As alumni, we have worked on fundraising for Princeton University for over 10 years but in late 2022 developed an interest in how we could complement Princeton's efforts to educate people out of poverty. Research led us to understand that the front line in the war against poverty from an educational standpoint was at the community college level. We were shocked to learn that the graduation rate for students hovers around 35%, and that food insecurity was a major barrier even for students who have tuition covered. This led us to initiate the Future Alumni Support Team (FAST) initiative in conjunction with the American Association of Community Colleges to raise funds to address this issue.
On Giving Tuesday (December 2024), we ran a test campaign and raised $47,000 for 39 participating community colleges from different parts of the country. We created a website where donors could choose from a wide range of institutions according to their preferences, and all donor recruitment was done via social media.
As there are over 1000 community colleges, our strategy going forward is to create state specific websites of similar design. The New Jersey Council of County Colleges has led the way with their Feed the Future campaign launched this past fall.
We are currently working closely with the appropriate foundations in several other states and aim to eventually have pages incorporating all 50 states. We also have endorsements from the American Association of Community Colleges, Swipe Out Hunger, and The Hope Center for Student Basic Needs.
