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What is Rfund?
Rfund is the University of Redlands’ crowdfunding platform. The goal of crowdfunding at Redlands is to help students, faculty, and staff raise funds for campus projects, causes, and programs that directly affect the student experience.
How does Rfund Support the University of Redlands?
Crowdfunding is an efficient and effective way to reach a broad group of supporters and donors and create opportunities for them to contribute directly to student groups, programs, academic departments, and athletic teams.
Rfund spotlights your great work and ideas, removes traditional barriers to fundraising, and empowers faculty, staff and students to pursue their passions. The Annual Giving team is here to provide the resources and assistance that will help you get your Rfund project off to a successful start.
Keep in mind that a successful Rfund initiative generally meets these criteria:
• First-time project
• Specific focus
• Goal in the $3,000 to $15,000 range
Benefits:
- Donors choose specific projects to support, giving you valuable information about their affinities.
- Donors become your messenger by sharing their support and passion on social media.
- Alumni/Friends are empowered to engage their classmates and friends with your mission.
- You can provide tailored stewardship relevant to your project and unique donor base.
INTRODUCTION
WHAT YOU NEED TO BEGIN
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• Before applying to Rfund, your club/organization/department must identify a specific item or project that your group would like to fund.
DEFINE A PROJECT
• If your group has a suitable project idea that follows Rfund policies, then it's time to apply for an Rfund Campaign.
APPLY
• Once your group has submitted the application it's time to have a conversation with the Annual Giving team to discuss your project and determine if crowdfunding is the best vehicle to reach your goals. To schedule, contact Annual Giving at (909) 748-8068.
If your project is not approved, we will notify you with the reason.
DISCUSS PROJECT WITH ANNUAL GIVING OFFICE
• When your project is approved, it's time to build your team.
Successful projects need passionate people that will share your project and vision with their social networks.
FIND A GOOD TEAM
• During the first 6 weeks of the project (the "Quiet Phase") you will work with the Annual Giving team to create a campgain that shares your compelling story and rallies support around your project.
CONSTRUCT A COMPELLING CAMPAIGN
• It's go time! You and your team will spend the next 35-45 days reaching out to potential donors through email, personal contacts, and social media.
LAUNCH
WHAT YOU NEED TO BEGIN
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PROJECT CONTENT:
All project content must represent the University of Redlands in the best light possible. Please be sure that all media and copy demonstrate how this project will benefit the University and/or general University community. You should also be considerate of people, businesses, or organizations that you mention in your content. Before posting any testimonials from students, faculty/staff or community members, you must get their permission. All content and media should adhere to the University of Redlands Style Guide.
Per policy, users cannot designate gifts to benefit specific individuals, so please be sure that your description and video follow this policy.
VIDEOS AND PHOTOS
Project owners will upload videos to Dropbox, and after review, the Annual Giving team will add them to Vimeo (this is our required platform due to music right issues, as well as closed captioning capabilities).
Videos and photos should also adhere to the University of Redlands Graphic Standards. The Annual Giving team will only post videos after they receive final approval.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION COPY
The Annual Giving team will review all copy to ensure correct spelling and grammar. Each project owner will submit copy using the Rfund Project Copy Form.
SOLICITING:
A successful crowdfunding project is able to reach a wide audience. Everyone involved in the project should plan to make personal contacts, provide personal e-mails, and use social media extensively. One major advantage of using Rfund is the opportunity to use the University’s database. Once we have determined the best pool of donors/alums to contact, the Annual Giving team will work with you to share your Rfund project through email.
OFFLINE GIFTS
We do not count gifts made offline as part of your crowdfunding total. Only those gifts made on the platform will count towards your goal.
PROJECT POLICIES
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TIMEFRAME:
The ideal project is 30-45 days in duration. It is important to provide enough time to promote your project while also having a clear deadline. A sense of urgency is an effective crowdfunding tool, and for this reason, we do not extend project durations, even if your project does not meet its goal.
MEETINGS:
Project Owners meet with the Annual Giving team three to five times during the quiet phase, check-in weekly (in person, by phone, or email) during the active phase, and one last time after the completion of the campaign. Regular meetings ensure that your project meets all guidelines, follows best practices, and reaches its goal.
PERKS PROCESSING AND FULFILLMENT:
For tax reasons, we do not allow groups to offer tangible perks with monetary value for crowdfunding projects. Some examples of non-tangible perks are photos of your project team, photos of your completed project, handwritten notes from project owners and participants, etc. Your project owners will work with the Annual Giving team to obtain information from those donors eligible for a “perk”. You are required to fulfill your perks within ninety days from the completion of the active phase of your project.
STEWARDSHIP:
Crowdfunding offers a great opportunity for donor stewardship (“Thank you” messaging and updates).
Project owners will commit to providing updates on a bi-weekly basis. Upon completion of the campaign—
whether the goal is met or not—you must post a thank you to all donors. If the campaign raises more than its original goal, a project owner will also post an update regarding where the remainder of the funds will go. Finally, every project is required to post an update when the funds are used.
GOAL SETTING AND RELEASE OF FUNDS:
The Annual Giving team will work with you to determine your fundraising goal. In some cases, Annual Giving may adjust your goal if it seems unattainable, or you do not have enough outside support. Once you raise your funds—whether or not you meet your goal—we will deposit them in your designated U of R budget account. It is then up to your budget manager to disburse the funds accordingly. In the event the campaign raises more than its stated funding goal, the Annual Giving team will work with the group’s coach/advisor/department chair to determine whether you should apply the surplus to the project or save it to use on a future project. If the campaign does not meet its project goal, it is up to each group to find alternative ways to fund the remainder of each project.
PROJECT POLICIES
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PROJECT OWNERS
(4 people) - Project owners apply for an Rfund campaign and are the main contact for the project. They are directly responsible the creation of their team and are expected to dedicate 30 minutes to an hour daily during the quiet and active phases. Delegate responsibility for content creation among team (yourself included).
- Video (2-3 minutes) - Photos (3-5)
- Copy - Updates - Perks/levels
Put together list of at least 100 names/personal e-mails of close contacts to reach out to.
Schedule and run meetings to check in with ambassadors 1x per week during the quiet and active phase and 1x when your campaign is over.
Gather pre-commitments from donors to ensure momentum in the first days of your campaign.
Pre-commitments are acquired through personal e-mails and face-to-face asks with a goal of obtaining 20% of their campaign goal, also known as lead gifts, prior to launch date.
Reach out to affinity groups that have a similar mission to the work that their project is supporting and can help spread the message about their project.
AMBASSADORS
(8-1 0 people ) – Ambassadors are volunteers who are directly or indirectly connected to the organization/department running a campaign. They dedicate 1 hour weekly during the quiet and active phases. Put together a list of 50-100 contacts/e-mails that have giving potential.
Willing to send personal e-mails and make face-to-face asks.
Participate in content creation as assigned by Project Owner.
They must have channels to social networks including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and be committed to actively sharing the project through these channels.
PROJECT PRINCIPLES & PHASES
ROLE DESCRIPTIONS
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PROJECT PRINCIPLES -
There are three phases to crowdfunding campaign I. QUIET PHASE (4 to 6 weeks): Project owners will use this time to build a team, create aproject plan, collect content, and seek out personal commitments from donors.
Create content for the project page (See URConnect page for content creation guides)
Main project page video (2-3 min. video explaining project, goal, answers “why” for project)
Photos (3-5 pictures that include team/organization members and reference the project)
Copy (Project Title, Short Description, Long description, Perks/Levels, Project Owner Bios)
Communication Plan
Updates (2-4) - We recommend two 30 second video updates, which can be pre-shot. The video updates often include educational facts pertaining to your project or testimonials by people impacted by your project that will intrigue the viewer and compel them to share. You should use the other two updates for major funding milestones (50%, reached goal, stretch goals, thank you, etc.) Always be sure to ask the donor to share the project in these updates.
Email to core group committed to donate just before public launch.
Email blast the day of official project launch to all contacts collected from project team. This is the start of the active phase of project.
Stretch Goal Strategy
Should your project reach its fundraising goal a week before the campaign closes, we recommend you implement a stretch goal. In your stretch goal messaging, you need to name a new fundraising goal, as well as be able to describe the additional impact that money will have.
You should create this messaging in your quiet phase, so you have them ready to go during the active phase.
Outreach to Affinity Groups
Reach out to organizations that have a similar mission to the work your project is doing. This can be other similar student groups, academic departments, or non-profit organizations that can help spread the message about your project.
PROJECT PRINCIPLES & PHASES
PROJECT PRINCIPLES & PHASES
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Throughout Campaign
- Updates are posted every two weeks, but only if it adds to the experience. They should be authentic and simple with a call to action encouraging followers to share your project with their friends and family.
- Ambassadors and affinity groups will regularly share your project on social media.
- Hold meetings and stay in regular contact with ambassadors.
Every day
- Check the recent donor section to review donor’s names that match your contacts and remove them from any remaining appeals.
- Any individual who gives a gift through the Rfund site will automatically receive a thank you/confirmation email. However, it is encouraged to have whichever member of your group made the “ask” to send a personal thank you email as well.
- Check goal levels to post a corresponding update. Post updates when you reach pre-selected milestones but be careful not to inundate donors with updates.
24 Hours before launch
- Send your project link to donors that have already indicated a commitment to your project. This will give your project some necessary momentum right out of the gate!
First 72 hours
- Send an email blast on day 1 to all the contacts you have gathered for your project.
- Follow up with phone calls to those contacts who you do not have emails for and post on your personal social networks
- On the evening of day 1 or morning of day 2, have your ambassadors publish posts about your project to their personal social media networks.
After 1 week
- If in the first week you do not reach 20-30% of your goal, make sure you make personal asks to friends and family. Also try tapping into other communication channels (blogs and/or forums) and start acquiring more contact information from ambassadors.
PROJECT PRINCIPLES & PHASES
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After Week 3
- Make sure you have updated all your personal contact lists and removed individuals you know have already contributed to the project, then send out a new email to those who have not given after a subsequent ask. Be sure to respect your contacts and not reach out to them a second time if your first message goes unanswered.
End of Campaign
- Make sure to send a final “thank you” update to all donors as your last update in the active phase.
Be sure to highlight the impact the money you raised will have and/or items it will buy that benefit your project’s mission.
III. POST CAMPAIGN (3 to 6 months): During this time, you will send final updates and fulfill perks.
Close out
Today’s donor likes to see the impact of their gift. The updates tool is an effective way to share with donors how their contributions have affected your project and contributed to the University of Redlands mission.
While this final phase of the project requires the smallest time commitment, it is no less important.
Effective stewardship is the best way to ensure the continued success of our crowdfunding platform.
When the Active Phase is over, you should determine milestones that will correspond with sending final updates (no more than 2). Answer these questions for your donors: How has my contribution made a difference;
what were the results; what else do we need to accomplish? This gives the donor an understanding of the impact they made.
Contact Information
For further information, please contact the Annual Giving team:
p. 909.748.8068
