Crowdfunding sites have emerged as means to make personal dreams a reality through collective microfinancing. Teachers and students are harnessing the power of technology to finance their education. The following are 10 crowdfunding sites that have been launched to raise money for education:
- Village Scholarships
Village Scholarships is a crowdfunding site intended to help ease the struggle of many families looking for financial support to achieve the singular goal of an education. By cultivating the best parts of crowdfunding, educational scholarships, targeted philanthropy, matching funds, community stewardship, and customized advertising, the site aims to transform the current scholarship industry.
- Support-a-School
Support-A-School is a crowdfunding site – hosted by the La Crosse Public Education Foundation. The site is open to use by Parent Teacher Organizations, individual staff members and public schools in the School District of La Crosse. Support-A-School offers educators with an alternative approach to raise money for important classroom projects via a low-cost and locally operated crowdfunding site.
- DonorsChoose.org
DonorsChoose.org is a crowdfunding site that makes it easy for people to help students in need. The site requires a public school teacher from any part of America to post classroom project requests. Requests range from microscope slides for a biology class to violins for a school recital, to pencils for a poetry writing unit. Then, donors browse projects and fund what fascinate them. Once a project reaches its funding goal; the material is delivered to the school.
After funding a project, you’ll receive photos of the project you funded, a thank-you letter, and cost report showing how money was spent. At the site, you can give as little as $1 and receive the same level of choice, feedback, and transparency that is traditionally reserved for people who gives millions.
- GoFundMe
GoFundMe has raised more than $250 million for all types of reasons. Thousands of students and parents have used this crowdfunding site to raise money for tuition.
- GradSave
You can use GradSave to raise funds for your child’s education from friends and family. The site boasts of more than 11,000 educational crowdfunding projects.
- GiveCollege
With the costs of college estimated to be over $150,000 by 2030, families, parents and friends have been using GiveCollege to start crowdfunding a child’s education.
- Upstart
Upstart is among the crowdfunding sites that have a fresh approach to paying tuition. After contributing for a particular student, funders receive a portion of a future earning of the student for a fixed period of time through a “human capital contract.
- Pave
Students can use Pave to pay tuition for college and graduate school. When students crowdfund on Pave, they agree to pay out a percentage of their future earnings to backers of the campaign.
- ScholarMatch
Scholarmatch caters to lower-income students in the San Francisco Bay area. Contributors are beneficiaries of school aid who need to pay back the community by offering a similar service to other people.
- IncitED
Incited is a tool for people fundraising for an educational project. The crowdfunding site doesn’t limit itself to tuition; you can also raise funds for museum or library projects.
