A glossy brochure, the University website, a VIS tour, and Stanford Magazine all rattle off facts and figures highlighting the pre-eminence of the Farm–the number of award winners, the new buildings, the sheer amount of land we own and so. Stanford University has become a world-class institution for myriad factors, not the least so for hard dollars and cents. The University boasts an endowment of more than $12 billion. The names Knight, Yang, Munger, Bing, Lokey and Arrillaga adorn newly glistening buildings. Though rather crass a remark, it is undeniable that money–quite a lot of it–makes life go ’round here on the Farm.

These funds, however, do not appear out of nowhere. It is quite logical that one of the largest buildings on campus is the Alumni Center. Be it the phone calls our parents began getting after we said we would enroll here or the letters we receive from our friends’ student groups, fundraising and donating are part and parcel of the Stanford experience. For seniors, the anticipated young-alumni fundraising calls will only reinforce the brutal reality of meager paychecks in the real world.

Fundraising pleas can be monotonous and even annoying. However, there is a movement afoot that the editorial board would like to single out for its tangible effect on campus life: the Senior Gift Campaign. The money raised does not go toward the endowment. It will help bring another incredible group of students to campus. In fact, more than 80 percent of all money raised will go straight to financial aid. The rest will go to fund student groups and our unique academic programs, including freshman seminars, Sophomore College, overseas studies and undergraduate research fellowships. All are opportunities that made our Stanford experience priceless.

When visions of the Stanford Calling Center and insidiously designed invitations sit in the backs of our minds, the Senior Gift Campaign is a tangible way to give back. With more than 77 percent of the student body receiving some degree of financial aid to attend Stanford, contributing to the Senior Gift is giving those who come after us the same incredible opportunities we have received here on the Farm. This becomes no longer a matter of hard, cold cash. This is a means by which one can help further the aims of this great school and those lucky enough to attend.

Though the percent of graduating seniors who donate has consistently lagged behind those of our peer institutions, the editorial board strongly urges the Class of 2011, regardless of socioeconomics, to find a way to donate to the Senior Gift Campaign. There are many ways to better the long-term prospects of the Farm, but here is a chance to do so now.