By: Milan Patel, Co-Founder of UniSprout (closed)
UniSprout (inactive) – Crowdfunding student ideas and projects. A platform that taps into alumni networks, professors, friends, and other students to raise funding and awareness for passion-driven student ventures.
College campuses are hotbeds for innovative projects and business ideas across the country. Students spend four years exploring what they’re passionate about (hopefully!) and the brimming intellectual curiosity at campuses allows them to come up with extraordinary ideas.
Yet, why is it that so many of these ideas never see the light of day? Usually the student doesn’t know where to start, or is lacking the funds to create a minimally viable product. More and more, crowdfunding is beginning to alleviate the latter problem.
University students are perfectly situated to run a successful crowdfunding campaign. However, before contemplating launching a project on Unisprout, students should consider why people back crowdfunding campaigns.
Traditionally, there are 2 incentives for donors to back a project:
1. Passion: a backer is truly excited by an idea or believes in the creator
2. Perks: the creator offers a unique product not available to the general public
However, college students can make use of a third pool of backers: alumni and faculty that are enthusiastic about their alma mater and want to see younger generations succeed!
There are 7 reasons every student should get out of the classroom and fuel their passion with a crowdfunding campaign.
1. Real-world Experience – First and foremost, creating a crowdfunding campaign for your venture requires you to thoroughly think through your idea and create a strategic plan. You can learn a great deal from lectures and books, but some lessons are best taught through hands-on experience.
2. Early Stage Visibility – Crowdfunding opens the doors for donors to not only aid in funding your venture, but it also raises awareness for any issue you are promoting. Specifically, students can connect with a large group of supporters who already share an emotional connection and affinity for their university: alumni, faculty, and other students.
3. Proof of Concept – Crowdfunding is not just a source of raising capital. It’s a democratic process through which backers determine the validity and demand for an idea. This feedback is invaluable. Whether you’re creating a product or offering a service, you can use crowdfunding to test your idea in an open marketplace and build a following before even launching.
4. Alumni Mentorship – 50% of users on Kickstarter are between the ages of 18-34 and 67% of users have attended college or graduate school. In other words, these users are recent grads who may be looking to give back to the community, and more importantly their university![1] You’ll be surprised how willing alumni are to offer their advice and guidance on every aspect of your project.
5. Building a Network – A crowdfunding campaign is rooted in networks. Often times, early backers come from your sphere of influence. At the beginning, you’ll need a lot of personal engagement with your followers. However, as the campaign goes on, more people will see your page through marketing, press, and outreach efforts. Soon, you’ll begin to see new people at your campaign page that you’ve never met before. Crowdfunding is a great opportunity to broaden your horizons and rolodex by meeting new people!
6. Raise Funding – The essential reason for crowdfunding. Raising funds will help you develop your idea further, create a first-run of your product, and allow you to undertake the first steps to building a scalable startup.
7. Valuing Hard Work – Always keep in mind that there is no substitute for determination and an unwavering desire to succeed. Building something new and impactful is an uphill battle and a constant test of your persistence. Still, the experiences you encounter, skills you learn, and the pleasure you receive from taking an idea and growing it into a full-fledged movement will be part of a truly transformative journey.
Conclusion: Questions about crowdfunding or the Unisprout platform? Leave a comment below!
UniSprout is a recently launched crowdfunding platform for students at Georgetown University and the University of Michigan on a mission to foster entrepreneurship and outside the box thinking!
