Around 8 p.m. last Tuesday, College of Arts and Sciences senior Vanessa Porter went to her room in the Student Village, logged into her IBM ThinkPad, and within a matter of minutes, increased her credit card bill by 200 dollars . . . and eight cents.

Although there are 234 days until she officially graduates from Boston University, Porter is one of a handful of seniors who have already become alumni donors.

“BU was my first-choice school,” Porter said. “It has given me so much, I just felt like I should give back.”

GOALS

It’s the task of the 2008 Class Gift Committee, a group of dozens of class of 2008 students, to make sure Porter is one of many by the end of the year who have donated to BU as new alumni.

That same Tuesday, the committee held its first meeting of the year.

The committee — which co-chairwoman Elena Quattrone said is the first of its kind — will bring together about 100 seniors, including Porter, to brainstorm ways to spread the word about the importance of donating to the university.

“It’s the first time we’ve ever had a committee of peers asking students to become active alums, instead of administrators talking at senior breakfast,” Quattrone said.

Class Agent Program Manager Rachel Laquidara, who works with the class gift committee, said the climate for requesting donations from students has warmed in recent years.

“Students are happier and BU is becoming more of a campus,” she said. “They feel more connected and in-tune. It’s not falling on deaf ears anymore.”

The dollar amounts and participation rates for BU class gift-giving have steadily increased over the past six years. In 2002, only 34 students donated, raising $847. In 2007, 777 students did so, raising $69,039.

This increase is in part due to the change in the type of donation, Laquidara said – before 2002, each class bought a tangible gift to be donated to the university as a whole, such as the Millenium Walkway behind the George Sherman Union.

Since then, students have had the option of donating money to specific departments, programs or student groups.

“BU doesn’t really have room and doesn’t need a clock in Kenmore Square,” Quattrone said. “The best thing to do is to donate back to departments or something else that gave a lot to you.”

Students can also donate money in honor of a friend, family member or professor who has been influential in their college career.

This year, the committee wants to continue the upward trend in donations, and hopes at least 1,000 Terriers will donate to their brand new alma mater. It also aims to raise $100,000, which would be a marked increase from the almost $70,000 raised by the 2007 class committee.

But the committee admits reaching that goal is easier said than done.

A BACKLASH?

While class gift donations have steadily increased over the past six years, BU recently ranked the lowest out of a survey of the nation’s top schools for alumni donation participation, according to Laquidara.

Laquidara said the ranking is not an indication of how people think of university, but instead a backlash from sky-high tuition costs.

“Tuition is the number one thing,” she said. “It’s expensive to go to school here and actually experience Boston. Any disposable income is spent on social life. I’d do the same exact thing.”

Though the high tuition cost — now almost $46,000 with room and board — deters students who think they have already given the school enough money from donating, in reality tuition dollars only cover 58 percent of the cost to educate, Laquidara said.

Quattrone said many do not grasp the importance of alumni donations to the university.

“You can’t just ask students for money without them understanding why it’s important and how the money benefits the student body,” she said. “The mentality here is: BU takes so much of your money. Why should you donate?”

Quattrone, along with co-chair Brendan Fallon and the rest of the committee, hopes to answer this question through a massive word-of-mouth campaign that begins sooner rather than later.

WHY 2008 COUNTS

“Basically, it’s just going to be a lot of talking,” Fallon, a CAS senior, said. “Everyone on the committee is expected to talk to every person they see. You can’t put everything onto a poster — you need to have a conversation with them.”

Fallon said he wants to have most of the money raised before senior breakfast in May, which is usually spent asking seniors for last-minute donations.

“We want senior breakfast to be celebrating how much money we’ve already brought in throughout the year,” he said.

The committee is asking that every senior donate $20.08, in honor of his or her graduating year.

The $20.08 can be divided among different recipients, and students who make the $20.08 donation will also be able to honor their mentor at the university.

But it does not have to be $20.08.

“If you can only give $5, that’s fine,” Fallon said. “We just want people actively showing that they support the university and the professors.”

The committee is providing additional incentives for students looking to donate more. Students who donate $200.08, like Porter, will be invited to a dinner at President Robert Brown’s home in May. And students who donate $2,008.00 will be eligible to join BU’s Annual Fund Leadership Giving Society

“In general, giving back to your university — as an alumni or student — is making your degree more valuable for yourself,” Fallon added. “You’re helping the university grow and helping your degree have more prestige.”

For Porter, it came back to having a say in the future of the university, even after her graduation day.

“By doing it this way, it’s more direct,” she said. “You see the effects of it. And, I know what it’s used for and who it’s honoring.”

“You can give to whatever program at BU,” she continued. “There has to be something. We’re here for four years. Obviously something kept us here for four years. Give back to that. “