Giving to SAF

Your support helps the School of Accounting and Finance to continue its tradition of excellence in accounting and finance education in Canada.  Help build the next generation of accounting and finance talent in Canada, power leading research and build relationships with the leaders of tomorrow.

As alumni and current students can attest there are many facets to an outstanding educational experience.  Great staff, facilities and programs are all important components of a world-class educational experience. In the videos below, current accounting and finance students share the importance and impact of the support they receive and how your gift makes a difference.

Earlier this year, our students had some fun by creating videos that show you how your gift makes a difference to them, to faculty, and to facilities and programs. Please follow these links to view the videos.

The Difference - A Fabulous Building

The Difference - Accounting and Finance Students Say

Types of Donations

Donors to the school have many options when it comes to making gifts. The type of gift you choose depends on many factors. Our staff would be happy to meet with you to determine which method of giving makes sense to you for both your financial situation and your philanthropic goals.

One-time Donation: your one-time donation will go along way towards making a difference in the School of Accounting and Finance by helping us provide the best education for our students.

Monthly Donations: are a great way to give to the School of Accounting and Finance on a regular basis that leads up to a significant contribution each year.

Multi Year Pledge: Support for a specific project of your choice can take the form of a multi-year pledge. Select an amount per year, the length of your pledge and begin making a lasting difference in the School today.

Donate in Someone's name: Make it a gift to remember. Honour a loved one, friend, or colleague by making a tribute gift in their name or mark a special occasion in their memory.

Plan a Future Gift: Leaving a legacy to the School of Accounting and Finance will ensure the support and reputation of the programs at the School of Accounting and Finance. Information and personal assistance is available to you and your estate advisor if you decide to include a gift in the form of a bequest, charitable life insurance, a gift annuity, or charitable remainder trust. For more information, please contact Frances Houston by email: fhouston@uwaterloo.ca or via phone: 519-888-4567 ext. 38227.

Give a Gift of Stock: Giving a gift of stock to the School of Accounting and Finance can offer great tax advantages. If you are considering donating stock to the School of Accounting and Finance, feel free to contact us for more detailed information. For more information, please contact Frances Houston by email:  fhouston@uwaterloo.ca or via phone: 519-888-4567 ext. 38227.

To make a one time, monthly, multi-year pledge or to donate in someone's name please select the appropriate option below.

Research

Centre for Accounting Research and Education (CARE)
Created in 1981, CARE is committed to ensuring excellence in the areas of fundamental and applied accounting research and accounting education. Support for the centre will provide funds for areas of highest need within the school.

Behavioural Research Centre
Creation of the Behavioural Research Centre would begin with hiring three faculty to be the primary researchers associated with the new Centre, one each in Accounting and Finance, Economics, and Psychology. This would provide the critical mass needed to accelerate current research activities in behavioural economics and decision research at uWaterloo.

Students and Faculty

Gold Medal Endowment Fund
The Alumni Gold Medal Award recognizes the academic achievements of a graduating student from the Masters of Accounting program. It is given annually to the student with the highest marks in the program and is presented at convocation. This formal recognition encourages students to excel in their studies and also instils pride in the student recipient, faculty, and overall SAF community.

Student Fellowship Program
Support for the Student Fellowship program offers students a combination of scholarships and extra-curricular involvement, and gives stellar students a way to further build their professional and leadership skills while being involved in meaningful academic experiences. The SAF Fellowship program aims to provide 10 per cent of each incoming class with this unique scholarship and learning opportunity.

Scholarships
Scholarships are instrumental in attracting and rewarding top quality first year accounting students to defray tuition costs that have more than doubled over the past decade. Scholarships help the School of Accounting and Finance (SAF) achieve its mission to advance learning, with special emphasis on innovation and practical experience, by nurturing excellence in our students.

Learning Model
Our Learning Model was developed to help faculty and students clearly see what knowledge and skills need to be developed not only by graduation but in each course.  It was developed after consulting with employers to help deliver the competencies and professionalism students need to excel in their careers.  Our Learning Model will help students learn how to integrate key skills such as: thinking, problem solving, communication, leadership, collaboration, learning how to learn and ethical conduct with their technical competencies to meet the challenges they will face when they graduate. 

Student Investment Fund
A student-run investment fund will be implemented to provide upper year students with hands-on investment experience with real money in an institutional setting. There will be faculty supervision along with guidance from industry mentors. Twenty students will be admitted into the program through an interview process and will be required to make a two year commitment. The experiences received through the program will enhance the students’ understanding of the financial industry and gives them a competitive edge in securing employment within the field.  

Faculty Fellowships
By supporting the fellowship program, you will be helping the School of Accounting and Finance attract and retain exceptional faculty members that lead our students to success in their education and work place.

Finance Endowment Fund
This endowment fund will provide students with an opportunity to acquire valuable experiences by integrating theory and practice in areas such as investment management, trading, risk management, financial modeling and corporate finance. Programs supported by the fund will include Bloomberg Terminals, which will provide access to real-time data giving our students and faculty the information they need for cutting-edge research and teaching.

Capital

Capital Funds
We continue to raise funds for our new building and have some exciting ways to connect alumni and supporters to the building. There are currently spaces available to be named in the new building.  By donating to capital funds, you have the opportunity to have an area named after you, or someone of your choice.

	“Today, uWaterloo is the pre-eminent professional school for accounting and related disciplines. The ICAO investment in dollars and relationships are evidence of our (and my personal) belief of this.” Rod Barr, BA, CFE, FCA, 2007 Faculty of Arts Alumni Achievement Award President CEO - ICAO

The SAF thanks our generous donors who have supported the following projects:

• Scholarships
• School of Accounting and Finance Building
• Don Craig Memorial Atrium
• Faculty Fellowships
• Student Fellowships
• Learning Centre
• Laurel Society Donors
• 1957 Society Donors
• Annual Giving donors

SAF Campaign Goal

Last year, we announced our plan to call upon alumni to assist us in greater numbers than ever before in order to reach our campaign goal. We formed a campaign committee consisting of five alumni volunteers to take the school’s story to their peers and to their firms. Our focus is on support for student and faculty fellowships that are so pivotal to continuing the tradition of excellence in accounting and finance education and to meeting our growth in students and faculty.

Over the past year, the campaign has received over $2.5 million from the accounting profession and SAF alumni, bringing us to a campaign total of $5 million. With this tremendous support generated through the work of our campaign committee volunteers, we are on track to reach our $8 million goal by 2012. We aim to push beyond our current donor participation rate of 42% among our alumni with the hope of securing more regular monthly donations from alumni as well as support for special projects.

Campaign Success: Alumni challenge moves SAF closer to $8 million goal

In 2008, we called upon our valued alumni to help increase our private funding by implementing an $8 million campaign goal by 2012. Without hesitation, our team of alumni volunteers approached their peers and the accounting profession for support. To date, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, ICAO, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers have openly accepted this challenge...

Read more about the SAF campaign and the incredible progess we have made this year.

We are grateful for the support of our alumni, friends and corporate partners who continue to support us in our efforts to reach our goals.