Crowdfunding Guidelines

Prior to starting a Campbell Crowdfunding project, it is the project leader’s responsibility to review, understand and agree to the following Campbell University Crowdfunding Program guidelines. The Office of Annual Giving reserves the right to amend these guidelines at any time.

All crowdfunding campaigns must be submitted for approval through the Campbell Crowdfunding Application on the crowdfunding website.

Terms & Conditions

The Office of Annual Giving, in conjunction with the department of Institutional Advancement, will determine the eligibility of participating projects. All projects must comply with the institution’s mission. Proposed projects cannot violate any laws. The Office of Annual Giving reserves the right to decline any project based on content or discontinue an active project at any time due to changes in the group’s eligibility status or failure to comply with these procedures.

Basic Project Requirements

All projects must have an existing Campbell University fund into which donations will be deposited. Groups may use a Campbell University fund associated with a sponsoring unit, such as a college or department fund, with proper approval (Dean/Department Head sponsor). New funds cannot be created for a crowdfunding effort.

Projects must support Campbell University programs and initiatives. Funds cannot be redirected to a third-party, external charity or other non-profit organization. Campbell University cannot act as a “pass-through” entity to provide funding to other charities.

If a project leader is a Campbell student, a full time Campbell faculty or staff member must agree to sponsor the student in their crowdfunding pursuit, in addition to the approval of a sponsoring unit.

Projects must have realistic and attainable funding goals.

Detailed Project Requirements

When submitting an application, project leaders will be asked the following questions:

  • What are you raising money for?
  • What is your specific funding goal?
  • Why should donors make a gift?
  • How donations will be used to support the project/tangible outcomes, such as:
    • Travel fees or study abroad opportunities
    • Purchase of educational equipment
    • Funding for scholarships

Once the application has been approved, the project leader will agree to the following with support and guidance from the Office of Annual Giving:

  • Have a team of at least 5 supporters to assist with the project
  • Identify a base of constituents who the team will contact regarding funding the project
  •  Sign the Crowdfunding Contract (must be signed before project can begin fundraising)
  • Identify what will happen if the goal is not reached
  • Meet with Office of Annual Giving crowdfunding mentor
  • Follow recommendations of the Office of Annual Giving for best practices
  • Market, promote, and help secure funding for the project through various means such as email, social media, campaign page updates, photos, and video throughout the campaign
  • Engage in ongoing outreach to promote the project after launch
  • Write and send personal thank you messages after the campaign concludes to thank donors and let them know of the project’s progress (could be 1 month to a year)

Marketing Procedures & Materials

It is up to the project teams to market their campaign and provide outreach. The larger the crowdfunding project team and the list of constituents, the more likely the project will succeed. Groups should consist of at least five people that will focus on marketing and outreach.

Project team members are responsible for promoting their campaigns via social media, email, phone calls and on-campus, when appropriate, preparing personal thank-you messages to donors, and submitting regular updates on their project.

The Office of Annual Giving will provide guidelines and best practices for successful and effective communication during projects. Annual Giving reserves the right to edit/approve email communications and project updates before each is sent/posted. Annual Giving must approve all content on project pages and has the right to edit, or require content edits, at any point in the project.

Project leader/team will provide:

  • Video (project leaders responsibility to create, film, and edit)
  • Images for the crowdfunding page, social media, and emails
  • Brief bio of each team member and photos if available

The project leader/team will provide the finalized video. Annual Giving will upload the video file onto Campbell Giving’s Youtube channel. University Communications/Office of Annual Giving will have final approval of all videos.

While Annual Giving may promote the crowdfunding platform during campaigns, groups should not rely on this for fundraising success. Annual Giving will work with groups to generate ideas for marketing and outreach.

Video Best Practices

  • Keep it short: videos should be no longer than 2 minutes, but if you’re planning to share primarily on social media keep it even shorter – 30 seconds to 1 minute.
  • Think Orange: ask video subjects to wear orange. Attire should be solid with no distracting patterns. Avoid clothing with the Running Camel or CU logos unless the video is for athletics, per brand guidelines.
  • Emphasize quality: anything you produce is a representation of Campbell. It is important that videos align with the University mission.
  • Avoid old logos: avoid including old versions of the University’s logo in your videos, both as added graphic elements or in footage of campus facilities.
  • Pay attention to details: survey the background and remove anything that might be distracting or unattractive including trash cans and clutter. Make sure the space behind your subject is clear.
  • Focus on sound: good audio is an important part of a successful video. Avoid background noises such as loud air conditioning units, traffic, cell phone chimes and paper rattling.
  • Be mindful of copyright: avoid copyrighted music, images or graphics. If you are using free music available on the public domain, read the fine print to make sure the correct attribution is given.

Contacts

The Office of Annual Giving along with any university department/staff will not provide any data on alumni, parents, friends or students of Campbell University. Project leaders cannot request contact lists obtained from any university database. It is the responsibility of the Crowdfunding groups to contact their personal affinities and contact lists. This does not preclude you from contacting someone that may be in a Campbell database, it just means that the “Campbell connected person” must have previously been a contact of one of your crowdfunding team members.

The Office of Annual Giving shall approve all contact lists of the project team in order to ensure donors are not receiving multiple asks.

Training

Project members must attend the following training sessions and meetings with Annual Giving:

  • Protocol and contract review meeting (project leader only)—Annual Giving will review protocol with project leader and project leader will sign contract (students will need to get signature(s) of sponsoring F/S).
  • Training Meetings (2-3 meetings with entire project team during the planning phase of campaign).

Time Commitment

In order to implement the project communication plan, project members must dedicate at least 15-20 minutes a day (or approximately 2 hours a week) to communicating with solicitation lists, post updates on the campaign page, post on social media, send thank-you messages to donors, etc.

Sponsoring Units

Student(s) who are selected for a crowdfunding campaign are required to have a sponsoring unit from their college, school, or department who is in control of the existing fund, AND a full time faculty/staff sponsor to sign off on the project via the contract. (Note: The sponsoring unit and faculty/sponsor may be the same individual.)

Sponsoring units agree to:

  • Approve the project leader’s use of the existing fund for fundraising efforts
  • Sign the crowdfunding campaign contract along with the student project leader
  • Review and understand the crowdfunding protocol
  • Ensure that the funds raised are used for the intended purpose
  • Will not provide any list of contacts from university databases

Faculty/Staff Sponsors agree to:

  • Endorse the project leader/team as a student group who will comply with the crowdfunding policy
  • Sign the crowdfunding campaign contract along with the student project leader
  • Review and understand the crowdfunding protocol
  • Ensure that the funds raised are used for the intended purpose
  • Will not provide any list of contacts from university databases

Faculty/staff crowdfunding projects must be supported and approved by the school’s dean, vice president or department head.

Project Duration and Funding

Projects will be hosted on MobileCause for a pre-determined amount of time, generally for 30 days, though some exceptions may apply.

If the project is not fully funded within the allotted timeframe, any monies raised will still be allocated to the project. All funds, even without meeting the goal, should be used for one of the following options:

  • The project can be scaled down and partially completed.
  • With departmental approval, the raised funds can be matched or completed by other funds within the department to complete the project.
  • Funds can be applied to a departmental, scholarship, or other fund with a similar purpose.

If the project is overfunded within the allotted timeframe, all monies raised will still be allocated to the project.

This information will be explained on the fundraising page during the campaign so donors are informed of what will happen to their donation.

If your goal is not met, teams should notify their donors and inform them how their donations will be spent.

Donations

The majority of gifts will be raised online through the MobileCause crowdfunding platform. Offline gifts, such as checks or cash may be used towards the project’s goal. However, all gifts must be collected during the campaign. Projects cannot count pledges or gifts already allocated to another fund towards their crowdfunding goal.

All gifts in the form of checks and cash must be accompanied with detailed donor information (name, mailing address, and phone number) and clearly designated to the crowdfunding project (for checks, the designation should be written on the memo line). Checks and cash must be delivered promptly to the Office of Annual Giving for deposit.

All funds raised must be used for the project’s stated purpose. Individuals may not keep any portion of the funds raised for personal use, profits, or compensation. Projects that are not non-profit in nature will not be considered as a Campbell Crowdfunding project.

All money raised will be deposited into the project’s account. Charitable donations are not refundable.

Tax Deductible Gifts

Items such as t-shirts or other promotional giveaways or perks may not be used to incentivize gifts. These perks affect donors’ right to a tax deduction, and are not permitted. Permitted stewardship ideas and methods will be discussed in training. Campbell University Advancement Services will provide official tax receipts issued to the donors.