Student Philanthropy Program Raises and Donates Thousands of Dollars to Nonprofits

Cogswell, a Bowdoin alumna from the class of 2011, oversees the CGG program. When she was a student, she actually participated in the CGG twice, one year on the grant committee and one year on the development committee. 

She said her experiences with CGG have shaped her career. “I’m running the program now, so that’s one part of it, but I’ve worked in nonprofits and social impact work, and I think that a lot of the skills I built in the program have influenced the way I’ve thought about my career or made decisions professionally.”

The program launched in 2001 when an anonymous donor committed to contributing $10,000 annually for Bowdoin students to allocate to local agencies. In the years that followed, the Common Good Grant program has distributed over $300,000 in grants to more than 160 nonprofit organizations.

Though the CGG has had many wonderful years, this year seemed to be particularly special, Cogswell said, as the group maintained the same leaders they had last year, Sophia Li ’24 and Kavi Sarna ’25.

“It was the second year the two of them have worked together at the helm as student leaders of the group,” Cogswell said. “I think they had kind of figured out their working rapport and they had a lot of reflections and ideas to share about what had gone well, and how to make sure we were doing the best we could to meet community-identified needs and to connect with donors in the best possible way.”

She also mentioned the strong alumni network that stays involved as donors or who help students through the steps of the CGG’s programming and act as mentors.

“It’s really nice that we have that coaching model,” she said, making it possible for alumni to be involved beyond just making financial contributions to the program. “I’ve been lucky to connect with some of the alumni in the program who have helped me think through various aspects of the curriculum, or the ways we connect with community partners or donors.”