How do you fund a student project with crowdfunding?

Who can start a student campaign?

Anyone 18 or over. The campaign belongs to one account, so a team picks one adult member to create it and receive the funds, and agrees in writing how the money is spent.

You don't need a company or a registered student association. Ask your supervisor whether the university has rules about outside money for a thesis or a team, before you launch.

How big should the goal be?

The real cost of the build or the trip, line by line, with the rewards and fees added. The usual lines for a student project:

• Components and materials for the prototype.
• Lab, workshop or 3D printing time.
• Registration fees for the competition.
• Travel and a place to stay for the team.
• Printing for the poster or the final report, and the rewards.

For example, a competition team: components $1,200, registration $400, travel and stay for five people $1,500, tools $400. That's $3,500. Add the rewards and a margin for fees, and the goal lands near $3,800. The goal planner does the sum with your numbers.

Which rewards can a student team offer?

Recognition and access to the work, which cost little and mean a lot:

• A thank you in the thesis acknowledgements or the team's report.
• The backer's name on the prototype, the car or the poster.
• A local business's logo on the team kit, for a sponsor tier.
• A postcard or a photo from the competition.
• An invitation to the final demo or the defence.
• A talk about the project at a backer's company or school.
• A printed copy of the final report.

Keep it to three or four tiers, and leave the expensive ones out: a student budget can't absorb rewards that cost more than they bring.

Who will back a student project?

The people who already care about you or your field: family, friends, alumni of your course, your faculty, and local businesses that hire graduates like you. Start with them, one message at a time.

Your classmates can help it travel. Set a share reward from nothing up to 18.5% of each pledge, and whoever shares the link earns that share of every pledge it brings in, paid by the program in the same transaction.

When should the deadline be?

Weeks before you need to order parts or book travel. The funds only come once the deadline has passed and the goal is met, so a deadline the night before the competition is too late.

Avoid exam season for the campaign itself: you'll need time each week to post updates. About 30 days suits most campaigns.

What does it cost?

Writing and previewing a campaign costs nothing. Opening it costs $5 on the free plan. Each pledge pays 1.5% plus a flat $0.99, and any share reward you set comes out of the pledge too. The smallest pledge is $10, so a classmate can back you with very little.

The percentage fee on a pledge follows the plan of the account making it. It's taken when the pledge is made, so it isn't returned if the campaign misses its goal. Paid plans aren't on sale today, so the published fee is the free plan's fee.

What if the goal is missed?

If the goal isn't met by the deadline, you take your pledge back from escrow with one tap, and nobody has to approve it. What comes back is the amount held for you: your pledge minus the fees taken when you backed (the platform fee, the flat fee, any tip and any share reward the campaign pays).

Your team still has the plan and the list of people who backed it. A smaller build, a cheaper trip or a second round with a faculty sponsor can follow.

How do you start?

1. Agree which team member, 18 or over, creates the campaign.
2. Sign up in the app with email or Google.
3. Write the story: the project, the team, and what the money buys.
4. Set the goal, the deadline and the reward tiers.
5. Publish, and send the link to family and alumni first.

How to share your campaign, from the free course, plans the first week. Everything you can fund has a guide for each kind of project, and every other question is in the answers.