Making a Donation | How is SURF Funded?
Each SURF student receives a award of $6000 for the ten-week
summer period, a total budget of over $2 million. Most of the funds are raised
annually from a variety of sources including gifts from individuals; foundations
and corporations; faculty grants and other Institute sources; and NASA funds
(for students working with mentors at JPL).
The Student-Faculty Programs Office, in partnership with the
Development Office, raises funds to support Caltech SURF students collaborating
with faculty on campus or at other universities. Typically mentors pay half
the award, and funds raised from private external sources—individuals,
corporations and foundations, and the endowment—are used as matching
funds.
SURF depends upon the generosity of its many friends for annual gifts or for contributions to the SURF endowment to build a robust financial base to ensure that Caltech students continue to have the opportunity to engage in research with faculty. We thank the many donors who have supported SURF!
The Campaign for SURF
The administration designated SURF as one of the priorities in the current capital campaign with a goal of increasing the SURF endowment by $10 million. This significant addition to the endowment will ensure the future of the program and will provide Caltech students with the unparalleled opportunities to engage in research at the frontiers of knowledge under the coaching of experienced mentors.
Individuals or groups may establish an endowment for $125,000 to support one student annually in perpetuity and may be named as the donor designates. There are several ways to establish endowments—they may be paid in full at creation, given in installments over a period of three to five years, or specified in the donor’s estate plans.
Endowment donors receive special benefits. Each year a student will be selected to bear the endowment name, and the contributor will receive a letter introducing the student and describing the project. If they choose, donors may have the opportunity to meet the students supported by their gifts, and they often receive letters of appreciation from “their” students. Donors are invited to attend SURF Seminar Day to hear the student’s final oral presentation. The Student-Faculty Programs Office notifies endowment contributors when students they have supported win special recognitions or publish papers. Endowment contributors can be proud of the investment they have made in the future of Caltech’s bright and talented students, and they gain the personal satisfaction from playing an important part in the formation of young people, many of whom will make significant contributions to the nation and the world.
For information about establishing a SURF endowment, contact
Candace Rypisi, Director, Student-Faculty Programs, candacer@caltech.edu,
626.395.2886 or contact Bill Burrows, Senior Development Officer, bburrows@dar.caltech.edu,
626.395.6214.
Annual Gifts
We deeply appreciate the gifts from the friends of SURF who make donations in all amounts to support our students in the undergraduate research enterprise. We depend upon these contributions to help us build a robust financial foundation for SURF each year. Each gift is important!
Gifts may now be given to SURF online through the secure Alumni
Fund website. Log onto http://makeagift.caltech.edu.
You do not have to be Caltech alumni to use this site! You may also mail contributions
to the SURF Office, California Institute of Technology, 08-31, Pasadena, CA
91125.
