widespread reconnection to community and heritage through the American Indian Resource Center at UCSC. Ultimately, this outreach initiative will further create opportunity and accessibility of education for all Native peoples, both on and off campus.

Redwood Free Market

The Redwood Free Market is our basic needs hub on campus. It offers students access to basic needs resources, such as a free food pantry, CalFresh application assistance, meal kits, diaper assistance, and personal hygiene products. Your support allows us to continue providing resources to UCSC students in need.

EOP Financial Support Fund: Keep First-Gen Students Moving Forward

The EOP Financial Support Fund helps first-generation, low-income students at UC Santa Cruz stay on track toward graduation. Your donation provides direct financial assistance for essential academic expenses and financial support during unexpected emergencies. These are the real-life costs that traditional financial aid often overlooks. With your help, EOP students can focus on their education not financial stress.

Career Success Professional Clothing Closet

Career Success is raising money to support student's access to FREE professional clothing and professional services. 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!

People of Color Sustainability Collective Give

We are raising funds to support the wellness of UCSC’s PoC students!
What is "Inclusive Sustainability"?
In 2015, PoCSC coined the term inclusive sustainability that:
*Disrupts the idea that the university and the formally educated are the gatekeepers of knowledge
*Acknowledges efforts made by PoC to advance sustainability
*Recognizes that many sustainability efforts have historically ignored and discriminated against communities of color
*Embraces different cultural approaches of caring for the environment
*Emphasizes intersectional and interdisciplinary approaches
For PoCSC, inclusive sustainability must begin as a framework for student success, retention, and building community in higher education.
With your support, you can help PoC students not just survive college, but thrive in college.
Stay up to date with us at People of Color Sustainability Collective's instagram: @pocsustainability

Porter Labyrinth:  A path of reflection and contemplation.

Porter College Senate is raising funds to supplement Porter Student Government funds already allocated  to create a disability accessible Labyrinth at Porter College.
The Labyrinth will be a place to quiet the mind and develop a sense of well being.  It will provide an opportunity for individual reflection, and introspection for both Porter College and the greater UCSC Communities.  Much like the Porter Squiggle, it will be a physical manifestation of the creativity of the Porter College Community and the Porter College motto “Ars Longa, Vita Brevis” (Art Endures, Live is Brief).
Funds generated by Giving Day will supplement Porter Student Government Funds already allocated to this project.  Although designed to be light on earth, eschewing the use of concrete and steel, design and environmental surveys & review to ensure that the Labyrinth will meet environmental land use criteria and ADA standards are still required.  The use of locally sourced materials is fundamental to our design, ideally limestone & packed earth rather than concrete and asphalt paving, but there will still be material cost & transportation.  Labor for site preparation and construction is also a consideration, although it is our hope that the community can participate in the construction of the labyrinth by laying the stones which define it.

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!

Dr. Alvaretta Baxter Emergency Fund for Student Support

Honoring the legacy of Dr. Alvaretta M. Baxter (“Alvy”), a dedicated educator and UCSC ‘90 Kregse alumna, the Dr. Alvaretta M. Baxter Emergency Fund supports emergent student needs through the African American Resource Center. Dr. Baxter's life was devoted to uplifting underserved communities through education, and this project continues her commitment by providing timely assistance that can help students stay enrolled, engaged, and empowered. The funds will be used for essential needs such as emergency housing, academic supplies, and other resources that directly impact student success. Your support ensures that Dr. Baxter’s legacy lives on through the success of the next generation.

Nancy I. Kim Endowment for Leadership and Coalition Building

The Nancy I. Kim Endowment for Leadership and Coalition Building seeks to honor the legacy of alumna and Resource Centers executive director Nancy Kim by supporting inclusive leadership skills and strengthening connections across UC Santa Cruz’s diverse communities. This initiative will provide a sustainable funding source for programs open to all that foster equity, inclusion, and student leadership grounded in community-based approaches, through the ethnic, gender, and sexuality Resource Centers: African American Resource and Cultural Center; American Indian Resource Center; Asian American / Pacific Islander Resource Center which also serves Southwest Asian and North African students; El Centro: Chicanx/Latinx Resource Center; Lionel Cantú Queer Resource Center; and Women’s Center.

Support Graduate Student Advocacy

The purpose of this fundraiser to send to graduate students to Sacramento and Washington D.C. to do advocacy work on behalf of their constituents. This work is done through the University of California Graduate and Professional Council (UCPGC). There are issues and concerns that impact graduate students that need to be heard before law makers in order to bring change that will improve the quality of graduate student life and work. This level of advocacy supports the work that campus and system wide administrators do. It also amplifies the voices of graduate students in ways that highlight our most pressing needs beyond what our local campuses can do.

UCSC Silicon Valley Graduate Student and Alumni Association

We are the Graduate Student and Alumni Association at the UC Santa Cruz Silicon Valley campus, a community that connects current students with alumni now working across the tech industry. We’re raising funds to support student access to professional development opportunities like conferences, networking events, and workshops, as well as to host events that strengthen our campus community. These experiences help students build real-world skills, expand their networks, and gain exposure to career paths beyond the classroom. By investing in these opportunities, we’re creating a more connected and supportive environment for students and alumni alike. Donations will go directly toward covering event costs, including registration fees, transportation, and hosting expenses.

Library Acquisition Fund

Your support can make a critical difference for our students. By contributing to the Library’s Acquisition Fund, you’ll help us provide essential textbooks, literature, film, and media resources for hundreds of students each year.

No student should face barriers to their education simply because they can’t afford the required materials. Together, we can ensure that every student has access to the resources they need—at no cost to them.

Library Digital Scholarship Innovation Studio

The Digital Scholarship Innovation Studio (DSI) provides a space in the Library for UC Santa Cruz students to create, experiment, explore, and bring their imaginations to life. In an environment where failure is part of the process, the DSI provides students with free access to all its equipment and materials. Your donation will help the DSI provide free access to equipment and materials for UCSC students!

SAB Staff Appreciation Events

The UCSC Staff Advisory Board is proud to host events like the Staff Appreciation Picnic, Movie Nights, and the Milestone Celebration to celebrate our amazing staff. These gatherings bring joy, connection, and a sense of belonging to our campus community. With your support, we can continue offering these special events and show UCSC staff the appreciation they truly deserve. Every contribution, big or small, helps us say thank you in meaningful ways.

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 allow 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 scholarship provides support to current and retired staff or their dependents who are pursuing a degree at UC Santa Cruz.

Alumni Association Scholarship Fund

The Alumni Association Scholarship Fund supports high-achieving students working hard to earn their degree while navigating financial hardship. Alumni volunteers select new students to receive scholarships each year. Every student selected receives an annual award of $3,000 until they graduate, as long as they maintain a good academic standing.

Creating Equity in STEAM (CrEST)

UCSC CrEST (Creating Equity in STEAM) engages learners of all ages in critical thinking in the context of STEAM research at UCSC. Our mission is to provide life-changing experiential
learning programs that build self-confidence and inspire impactful change in our world. UCSC CrEST achieves this mission through its three main programs: 1) Shadow the Scientists (StS), 2) Python and Research (PyaR), and 3) Science Internship Program (SIP).
Funds raised on UCSC Giving Day keep these initiatives accessible and affordable for our participants. For more information, visit our website: https://crest.ucsc.edu/.

Community Connections Student Scholarships

Help raise money for student scholarships. We fund scholarships for deserving re-entry students through the Rita Olsen Pister Endowment and for worthy frosh from the local area through the Affiliates Endowment.

The programs and services described here are open to all, consistent with state and federal law, as well as the University of California’s nondiscrimination policies. Every initiative—whether a student service, faculty program, or community event—is designed to be accessible, inclusive, and respectful of all identities.

To learn more, please visit UC Nondiscrimination Statement or Nondiscrimination Policy Statement for University of California Publications Regarding Student-Related Matters.