Alumni Association of Stockholm School of Economics in Riga is a non-profit organization. Our aim is to enable alumni of SSE Riga to stay in touch with other graduates and to support our Alma mater.

The Alumni Association Board also takes responsibility to coordinate the fundraising campaign of 2011 as a continuous effort of the AA in the process of supporting the most talented young potential students from all over the Baltics, who have proved that they have all the necessary abilities to study at SSER, but their current financial status does not allow pay for the studies 3,500 EUR a year or apply for the schools arranged loan at the first year of studies.

Objective
Currently, the study fee per year for one student is 6,000 EUR. With the governmental support this year the entrants from the Baltic states will still  receive 2,500 EUR scholarship. The rest has to be covered by the students themselves.The AA together with its members feel the necessity to encourage the brightest minds of the Baltics to continue applying for the studies in SSE Riga independently from their financial situation. SSER has been always regarded as the elite education of business administration in the Baltic States. Excellence and professionalism of graduates is constantly highly valued by local and international companies that we represent. Therefore, our goal is to diminish financial constrains for SSER applicants to enrich business community with constant flow of new professionals. The AA takes responsibility and rises funds for first year financial need based scholarships, who are managed by special scholarship commission headed by Mrs. Diana Pauna and respective donors, who are willing and able to participate in the process.

Background
SSE Riga with direct impact of Alumni Association has experienced major transformations in 2010:
1) Financing in the form of the previous inter-governmental agreement between Latvian and Swedish governments has ceased in 2010;
2) School is as of 2010 owned by non-profit foundation founded by three partners: 1)Handelshögskolan i Stockholm (SSE), 2)Latvian University, 3)SSER Alumni Association3) Tuition fee for BSc has been increased over the last years from 0 to 6`000 EUR per year , with efforts to provide scholarships to Baltic students and reduce tuition fee to 3`500 EUR4) Nevertheless even 3,500EUR has been a serious obstacle for many gifted students to afford the tuition fee5) Schools and AA organized loan opportunities not always can cover all the needs.

The need
1 ) Approx. 40% of accepted students come from low income families and have difficulties of paying the tuition fee;
2) If there is no information regarding the potential support and opportunities, SSE Riga feels that many potential students would  have not applied because unable to cover the tuition fee
3) In 2010, from an intake of 120, 64 (>50%) students had applied for a need based scholarship 

The aim
to provide talented and ambitious students a chance to get a high quality education locally, who otherwise could not afford it.

Results and impact of 2010 campaign
1) In 2010 Alumni from Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania have donated 61`450 EUR for Baltic students;
2) Out of 64 applicants 22 students were granted partial scholarship;3) Among the receivees of the scholarship, we have:                  a. The best academic performers           
         b. The most active assistants to the professors and administration           
         c. Social life creators

Some examples of selected students for scholarship support in 2010 (names changed):

Juris from rural Latvia:     
        • Father pensioner - 150 EUR /month, diagnosed with brain tumor     
        • Mother unemployed, 130 EUR/m unempl. benefit, lost her job due to illness, currently takes care of household     
        • Until now Juris has been studying at secondary school and on weekends working on the farm field   
        • Juris had to choose whether to study further or work in the field to support his family     
        • Alumni provided 1`750 EUR to cover half of the tuition fee for his first year

Liene from Riga outskirts, Latvia:     
        • Family of six, father had died in 2010 due to cancer, mother is freelance proofreader     
        • Sister and two brothers are school age; youngest sibling 5yrs old – impossible for mother to earn for family     
        • Liene plans to support the family as she graduates and if she takes loan she would be unable to     
        • Liene had won 4 regional Olympiads in debate, Latvian, and French language     
        • Alumni has provided full 3`500 EUR scholarship for her first year

Donors in 2010
More than 200 individuals from SSE Riga Alumni community and more than 10 companies with direct Alumni involvement contributed to the last year’s fundraising. We would use the opportunity to thank all of them  deeply and sincerely, and encourage to participate also in this year’s campaign, share the experience and invite the friends and fellow course mates to take part in this very important event.

How to donate?
First of all, it would be important to decide, that you want to donate. Second of all, the amount you are ready to donate. Typically, the donations are from 200 EUR up to full scholarship of 3,500 EUR. Thirdly, involve your friends, your course mates and pull the resources together to create full scholarship, or half scholarship. You can also contact with your country coordinator to get information about the resource pulling practice in these countries:
          Latvia - Martins Mellens (martins.mellens@gmail.com)
          Estonia – Mr. Raiko Uri (raiko.uri@gmail.com)
          Lithuania – Mr. Ramojus Gineika (ramojus.gineika@gmail.com)
          UK – Mrs. Vilma Midveryte (vilma.midveryte@gmail.com)

When the resources are pulled together, the representative of the graduation year or the group of alumni makes the bank wire transfer to the accounts of Alumni Association indicated on the right side of this web section. 

You can also make individual transfers with notice – 2011 fundraising for scholarships.The Association would encourage You to make the donations via wire transfers and not use the installed PayPal application, because we lose significant amounts due to commissions and lately we have experienced problems with the PayPal service.

Tax relief
Donations are tax exempt, so there are tax benefits when donating for scholarships. These differ across countries:

Latvia:
AA as registered in Latvia has social benefit status, so when donating to AA, tax benefits apply. Private persons can receive all personal income tax (25%) back from the tax authorities by including donation amount in his/her annual tax returns declaration. This person doesn’t need to show any legal contract to the tax authorities or any other supporting documentation, apart from indicating that the donation is to “Rīgas Ekonomikas Augstskolas Absolventu Asociācija”. Legal persons can receive 85% of donated amount back from the tax authorities, subject to of course having enough corporate income tax from which to reduce the tax deduction. If a legal person requires a contract for the donation, it can be arranged.

Estonia:
The donations are fully tax deductible under the Estonian law for Estonian taxpayers (foreign tax residents should check their local tax code). For companies special clauses apply, please contact Raiko Uri (raiko.uri@gmail.com) for details.

The bank account details:
Account no: 221045221018
Beneficier: MTÜ SSE RIGA TOETUSFOND
Details: note your personal code
For international bank transfers:
Bank: Swedbank
IBAN: EE512200221045221018
SWIFT/BIC: HABAEE2X

Lithuania: 
Donating through a Lithuanian Alumni chapter (VšĮ "ŠAEMAA") is available for Lithuanian companies, as the chapter has the beneficiary (Lith.: "Paramos gavėjas") status (i.e. it is eligible to receive support).

According to the Lithuanian *Law on Corporate Income Tax*:
*Article 28. Sponsorship*
**1. Taxpayers who are entitled to provide charity and sponsorship under the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Charity and Sponsorship shall be allowed to deduct from their income all of the payments made (except for cash payments which exceed the amount of 250 MLS in respect of a single recipient of sponsorship or charity during the tax period), including the assets transferred and services provided, which are intended for charity and sponsorship in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Charity and Sponsorship, unless this Article provides otherwise.
*2. Taxpayers who are entitled to provide only sponsorship under the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Charity and Sponsorship, shall be allowed to deduct from their income two times the payments made (except for cash payments which exceed the amount of 250 MLS in respect of a single recipient of sponsorship during the tax period), including the assets transferred and services provided, which are intended for sponsorship in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Charity and Sponsorship, but not in excess of 40% of the taxpayer’s income, calculated by deducting non-taxable income, allowable deductions and limited allowable deductions, except for sponsorship and losses from the previous tax periods.
Second part of article 28 is applicable for most of the companies (i.e. non charities or eligible to provide charity entities).

In case your company would like to donate funds for scholarships or support SSE Riga students' activities (e.g. Peaktime, Investment Game etc.) or have any questions, please contact Ramojus Gineika (ramojus.gineika@gmail.com or +37062012234).

How are scholarships distributed?
Applicants are both required to submit an application form detailing and supporting the need for scholarship and to be interviewed further. Alumni representatives together with SSE Riga administration take part in the evaluation process. You may also apply to ensure yourself that the most deserving student receives a scholarship. 

More about scholarships

Alumni activities and events:
You can also donate to support the ongoing activities of Alumni Association, such as annual update of contact information, Alumni web page development, Alumni social events (Home Coming, Alumni sports events etc.). It will be greatly appreciated.

RĪGAS EKONOMIKAS AUGSTSKOLAS ABSOLVENTU ASOCIĀCIJA Reg. No: 40008017170 Address: Strēlnieku iela 4a, Rīga, LV 1010

Bank: Hansabanka SWIFT: HABALV22 LV02HABA0551002354850 or Bank: SEB SWIFT: UNLALV2X LVL : LV48UNLA0050016233810 EUR: LV79UNLA0050016233834 Chairperson of Business Committee Mārtiņš Mellēns martins.mellens@gmail.com