My school doesn’t have a student government, so I may be in way over my head here.
Why do you as a grade need money? Do you use it to pay for the prom or graduation? Where does that $8000 go?
As far as giving back to the community, I think that’s a fine idea. The very best thing anyone can learn before becoming an adult is just how bad some others have it, and how easy it is to make a difference in the lives of others.
You can pick a big cause-- say, the American Red Cross disaster relief. (Sorry, I’m on Long Island. In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, I’ll always be grateful to the Red Cross for the incredible job they did. Hundreds of volunteers spent over a month here, from Halloween until a week or two after Thanksgiving, in snow and bitter cold, away from their families, helping strangers. I’ll never ever be able to read of another natural disaster without finding a way to help.)
Or you can pick a small, local cause-- like a local food bank. (This one doesn’t have to be a fundraiser, just a series of food drives.) The singer Harry Chapin (you may possibly have heard of “Taxi”??) did a bit when he gave a concert. He went on and on and on about how his kids’s school ran a big food drive for Thanksgiving, and ended it with a single question: “what are those people going to eat next week??” A serious commitment to help end hunger in your community this year would be a huge thing.
Or Literacy. Or help for single parents-- you could start a babysitting coop for parents who find themselves in need of a sitter. (If you’re in the part of the country where snow days come up, they’re a HUGE problem for working parents who suddenly find themselves with small kids home on a work day. How wonderful it would be if they could depend on the kids in the local high school-- who also had a snow day-- to babysit their kids. Maybe even tie the sitting into volunteer hours for NHS?
Does your school run a blood drive for juniors and seniors? If so, great, get more pledges than ever before. If not, then why not start one? Getting into the habit of giving blood is something that can save many, many lives over your career as a donor. (And no, it’s not as scary as you’re thinking. I spent a good part of my life terrified of needles, but giving blood was never a big deal.)
I guess my point is that it would be a wonderful legacy if you were the Senior class that made a real, permanent difference. You, as president of the student body, have the power to effect that difference.