(Guest post by Paul Allen, Advisor to Community Funded www.communityfunded.com)
A few months ago I sat down to dinner and the phone rang.
“Hi Paul? It’s Ryan with UCLA. Will you support The UCLA Fund?”
The UCLA Fund?
That didn’t ring a bell so I asked questions and learned that the fund supports a broad range of campus activities.
Donating to a general fund like this inspires me about as much as paying taxes.
Don’t get me wrong, I feel obligated to pay taxes. It just doesn’t inspire me.
What inspires me? It’s pretty easy to find out. I tell the world on Linkedin and Twitter. I’m inspired by women in technology, entrepreneurs, healthcare innovation and artists.
Imagine if Ryan asked me to support these passions instead of a general fund.
And imagine if Ryan gave me an way to track the impact of my donations!
This is the potential of crowdfundraising and why it's so important to Millennials.
Crowdfundraising gives donors a way to choose what they support, when they support it, and it lets them follow the impact of their donations over time.
According to The Millennial Impact Project (www.themillennialimpact.com), the most comprehensive study of the Millennial generation (adults ages 18 to 34 in 2015), younger adults just aren’t interested in unspecific giving.
Millennials want to be engaged in philanthropy.
Here are five takeaways from The Millennial Impact Project.
- Millennials support causes that help people, not institutions.
- They support issues, not organizations.
- They prefer smaller actions before larger commitments.
- They’re strongly influenced by the behavior of peers.
- They treat all their assets (time, money, network, etc.) as having equal value.
Universities are catching on and starting to use crowdfunding to address what Millennials care about.
I’m thrilled to be helping Community Funded (www.communityfunded) — a company providing crowd-fundraising solutions to universities including the University of Colorado, University of Wyoming, Colorado State University, Portland State and others.
Here are a few examples of campaigns that leverage Community Funded.
Help low-income students go to college!
The company is growing quickly. Great team and impressive technology. Let me know if you're interested in learning more!
About Community Funded
Community Funded (www.communityfunded.com) provides powerful yet easy-to-use crowd-fundraising solutions that help universities achieve their development goals. We also offer training to ensure success.