Florida State University Student Foundation

What Florida State University Student Foundation does

The Florida State University Student Foundation is a private, student-run, non-profit philanthropy organization founded on April 20, 2010, and headquartered within FSU's Division of University Advancement at 325 W College Avenue, Tallahassee, FL. It operates as a fundraiser, investor, and grant-maker for the university: the Student Foundation raises, invests, manages, and distributes funds — with all principal invested through the parent Florida State University Foundation and interest earnings disbursed via a student-led Allocations Committee — supporting programs such as Unconquered Scholars, Garnet & Gold Scholar Society, Undergraduate Research, Student Veterans Initiatives, and the Student Food Pantry. Total contributions since founding exceed $550,200.

The organization has no proprietary technology stack; it runs on a standard website (studentfoundation.fsu.edu), a Gmail contact channel, and Facebook/Instagram pages. Its "products" are campaigns and events: Students Helping Students, Click Yes ($10 optional donation embedded in course registration), Dollar Week, Great Give, Philanthropy Week, the Strozier Lock-In, Philanthropy Banquet, and the annual Thamesh Ramjit Student Philanthropist of the Year Award. Governance rests with a 42-person student Board of Trustees (10 officers, 32 at-large trustees) organized into five committees — Development, Finance, External Affairs, Advancement Relations, and Administrative Affairs.

The business model is donation-based, not commercial: revenue derives from student giving campaigns (the Click Yes registration flow alone provides access to 40,000+ students), campus events, and partner programs such as FSU Round Up at campus retail locations. The organization has no external investors, no venture backing, and no AI/automation layer; its sole customer segment is FSU students, and its sole institutional counterparty is Florida State University. Leadership for the 2026 term comprises Chair Samantha Mason and Vice Chair Hailey Acquaviva.

Name

Florida State University Student Foundation

Legal name

Florida State University Student Foundation

Website

https://studentfoundation.fsu.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Florida State University Student Foundation is a student-run, non-profit philanthropy organization founded in 2010 that raises, invests, and allocates charitable funds exclusively for Florida State University students and programs through campus campaigns, events, and grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education Philanthropy

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Fundraising & Annual Giving (EDALAOAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK), Corporate & Foundation Relations (Sponsorships, Grants, Partnerships) (EDALAOAE), College Access, Scholarships & Student Success Nonprofits (BPAGADAE)

Keywords

• Student philanthropy
• Fundraising campaigns
• University advancement
• Donor engagement
• Student leadership

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: The Student Foundation raises funds through various campaigns including Students Helping Students campaign, Dollar Week, Great Give, and Click Yes campaign ($10 per semester from course registration). All funds are invested as principal with Florida State University Foundation, with interest accrued used for disbursements.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Florida State University Student Foundation is a student-run nonprofit organization that raises, invests, manages, and distributes funds for the advancement of Florida State University. It operates student-led fundraising campaigns such as Click Yes, Great Give, Students Helping Students, and Dollar Week, with all funds invested as principal through the FSU Foundation and interest used for scholarships, academic programs, and student initiatives.

Product overview

The Florida State University Student Foundation is a student-run philanthropy organization founded on April 20, 2010. It operates as a unified platform for student fundraising and development, offering various campaigns (Great Give, Students Helping Students, Click Yes, Dollar Week), events (Philanthropy 101 Panel, Philanthropy Banquet, Strozier Lock-In, Founder's Day Celebration, Board Retreat, Philanthropy Week), and awards (Thamesh Ramjit Student Philanthropist of the Year Award). The organization manages funds for university advancement through its Board of Trustees and five standing committees—Development, Finance, External Affairs, Advancement Relations, and Administrative Affairs—with funds invested through the FSU Foundation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Student Foundation Organization Student-run nonprofit philanthropy organization that raises, invests, manages, and distributes funds for FSU's advancement with emphasis on student development and the collegiate experience. Governed by a Board of Trustees and five standing committees (Development, Finance, External Affairs, Advancement Relations, and Administrative Affairs).
• Great Give Campaign Annual full-day fundraising event with vendors, entertainment, and activities designed to bring the Seminole community together to raise money for a designated yearly beneficiary.
• Students Helping Students Campaign Fundraising campaign designed to inspire philanthropic action among FSU students, with all funds going directly back to support students at Florida State University.
• Click Yes Campaign Semester-based campaign embedded in FSU course registration that allows students to donate $10 to support the Garnet & Gold Scholar Society, reaching 40,000+ students per semester.
• Dollar Week Semester-based grassroots fundraising campaign in which board members solicit dollar donations from students across the FSU campus, held each fall and spring semester.
• FSU Round Up Charitable program allowing customers at select campus retail locations to round up their purchases, with the extra change directed to the FSU Food For Thought Pantry for students facing food insecurity.
• Garnet & Gold Scholar Society Recognition program designating FSU students upon graduation who demonstrate achievement in three of five areas: leadership, service, internship, international experience, and research.
• Protect Our Professors Campaign Foundational fundraising campaign started in spring 2009 by students, faculty, and administrators to raise awareness of state budget cuts and support key academic areas; raised $140,000 and evolved into the Student Foundation in 2010.

Quantifiable outcome

• $550,200+ in total contributions to FSU programs since founding in 2010
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Florida State University FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAll funds raised by Student Foundation are invested as principal with the FSU Foundation. Interest accrued from these accounts is dispersed by the Investment & Management team to the Allocations Committee for project funding decisions. This partnership ensures professional management and long-term sustainability of raised funds.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• GiveCampus: GiveCampus is a fundraising and crowdfunding platform purpose-built for educational institutions and student-led campaigns. It directly parallels the Student Foundation's model by enabling student-driven philanthropy at colleges and universities, making it the closest comparable peer in terms of mission and target audience.
• Indiana University Student Foundation: The Indiana University Student Foundation is a long-running student-led philanthropy organization at a major public research university with a comparable mission of cultivating student giving and disbursing funds to support university programs—a direct functional peer at a similarly sized flagship institution.
• University of Florida Student Foundation: The University of Florida Student Foundation is the closest peer institution: a student-run fundraising body at a fellow Florida public research university with an analogous mission of student philanthropy and university advancement support, making it the most direct geographic and structural comparable.

Broad incumbents

• Bonterra (Network for Good): Bonterra operates giving and fundraising software platforms (including the former Network for Good) used by nonprofits and educational institutions. It serves as a broad incumbent in the educational fundraising tooling space, providing the technology backbone that many student-led campaigns rely on.

Others

• Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE): CASE is the global professional association serving educational advancement professionals across fundraising, alumni relations, and communications. It is the closest industry body governing the practices in which the Student Foundation operates and provides the standards framework the organization follows.
• FSU Alumni Association: The FSU Alumni Association is the primary alumni engagement and fundraising body for Florida State University, operating alongside the Student Foundation within the Division of University Advancement. It pursues overlapping donor dollars from a related population, making it the most direct internal comparable for fundraising scope and audience.
• Florida State University Foundation: The FSU Foundation is the parent entity that invests all Student Foundation funds as principal. As the institutional endowment manager, it represents the upstream capital partner whose investment performance directly determines the Student Foundation's grantmaking capacity over time.
• Seminole Boosters: Seminole Boosters is FSU's official athletics fundraising arm, operating within the same university advancement ecosystem. While focused on athletics rather than academic programs, it competes for the same FSU donor base and demonstrates the parallel fundraising structure against which the Student Foundation is benchmarked.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/FSUStudentFoundation
• Instagraminstagram.com/thefsusf
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/florida-state-university-student-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Florida State University Student Foundation