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हिन्दी How to use crowdfunding to raise funding for education
Crowdfunding, or charity fundraising for various projects, is more than just a method of raising funds to open your business. Due to the crisis created by the coronavirus pandemic and a quarantine introduced in countries around the globe, crowdfunding is now more frequently used to raise money for welfare needs. This includes education! For example, teachers from Philadelphia used crowdfunding platforms to ask for help with opening a new school for children from remote regions. You can also raise funding to get a secondary education, increase your qualifications, or obtain any other training you need. How can you organize this campaign, who has already managed to achieve this, and which platforms can be used to launch educational projects?
Is it possible to make money for education with crowdfunding?
Yes! Many people have managed to achieve this. History knows numerous successful projects which had the goal of financing education for their creators. For example, Oxford graduate Emily-Rose Eastop raised 26 500 pounds to continue her studies. She spent four years searching for a job, and after failing 200 interviews, she decided to return to university. However, users on the platform didn’t like this message, and they accused the young woman of ‘not trying hard enough to get a job’. However, this didn’t stop numerous sponsors from contributing to her future. In exchange for any donation, Eastop offered access to her personal blog. Those who donated the largest amounts were sent copies of her autographed dissertation.
It’s worth noting that unusual rewards for donations are an excellent opportunity to raise even more funds than you initially planned. This is definitely an approach you should use! Its effectiveness is confirmed by Ellie Burch, who also raised money for her master’s studies. She rewarded all sponsors who had donated more than 100 pounds with a work of art. Sponsors who donated over 2500 pounds were drawn in by Ellie’s story. A clear project description without any blank spots instantly attracts the attention of a user who is choosing a campaign to support financially. Burch clearly explained how the money would be spent and why sponsors should support her. Are you preparing a description for your own crowdfunding project? Take advantage of Ellie’s approach! Make sure to tell potential investors why you decided to start studying and what value you will bring to society and the world at large.
Another trick you can use to raise funding was employed by Joan Garner. She
raised approximately 4500 pounds to study jewelry design, promising personalized rewards in the form of hand-crafted necklaces, rings, and bracelets.
Boston University graduate Alexis-Brianna Felix went further, inviting sponsors to invest in her education by offering future dividends. By the way, this strategy is especially common among students raising money for their education. It’s called a ‘human capital contract’. Sponsors get returns on the funds they’ve invested into the project after the campaign creator starts making money from their profession. According to the conditions of the ‘contract’, you either agree to pay back the original donation after completing your degree, or you promise to pay out 5-15% of your future income during a specified time period. This ‘human capital contract’ might be an excellent solution for situations where raising the necessary sum is impossible with other techniques.
5 crowdfunding platforms for launching your educational project
Users on this service actively post projects based on ‘human capital contracts’. Sponsors not only offer money for students seeking to get an education, but they also provide a mentorship program. Projects include student campaigns and fundraisers for ‘welfare needs’. For example, some people raise funds to renovate their kitchen, buy a wedding dress, or move to a new country.
The service, previously called Microryza, is geared towards researchers seeking financial support for their research work. Unlike many other crowdfunding sites, this platform does not allow project founders to offer rewards to investors (even if the rewards are copies of research theses created as a result of a project). This platform is solely for charity purposes. Most projects here raise an average of 10-50% more funds than initially declared. Some projects currently seeking funding on the site include an experiment for developing a coronavirus vaccine, a study of the link between gender and intestinal microbiomes, verification of vegetable thermostability.
The service helps foreign students raise funds to finance their studies in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Scotland. During the 9 years since the platform’s creation, its users have transferred a total exceeding 130 million dollars to project creators. Here, you can find campaigns from future PhD students aiming to study Computer Science at Arts universities, and just doctors who believe medicine is their life goal. Users who have already raised funds for their education include psychotherapists, investors and businesspeople, teachers, musicians.
The site has been active since 2008, and it has already brought over 800 thousand ideas to life. Fundraising for education isn’t very common on this platform: similar projects take up less than 1% of all the campaigns. Nevertheless, the platform features active campaigns from researchers in behavioral economics, flowers in Hong Kong, and the Arctic climate. You can also find fundraisers for children’s education in Uganda, and a university course for a Norwegian actress. The future actress is requesting 95% more funds than the guardian of the girls in Uganda.
The platform, which has raised around 9 billion dollars in its 10 years of existence, has highlighted education as one of the six major project categories. Here, you can even raise funding as an ‘assistant’ of a future student. In this way, the creator of the fundraising project for Tybre Faw is helping a 10 year old boy make his dream of growing up to become a congressman come true. Sometimes, you’ll find projects posted by the students themselves. For instance, Robert Tobias, who lost his parents during the coronavirus pandemic, is seeking funding for his college education. And the parents of Anthony Parodi, a 16 year old boy undergoing rehabilitation following a liver and heart transplant, have already raised around 73 thousand dollars for his education.
You can certainly find funding for your educational project or raise money for your university studies. Naturally, you must make sure to present your idea in a favorable light, explaining why you need this education and crafting a compelling description for your projects. Crowdfunding is based on the concept of selling your idea to an audience, which decides if you’re worth it. Understanding your goals, the right promotion strategy, and a well chosen platform are all necessary conditions for a successful crowdfunding campaign.