Discover how UNCSA, MSUM, and SIUE ran high-impact Giving Days using creative campaigns, student involvement, and smart tech. Get ideas you can apply right away.
.webp)
Discover AI Summary
• Boost donor participation by offering diverse giving options and fun, unique incentives that resonate with your community: UNCSA shifted from one fund to over 40 donor-choice areas, using student-designed 'pickle socks' to drive engagement and early gifts.
• Empower your campus community, including faculty and students, to become active fundraisers and advocates: MSUM saw big wins from faculty-crafted emails, while SIUE's student organizations raised significant funds by taking ownership of their campaigns.
• Leverage personal touches and timely gratitude to encourage repeat giving and strengthen donor relationships: MSUM used automated thank-you videos from deans and coaches, sent within hours of a gift, which led to $40,000 in repeat donations.
• Secure major gifts and matching challenges early to build momentum and inspire broader participation during your Giving Day: SIUE locked in major gifts ahead of time, which created exciting match opportunities and helped them crush their goal with over 1,000 new donors.
• Streamline your backend processes and CRM integration to save valuable time and ensure smooth gift processing: SIUE drastically cut their gift processing time from weeks to days by seamlessly integrating their Giving Day platform with Blackbaud NXT.
Running a Giving Day can feel like juggling a dozen things at once. There’s planning, promotion, tech, student engagement, internal buy-in, and of course, raising money. All of it leads up to 24 or 48 hours of high-energy impact.
But when done right, it’s about more than just the dollars. A great Giving Day builds momentum, sparks school spirit, and turns passive supporters into passionate advocates.
In this panel discussion, we heard from three of our partner institutions: the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA), Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM), and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE).
Whether you're a one-person team or part of a larger shop, there's something in here for everyone.
Here’s what we learned:
The University of North Carolina School of the Arts is small and mighty, and its Giving Day strategy proves it. With just 1,300 students, they shifted from a "one day, one fund" approach to a fully donor-centric model offering more than 40 giving areas.
• $166K raised before the Giving Day began via match challenges
• 100% participation from campus leadership and boards
• A shift from a single fund to 40+ donor-choice funds led to a massive jump in support
• Pickle Socks: Designed by students. Unlocked with a $100 gift. Voted on via Instagram. Now a beloved campus tradition.
• Pickle Prowl: Giant stuffed pickles hidden around campus with clues. Winners directed $500 challenge funds to areas they cared about.
“We had students during the day calling their parents. Say you've got to make a gift to this fund because I've got to have a pair of these socks.” – Shannon Wright, UNCSA
➡️ View UNCSA’s Giving Day page
Minnesota State University Moorhead focused not just on campaigns, but culture. With 65,000 alumni and a Giving Day history that had some ups and downs, they honed in on three big ideas:
• $40,000 in repeat gifts from automated thank-you videos
• Faculty-crafted emails brought in personal stories and donations
• Real-time check presentations every 30 minutes on Facebook Live
• Automated thank-you videos were recorded by deans, coaches, or students and sent within hours of a gift
• They even partnered with a local radio station to broadcast Giving Day stories and updates live over lunch
• Students wrote thank-you cards in exchange for bonus dollars toward their favorite fund
We can publicize things on Facebook and on all the different social channels and we can do all the TikToks and all the radio stuff, but it's the one-on-one ask… that’s really the big piece. – Steve Sjoberg, MSUM
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville didn’t just beat their goal — they crushed it. Their “One Day, One SIUE” campaign brought in $2.87M, including major gifts and first-time donors.
• Over 1,000 new donors and 7 new scholarship endowments
• 22 student orgs raised $11,000 in just 2 weeks
• Major gifts were locked in early, creating match momentum
• Branded theme: They partnered with a major donor from Worldwide Technology Raceway and built the day around a race theme — complete with an IndyCar on campus and themed giveaways
• Student org fundraising: Groups competed for $250 bonuses and recognition at check presentations during the big quad event
• Smooth backend: Almabase helped eliminate split gift issues and synced seamlessly with Blackbaud NXT, cutting processing time from 3–4 weeks to just 3 days
The best way we thought we could get students involved was by letting them take action themselves. Once they had ownership, everything changed — they raised over $11,000 in just two weeks.” – Brandon Sweeney, SIUE
Each of these institutions proved there’s no one-size-fits-all formula for Giving Day success. From pickle socks to race cars, from handwritten thank-you notes to automated stewardship workflows — what matters most is building a campaign that feels authentic to your community.
Curious to hear the full conversation? 🎥 Watch the complete panel discussion here and get inspired by the strategies, stories, and small tweaks that made a big difference.
Table of Contents
Subscribe
See how modern advancement teams bring alumni engagement and fundraising together.
The best peer-to-peer fundraising platforms help educational institutions and nonprofits boost donor engagement through personalized giving pages, social fundraising, and CRM integration. These tools streamline campaigns with built-in analytics, gamification, and mobile optimization. While some options are completely free, others cater to large-scale fundraisers that require advanced data synchronization and scalability.
The right tools can make all the difference in modern fundraising. In this blog, we’ll highlight some of the best options on the market and explore what you can expect out of them.
.webp)
Peer-to-peer fundraising, or P2P fundraising, is a type of crowdfunding in which your organization encourages its supporters to fundraise for your cause. Typically, these supporters will create an individual fundraising page and share it with their friends, family members, and social media followers to raise money.
A peer-to-peer fundraising site is the software that allows your supporters to create a donation page, share it with their personal network, and collect donations to support your mission.
Typically, most fundraising tools today include features such as:
When shopping for a peer-to-peer fundraising tool, you’ll need to weigh the cost of the tool against the value it provides. However, it can be difficult to know the true cost of using the platform, depending on the software’s pricing structure. Get familiar with these common structures:
To compare tools with different pricing structures, calculate what each platform will cost you, on average, for a certain period of time.
Whether you’re a K-12 school ,higher ed institution, or a nonprofit, in no particular order, here are some peer-to-peer fundraising platforms that you should consider:
(Prices are based on publicly available data at the time of writing and are subject to change over time)
Almabase runs on a philosophy of integrating into your CRM and existing workflows, which remains true for their peer-to-peer fundraising features. Almabase boasts native sync with most higher-ed CRMs due to their TrueSync integration, combined with superior customer support and a willingness to integrate your ideas into their long-term vision. Almabase offers customizable pages and leaderboards powered with inbuilt text and email communication features built to drive donor engagement through organic and personalized communication.
Almabase’s pricing depends entirely on your needs. Learn how Almabase empowers your p2p strategy, Schedule a personalized demo and get a quote.
GoFundMe Pro (formerly Classy) is a peer-to-peer fundraising platform optimized for maximum nonprofit impact. It provides ready-to-use templates for scalable, high-impact campaigns and equips supporters with intuitive tools to advocate for the cause.
GoFundMe Pro offers features like campaign templating, embedded videos and livestreams, progress thermometers, team structures, and mobile-optimized pages. The platform also supports recurring gift options and flexible payment processing, and has a mobile- and user-friendly interface.
GoFundMe Pro offers a standard “Essentials” plan and a “Partner” custom plan.
Bloomerang Fundraising (formerly Qgiv) is a fundraising platform offering tools for donation management, event planning, and donor engagement. It provides features like customizable donation forms, peer-to-peer fundraising, and text-to-give options
Bloomerang Fundraising starts at $40 per month if purchased as part of a bundle with Bloomerang CRM.
Zeffy is a 100% free fundraising platform for nonprofits, offering peer-to-peer fundraising, crowdfunding, donation pages, and recurring giving options. This tool generates revenue through optional tips that donors can provide in addition to their donation. It allows fundraisers to join as individuals or teams and create their own fundraising pages. The platform is also known for being simple, intuitive, and customizable
Zeffy has no fees and instead runs on optional tips from donors.
Donorbox is a fundraising platform that allows nonprofits to launch peer-to-peer fundraisers in a few steps. It provides customizable donation forms and supports recurring donations via various payment methods.
Donorbox also offers features for managing donors, sending personalized emails, and recording donor communications. The platform provides resources like onboarding emails, courses, and templates to support nonprofits in their fundraising efforts.
For peer-to-peer fundraisers, Donorbox charges a flat 1.75% platform fee for a main campaign and 2.95% for a supporter’s campaign.
Bonfire specializes in fundraising through custom merchandise sales. Nonprofits, schools, and even individuals can design their own custom merch and sell it via Bonfire’s free online stores.
Bonfire supports peer-to-peer campaigns (which it refers to as “giving campaigns”) by allowing your supporters to create and share t-shirt fundraisers on behalf of your organization—then, all of the money they raise is sent directly to your nonprofit.
Bonfire is completely free to use, and your nonprofit keeps 100% of the profits. There’s an 8% processing fee on additional donations, but if you verify your nonprofit status with Bonfire, that fee is reduced to 3.5%
Givebutter provides tools to launch peer-to-peer campaigns, complete with donation forms, fundraising pages, event management, a built-in CRM, and marketing tools to analyze your progress and streamline workflows. Their fundraiser teams offer a great choice for organizations looking to gamify their peer-to-peer fundraisers as well.
Givebutter offers a popular “free forever” plan, as well as a paid option starting at $29/month. If your organization opts out of having donors cover fees, Givebutter charges 1% for donation forms, 3% for pages, and 5% for events and auctions, as well as a payment processing charge of 2.9% + ¢0.30 per transaction.
GiveCampus is a fundraising platform for educational institutions, providing solutions for online giving, giving days, crowdfunding, P2P fundraising, and more. It blends peer-to-peer outreach, social media, and gamification to engage more donors and increase fundraising. The platform allows schools to execute giving days, year-end appeals, and crowdfunding campaigns.
GiveCampus also offers features like matches and challenges to inspire donors and make them feel like their contributions are making a difference
GiveCampus has three platform plans: Essentials, Professional, and Enterprise. Additionally, pricing will vary depending on the modules you require.
As a Blackbaud product, JustGiving is a great choice if you are used to the Blackbaud CRM environment. Compared to other platforms on this list, JustGiving is relatively simple both in its presentation and its scope. This makes it an easy choice for teams just starting out or looking for something simple for a one-off event. However, there may be better choices for teams that want a more comprehensive solution that spans multiple fundraisers and year-long campaigns.
JustGiving charges platform fees and a standard payment processing fee based on your geographical location and payment platform. Crowdfunding pages are free to set up. While UK charities do not need to pay a platform fee, they do have a subscription model.
Gravyty leverages predictive AI technology to provide frontline fundraisers with personalized insights into donor behavior. This innovative approach helps organizations enhance their outreach efforts by automating email drafts tailored to individual donors while integrating seamlessly with existing CRM systems. Gravyty's focus on personalization empowers fundraisers to build stronger relationships with donors.
While some information is available online, interested organizations will need to contact Gravyty for a custom quote.
Bonterra’s peer-to-peer fundraising product (formerly DonorDrive) offers smart and customizable P2P fundraising solutions that empower supporters to create personalized experiences at scale. Its features include an intuitive event builder, personalized coaching for fundraisers, gamification elements like leaderboards, social media integrations, and seamless CRM integration, which enhances supporter engagement significantly
Bonterra offers three tiers—Essentials, Pro, and Enterprise—with pricing based on customer needs.
With so many unique platforms out there, choosing the right one can be a little overwhelming. However, there are several key factors to consider when selecting the right peer-to-peer fundraising software for your team:
Each platform will offer peer-to-peer fundraising capabilities, but you should dig a little deeper to find the right fit for your needs. For example, if you are a small team looking to organize a quick fundraiser, you may end up paying for features you don’t need. On the other hand, if you are looking for a long-term solution, a platform without built-in analytics would be a dealbreaker. Look for features that boost, rather than hamper, your fundraising efforts, and aim for a high return on investment.
Many teams want a tool that scales up alongside them as they engage more donors and alumni, but there is often a point where their needs outgrow the platform. To avoid this, consider both your short-term and long-term goals to determine if the platform’s upgraded pricing tiers will meet your team’s requirements later on. This way, you can simply upgrade to a plan with more advanced features or storage rather than migrating to a completely new platform.
Your staff, fundraisers, and donors should all have positive, smooth experiences when engaging with your fundraising pages. For example, if you want to sell custom merch, both the designing process and purchasing process should be easy and intuitive for supporters. From payment processing to reporting workflows to page load times, there are many aspects you should ask about or test out during a free trial or demo to see if a platform is the right one for you.
Some solutions come with a relatively low learning curve but offer limited functionality. Some, on the other hand, can be the driving force behind all your fundraising strategies but may require in-depth technical and/or coding experience. Try to find a balance between the training time required and potential functionality to ensure high adoption.
Pricing is a key consideration for any tool, but it’s also important to consider the nuances that may arise down the line. Always consider the rates associated with upfront costs, renewals, transaction fees, upgraded plans, and other relevant expenses. Additionally, switching to a new platform inevitably leads to more expenses through database transfers and staff upskilling. Consult with your database managers and other staff members before making a decision.
In the event that something goes wrong, you need to be able to reach the platform provider to resolve the issue. Keep factors like response times on live chat or email support channels in mind. For the long term, you also want to support platforms that onboard customer feedback and have detailed roadmaps for upcoming features.
Both your staff and donors need to be assured that sensitive data like payment information will be kept safe and secure. Always look out for a platform’s data encryption measures, as well as its compliance and authentication processes, to see if it inspires confidence from your donors.
Third-party review sites like G2 and Capterra offer insight into what customers think about specific tools. Keep in mind that these reviews are subjective, but they can be a great indication of how a platform is perceived overall, highlighting positive and negative software trends.
There is no single “best” fundraising website, but you can find the one that is best for your organization. Choose a platform that aligns with your goals, budget, audience, and campaign type.
Yes, a reputable fundraising platform should be able to integrate with your CRM to ensure donor data flows automatically into your central database. This eliminates data silos and the need for manual data transfers.
GoFundMe is a popular tool for personal crowdfunding, but it may lack the tools you need to run a full-fledged campaign. The platforms referenced in this guide offer the specialized tools mission-driven organizations need for branding, tracking donor data, and communications.
Crowdfunding is a centralized process led by your organization using a single donation page. On the other hand, peer-to-peer campaigns decentralize fundraising, empowering many supporters to help you raise money. Peer-to-peer campaigns empower supporters to help you raise money, meaning there are many people fundraising for your cause. Make sure your platform has the tools to support a peer-to-peer campaign.
Look for platforms that include gamification features, such as fundraising thermometers, badges, and leaderboards. These tools spark friendly competition among fundraisers and help them visualize their progress to maintain momentum and engagement.
We hope we’ve given you the tools you need to choose or at least consider some of the best peer-to-peer fundraising solutions out there, as well as the questions you need to ask yourself before adopting one. Whether you’re a higher ed institution optimizing your peer-to-peer fundraisers or a K-12 school just looking to get started, we hope you pick out the right solution and can make a great positive change.
If you’ve had successful peer-to-peer fundraisers before, learn how you can build a peer-to-peer fundraising community to help you keep providing meaningful experiences
.avif)
11 great peer-to-peer fundraising platforms for Institutions and Nonprofits 2026
Explore 11 of the best peer-to-peer fundraising sites for schools, higher ed, and nonprofits. Discover how to select the right one for your fundraising needs.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Matching gift challenges have always been a great way to motivate donors and boost participation—but keeping up with them? That’s another story. Manually tracking donations, updating totals, and making sure your campaign stays engaging can take up valuable time that could be spent building relationships with donors.
That’s why we built Almabase’s new Matching Gifts and Challenges—so you can run dynamic, high-impact fundraising challenges without the operational headaches. Here’s what makes it a game-changer:
What motivates your donors the most? Is it the thrill of a dollar-for-dollar match or a nostalgic nod to a class year? Or is it perhaps a time-sensitive goal that builds urgency?
.avif)
With the new matching gifts challenges, the admin can design and set custom participation, tiered donation, and time unlocks additional funds when a specific donor count is reached. This flexibility will allow you to create challenges unique to your mission and resonate with your donors.
.avif)
No more scrambling to update donors or manually tracking challenge progress. Every gift is instantly recorded, and challenges auto-update, giving your team a clear picture of campaign performance by automatically updating the matching gift thermometer. With less time spent on admin work, you can focus on what truly matters—building relationships, crafting compelling donor messaging, and driving long-term fundraising success.
Your giving page isn’t just a place to donate—it’s a dynamic hub for your fundraising priorities. With customizable layouts, you can categorize and highlight your most important campaigns, ensuring donors see what matters most. Whether it's donor participation challenges or time-sensitive giving day matchups, multiple campaign hubs help you tell a clearer story and drive more impact—while a frictionless donation process ensures more completed gifts and fewer drop-offs.
Gamifying your campaigns does more than raise funds—it builds community. Challenges like matching gifts or participation goals create shared milestones, helping donors feel part of something bigger. With Almabase's matching gifts challenges, you're not just creating campaigns—you're creating moments that bring your community together, inspire generosity, and leave a lasting impact.
2X fundraising impact with auto-updating matching challenges
Drive better fundraising outcomes with new auto-matching gifts and challenges! Automatically update matching gift thermometers, create dynamic fundraising challenges, and streamline your campaign management—no manual tracking needed.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Crowdfunding has become a powerful tool for social good. Educational institutions throughout the past several years have taken well to it as a vehicle to raise funds, foster engagement, and bring exciting new projects to life. From supporting innovative learning initiatives to preserving cultural landmarks, schools and universities across the US, UK, and Canada are tapping into the potential of crowdfunding to drive meaningful change.
In this blog, we’ll explore 10 inspiring crowdfunding campaigns in K-12 and higher education. We’ll break down what made each campaign unique, how much they raised, and key takeaways your institution can apply to your next crowdfunding effort.
Before we examine the campaigns, it’s worth understanding what sets apart successful crowdfunding campaigns in education. While every campaign is unique, they often share these key elements:
Now, let's explore how these principles were applied in real-life campaigns that not only met but often exceeded their goals.
£52,402 out of a £50,000 goal
Barn Croft School in the UK launched a crowdfunding bid on Crowdfunder, uniquely utilizing music to elevate the school's profile and secure vital funds. The campaign aimed to highlight the severe impact of education cuts and ensure the school's resilience in the face of financial challenges.
The campaign's innovative use of music, specifically aiming for a "Christmas No. 1" song, to draw national attention to education budget cuts is highly distinctive. It transformed a financial appeal into a public awareness campaign with a creative, engaging, and emotionally resonant hook, garnering national attention.
Creative and unconventional approaches can significantly amplify a campaign's reach and impact, turning a local funding need into a national conversation. Linking fundraising to a broader social issue, such as education cuts, can galvanize wider support beyond the immediate school community.
$181,749+ out of a $30,000 goal
Launched in 2024 as part of McGill24, McGill University's annual day of giving, this crowdfunding campaign honors the legacy of Dr. Paul Farmer. It aims to recognize individuals working in underserved communities whose groundbreaking work in health equity often goes unrecognized. The campaign garnered donations from over 600 individuals and remains active, continuing to raise funds.
This campaign uniquely focuses on honoring unsung heroes in global health equity, aligning with a powerful humanitarian legacy. Its success, attracting over 600 donors, demonstrates the strong resonance of a cause that celebrates impactful, often overlooked, work in underserved communities.
Campaigns tied to the legacy of influential figures or addressing global humanitarian causes can inspire broad support. Leveraging institutional giving days, like McGill24, can provide a powerful platform and amplify reach for such initiatives by creating a collective sense of purpose and urgency.
$2.5 million at the time of writing
University of the Pacific's annual 24-hour day of giving returned on April 8 and 9, 2025 (reporting 2024 results). It brought together a global community to support scholarships, academic programs, athletics, and student clubs. In 2024, an emergency grant funded during Pacific Gives 2024 provided financial and emotional support to a student whose home was destroyed in wildfires.
A Giving Day that specifically highlighted and responded to immediate student crises (like wildfire impact) through emergency grants, demonstrating direct and compassionate support beyond general academic funding. It also emphasized community connection and collective action.
Giving Days can effectively serve as rapid response mechanisms for student emergencies, fostering a strong sense of community and care. They also do a great job at inspiring supporters to become ambassadors and have a healthy giving ecosystem between their different departments/teams.
$14,775 out of a $12,500 goal
As stated on their giving page, the Cornell University Chapter of Engineers in Action is a student-run project team with the College of Engineering that works with the non-for-profit organization Engineers in Action to design and build pedestrian footbridges, WASH systems, and suspension bridges for rurally isolated communities.
The campaign focuses on helping students make real world impact in other parts of the world. With it’s extensive documentation, it does a great job in inspiring more donations. Donors naturally feel inspired when they see a long-term dedication to funds being put into action with a well-researched plan.
While your local community is essential, raising funds to help faraway rural areas makes for a compelling goal and provides valuable exposure to your volunteers. The extensive documentation history not only attracts donations but also inspires more trust in your institution’s other fundraisers.
£36,747
The University's first-ever Giving Day (April 29-30, 2025), focusing on four key causes: student scholarships, the Centre for Autism Wellbeing Hub, Henley's entrepreneurship programmes, and flexible support. It featured match-funding challenges.
By providing diverse choices on donations, a simple giving page, and match-funding challenges totaling £20,000, the institution did well to inspire donors on their inaugural giving day.
Launching a dedicated Giving Day with clear, diverse causes and match funding can be a powerful way for institutions to initiate or revitalize their crowdfunding efforts.
$40,918 (818% Funded)
This campaign was hosted on UC Berkeley's internal crowdfunding platform. It directly sought support for the Investigative Reporting Program (IRP) within the School of Journalism. The campaign's core appeal encouraged donors to empower students to delve into social justice issues that were often overlooked or ignored by traditional newsrooms.
Its explicit focus on public service journalism and social justice provided a clear, impactful mission that extended beyond typical academic funding, tapping into a broader desire for societal betterment. The description of the program, emphasizing its role in empowering students to "dig into issues of social justice long overlooked or ignored by newsrooms," framed the campaign not merely as funding for a department, but as supporting a cause aligned with broader societal values.
Campaigns with a strong, clear social impact and a compelling narrative can significantly outperform their targets. Direct alignment with societal benefit, such as social justice or accountability, serves as a powerful motivator for donors.
$25,000~
Launched during the fall 2023 semester on NC State Crowdfunding, this campaign aimed to support the annual spring Alternative Service Break (ASB) trip to Rwanda. The trip was led by the Women and Minority Engineering Programs, and the funds specifically covered costs for students to participate in cultural experiences during their journey
This campaign uniquely combined international service, cultural immersion, and direct support for women and minority students in engineering. Volunteers can visualize their contribution directly and share their own worldview and professional development, making the impact highly relatable and inspiring.
Campaigns that integrate multiple positive outcomes, such as global engagement, diversity, and service learning, and feature authentic student voices, are highly effective and motivate volunteers especially well.
Over $12.2 million
This initiative marked the inaugural "I⚓VU Week," a week-long celebration designed to elevate "Commodore spirit" and culminate in Giving Day. It encompassed diverse activities such as #TravelingMrC photo submissions, which showcased Vanderbilt's global presence, and a first-ever "I Bleed Black and Gold Blood Drive," representing a non-monetary giving opportunity. The campaign successfully closed out over 35 matches and challenges. Donations supported various university areas, including schools, labs, athletics, student organizations, and scholarships, all contributing to the overarching "Dare to Grow" campaign.
Vanderbilt transformed a traditional Giving Day into a comprehensive, week-long "spirit celebration," incorporating diverse, non-monetary engagement activities like the blood drive and photo contests to build community and pride alongside financial solicitations. The campaign achieved impressive global reach, with donors participating from all 50 US states and 23 countries. This builds a broader base of goodwill, participation, and emotional investment that can translate into financial giving, either immediately or in the future.
Integrating fundraising with broader community engagement and spirit-building activities can significantly amplify results. Offering diverse ways to participate, beyond just financial giving, fosters a more inclusive culture of philanthropy.
$4,510 (902% of goal)
Part of the Berkeley Crowdfunding program, this campaign was led by the **Southeast Asian Student Coalition (SASC)** in 2024. Using Berkeley’s official platform, SASC created a project page describing how donations would support their events and initiatives (such as cultural festivals, mentorship programs, and graduation stoles for low-income members). Donors (students, alumni, community members) contributed online during a month-long drive. Berkeley’s platform provided tools and training even though it was SASC’s first crowdfunding attempt.
This success funded free community meals (feeding 150+ students at events) and graduation regalia for students who couldn’t otherwise afford it. The uniqueness lies in empowering a student-run, diversity-focused club to raise money typically beyond their reach. Their story of supporting first-generation Southeast Asian American students deeply resonated. Even without prior fundraising experience, the students’ authentic mission and collaboration paid off hugely
Even new fundraisers can succeed wildly if the cause strikes a chord. By emphasizing inclusion and tangible student support (food, cultural events, mentorship), SASC attracted donations far beyond expectations. Providing donors with a clear vision of where funds go (directly to student needs) and leveraging social networks were key.
$52,082
In October 2024 (aligned with World Mental Health Day), the U-M College of Literature, Science and Arts (LSA) launched a crowdfunding drive on its official platform to support the LSA Fund for Student Well-Being. The campaign lasted 3 weeks, with a goal of $50K, and utilized a matching challenge and social media pushes around Mental Health Day. The campaign emphasized that gifts would fund resources like counseling, wellness programming, and emergency aid for student mental health.
This campaign addressed the growing mental health needs on campus – a cause both urgent and somewhat intangible. By tying the launch to World Mental Health Day, it gained topical relevance. Uniquely, it was a time-limited “flash” campaign that still hit a relatively large target ($50K)
Framing the ask around World Mental Health Day gave it momentum and meaning. Transparency about the use of funds (every dollar to the Student Well-Being Fund in this case) builds trust.
Crowdfunding succeeds when institutions tell compelling stories, engage their communities, and provide a clear sense of purpose. Whether you're looking to fund a new initiative, preserve a cultural landmark, or support students in need, the examples shared here demonstrate the power of collaboration and the impact of a well-executed campaign.
Are you ready to run your own successful crowdfunding campaign? Start by analyzing these examples and tailoring their strategies to your unique goals and community. Need help with your next crowdfunding campaign? We’d love to help!
10 Inspiring Crowdfunding Campaigns in K-12 and Higher Ed
Explore 10 successful crowdfunding campaigns in K-12 and higher ed and learn valuable tips to launch your next impactful initiative.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
.svg)
.webp)
.webp)
%20(1).webp)