After two years of being in the red, Students of Georgetown, Inc., has recently increased its profits and expanded its philanthropic output from approximately $50,000 to $70,000. Financial success has coincided with the Corp Philanthropy Committee and the Corp Service and Outreach Committee’s pursuit of new projects and endeavors to widen their reach into the D.C. community.
Corp CFO Scott Munro (COL’12) stressed that the budget assigned annually to Philanthropy and CSOC is “not directly tied to how much money the Corp makes or loses in a given year.” Even when the Corp posted a net loss of $180,000 in 2009 and 2010, the completely student-run business and non-profit organization donated upwards of $50,000 to the Georgetown community.
The Corp “is on target to be in the black this year,” CSOC Chair Will Cousino (SFS ‘12) said. “Even in a world where something like 2008 happens and sales don’t go as well … we’re still able to earmark what we want to commit as a company to philanthropy.”
Both Munro and Cousino emphasized that the Corp’s commitment to philanthropy—both on and off campus—is tied to its identity as an organization run by and for the Georgetown community. Anchored by the CPC and the newer CSOC, the Corp has established itself as a philanthropic resource for student organizations and groups that seek additional funding.
“We’re students serving students,” Philanthropy Chair Margaret Delaney (COL’12) said. “One of the main channels we do that is through philanthropy.” The Corp’s philanthropic grants help groups which otherwise couldn’t receive enough funding to exist.
“We requested a certain amount of money [from] CSJ Advisory Board for Student Organizations, but they gave us a loan for half the amount,” Katherine Perzan (COL’12), who helped organize the Hoya Outreach Programs and Education’s Hunger and Homelessness Week, said.
The Corp’s donation, along with the Georgetown Program Board, served as an alternative source for funding to the organization, allowing it to arrange the Hunger and Homelessness Week without a hectic fundraising process, said Perzan.
DC Reads coordinator Hannah Klusendorf (COL ’12) said his organization faced a similar dilemma.
“As a Director-led program, we are not allowed direct access to CSJ ABSO funds from either ABSO itself or other bodies like GUSA,” Klusendorf said. “[The CPC] are an ideal funding source for DC Reads …. Frankly, without their belief in us, we would not be able to accomplish our mission and efforts.”
According to Klusendorf, the Corp Philanthropy Committee sustained its long-standing organizational partnership with DC Reads by funding many of the group’s events, including the Davis School Earth Day BBQ, Education Week, and most recently, Fall Fest.
But Munro acknowledged that the recent growth in the Corp’s philanthropy budget was a result of a particularly healthy fiscal year.
“As I made a budget for our Philanthropy and CSOC committees, I felt that we should be giving back more because we had a good year in FY11,” Munro said.
This increase has allowed CPC and CSOC to develop new projects and establish new partnerships with various organizations. This year marked the inauguration of the Homecoming Humanitarian Award, a $2,000 scholarship designed to recognize a Georgetown junior or senior who exemplifies commitment to the D.C. community.
In partnership with the Office of Advancement, the Center for Social Justice, and the 1634 Society, CSOC gave the award to Jeremy Cairl (COL ‘13), the President of Saint Elizabeth’s Outreach Organization, at the Homecoming Tailgate on October 22.
The committee is also working to produce athletic jerseys for the Kennilworth community recreation league. According to Cousino, the Corp has plans to continue working with the recreation league to improve the sports facilities provided by the Parks and Recreation Service.
The Philanthropy Chair for a given year largely dictates the direction of funding and scholarships.
“For me, I started with a clean slate,” Delaney said. Delaney expanded the scope of the Corp’s Fall Textbook Scholarship, traditionally granted to freshmen for their first semester, to cover all undergraduates for both semesters. According to Delaney, the application will be available before Christmas break, and the results will be announced in the beginning of January. The Corp is also in the process of visualizing new innovative ways to appeal to a broader range of students. Delaney mentioned a student travel scholarship and investment in student capital ventures as potential projects for Corp philanthropy.
“The community should look forward to even more avenues to take advantage of a fiscally healthy Corp in new and innovative ways,” Munro said.
Redundancy alert: having profits is by definition being “in the black.” When net earnings are “in the red,” they are called losses.