Fundraising
3 key crowdfunding tips for student travel
EF Staff | January 7, 2014
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When faced with the challenge of fundraising for a student tour, group leaders and students often find themselves organizing event and product fundraisers, but recently, many travelers have added crowdfunding to their tour fundraising strategy. All in one place teachers and students are able to collect and organize tour donations from family, friends, and businesses. However, successful fundraisers can receive donations outside of their local network. So, what is crowdfunding? Crowdfunding is the practice of raising small amounts of money from a large number of people, mainly using the Internet. To do this independently is quite difficult. Student tour groups should consider using an established crowdfunding site such as FundMyTravel and Indiegogo. Many of these sites exist today for various purposes, but ones like FundMyTravel are exclusively for travelers. It should be noted that others, such as Indiegogo, also helps travelers raise funds, but include more of a diverse market, where travel is just one of the many crowdfunding options they offer.
Once a crowdfunding page has been created students should outline the necessary steps to successfully market their campaign and reach their fundraising goals. Crowdfunding support is often first earned through family and friends, but a well-built crowdfunding page has the potential to spread quickly. To start the following 3 crowdfunding tips should be followed.
1. Include a clear explanation of your fundraising goals and what you are looking to achieve. Think of this as your mission statement. Where are you traveling to? Why is this trip meaningful to you? What impact will this trip have on you and your students?
2. Provide vivid and informative details on the tour you are fundraising for. What cultural sites and experiences will the students encounter? To better engage potential donors include a variety of content such as your tour itinerary and videos.
3. Encourage donors to share your crowdfunding page with family and friends across their social media networks. This is particularly helpful in growing your crowdfunding campaign outside of your primary network and reaching larger list of donors.
Once you’ve returned from your student tour be sure to share travel photos and videos with those that donated to you. Not only is it a nice way to share the experience, but it’s also important to continue building a relationship with them. Who knows, perhaps they’ll donate to next year’s tour too!
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EF Staff
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