On Tuesday, Boston University announced it has recently launched its very own crowdfunding platform for campus-based projects.
According to BU Today, the university has developed the portal to help academic departments, student groups, and other members of the BU community raise funds for research, service trips, projects, events, and other BU-specific ventures.
Kaitlyn Busconi, coach and former member of the BU dance team (which used the platform), stated:
“The hardest thing for us is that on top of school, we practice all the time and we perform at the men’s and women’s basketball games, so it’s hard to find time to fund-raise. The best thing about crowdfunding is that it’s easy to fit in with other commitments, because a lot of it is sending emails and pushing out our fundraising page on social media.”
Nicole Hawkes, associate provost for strategic initiatives, explained the constantly growing popularity of programs like other crowdfunding platform suggested that students and faculty would use the university’s site:
“Crowdfunding takes a tremendous amount of effort; it’s not just putting your project out on the platform and leaving it alone for six weeks. A successful campaign really relies on having a good network in place. We want to help the BU community navigate these ins and outs and raise as much money as possible for their projects.”
It was noted that the platform is not meant for students who seek to raise tuition or nonacademic travel funds.