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USAC launches website for donations to UCLA endowment fund

By Nicholas Yu

May 6, 2015 1:19 a.m.

The undergraduate student government recently launched a website where anyone can donate money to its 2-year-old endowment fund.

The endowment, which is currently about $120,000, is a reserve fund the Undergraduate Students Association Council can use to finance programs if it does not want to tap into other council money or if USAC is struggling financially. UCLA Foundation manages the endowment, which receives about a 5 percent return each year.

USAC surplus funds, which are carried over from one council to the next, have declined more than $100,000 annually starting with the 2011-2012 year. The drops have caused some students to worry about stable funding sources for programming. The surplus this year was about $103,000.

“The goal of the website is to grow the endowment and increase the ability of USAC to fund student government and student organizations,” said USAC President Avinoam Baral, who spearheaded the project.

Baral said he wants to ensure that future councils are well-funded.

The website allows anyone with a credit card or PayPal account to donate to the endowment fund. It does not provide any information about how much money is in the fund and how much past and current councils have deposited or withdrawn from it, said Roy Champawat, director of the UCLA Student Union.

In 2013, then-USAC President David Bocarsly created the endowment, allocating $100,000 from the about $254,000 surplus to launch it.

This year’s USAC added $10,000 to the endowment from its surplus, Baral said. Last year’s council also added $10,000 into the endowment. USAC has not yet used any money from the endowment.

Baral said he is working with Alumni Affairs to get past councilmembers to donate to the student government, and he hopes the endowment will grow to about $1 million in the future. Baral said he does not know when that amount will be reached because surpluses fluctuate each year.

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Nicholas Yu | Assistant news editor
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