GVSU Student Philanthropy Week 2026

October 5-12 is Student Philanthropy Week at GVSU!

You know how important student organizations are to the overall college experience. They foster connection, provide networking opportunities, fuel personal growth, and are a lot of fun. Consider a gift to support one of our participating student organizations to show our Laker community the tremendous difference we can make when all come together.

🏆 Join the Challenge!

Thanks to challenge gifts, additional funds will be awarded to the participating student organizations as they reach giving milestones throughout the week. Your donation can help them reach these goals!

🏅Go for Gold

Thanks to a generous gift from President Philomena V. Mantella, the student organization with the most overall donors will get an additional $750 gift. Second place will receive $500, and third place will receive $250 toward their selected fund.

🎓 Awesome Alumni

The student organization with the most alumni donors will receive an additional $500, and the organization that raises the most dollars from alumni gifts will also receive $500. This challenge is made possible by Dottie Johnson, a proud Laker for Life.

🧑‍🏫 Campus Champions

The organization with the most GVSU faculty, staff, and retiree donations will receive an additional $500. Thank you to Anne and Bart Merkle for their generous challenge gift.

🎁 New Participant Challenge

To celebrate the organizations participating in their first Student Philanthropy Week, the new participant who gets the most donors will receive $500, and the new org that raises the most dollars will also receive $500. Thank you to Aaron Radelet '98 for their gift to this challenge.

📆 Timed Challenges

• Wednesday Challenge
  Five participating student groups that receive a gift between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Wednesday, October 7, will be randomly selected to receive an additional $200 each. Thanks to Dottie Johnson for making this challenge possible.

• Friday Challenge
  Five participating student groups that receive a gift between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Friday, October 9, will be eligible to be randomly chosen to get an additional $100 each. Thanks to Emily '14 and Rory Miller '14 for making this challenge possible.

The following challenges are possible thanks to a gift from Jenny Hall-Jones, vice president for student affairs, and Scott Hall-Jones.

🧑‍🧑‍🧒 Parent Pride

The organization that gets the most parent donors will earn an additional $500.

🏃 First to 25 - WINNER: Gymnastics Club Team

The organization that gets 25 donors first will receive an additional $250.

⏰ Race to Midnight

The organization that receives a gift closest to 11:59 p.m. on Monday, October 12 will receive an additional $250.

Disclaimer: Only the registered student organizations (RSOs) listed on this site, having applied to open invitations to all RSOs at GVSU to participate in Student Philanthropy Week, will be eligible to receive challenge dollars.