Crowdfund offers students an impactful fundraising experience
Among the many reasons I’m so proud of UC Davis is its commitment to providing students with opportunities to gain valuable experiences that help shape their lives and further their career prospects upon graduation.
Crowdfund UC Davis, which takes place in October and February each year, offers a chance for students to acquire firsthand philanthropic experience. The program enables students, faculty, and staff groups to create a team and raise funds for specific projects through a university-sanctioned crowdfunding platform.
Project teams are responsible for creating a Crowdfund website and implementing their own email and social media outreach to promote their projects and meet their financial project goals, just like they would do on such platforms as GoFundMe and Kickstarter. However, unlike those outside vendors and others like them, Crowdfund UC Davis protects its teams from potential taxable income repercussions, because teams raise money for university projects through UC Davis, a nonprofit entity.
The results of Crowdfund UC Davis speak for themselves, having raised more than $2,293,825 from more than 10,657 gifts since its debut in February 2020. The program offers students an amazing opportunity to be part of a grassroots fundraising movement while raising funds for groundbreaking research, student support, and public service.
Among the more than 30 projects in this February’s Crowdfund is Engineers Without Borders (EWB) at UC Davis, which is a non-profit student organization aimed at helping developing areas worldwide with their engineering needs. Students of all majors may work on the different components of the project such as health & safety, budget, construction, and communication.
Another project of note is UC Davis's Sheepmowers Project in collaboration with Green Care Lab to blend environmental care with mental health research. Through eco-friendly sheep grazing and studying nature's healing effects on well-being, they foster healthier landscapes and minds.
I encourage you to check out this February’s entire Crowdfund lineup here, where you can find projects to support based on your interests and philanthropic priorities. Thank you for all you do as a UC Davis parent. Go Ags!
For more information about how parent giving makes a difference in students’ lives, contact Cari DuBois-Wright, associate director of development in Parent Giving, at caduboiswright@ucdavis.edu, 510-388-3605, Cari can help facilitate your giving. You can visit our Parents Fund website here as well as learn more about our Family Fellows.