Crowdfunding

Empower your community by unleashing their passions

Our Crowdfunding platform takes people powered giving to the next level. It channels the enthusiasm of willing project creators, telling their stories to donors who are equally as passionate. The result - a community united through giving.

Create a community centred around giving

For us, crowdfunding is where it all began. The same is true for several of our customers. Often, crowdfunding serves as the launch point for a successful digital giving programme. Their final destination? A culture centred around giving powered by inspirational storytelling.

Put simply, crowdfunding empowers your students and researchers to fundraise for the projects they’re most passionate about. You can harness their creativity without having to turn them away due to lack of staff resources. You can also use crowdfunding to reach out to new and younger audiences, steadily building your future supporter base.

The basics: how crowdfunding works

1. One, find students, researchers and members of your university community who are keen to fundraise for institution-led projects.
2. Two, promote those projects to donors whose passions align with the stories you have to tell.
3. Three, repeat it all over again. Attracting even more projects - and even more donors - each time you do.

Powering their passions

Intuitively designed for donors and crafters alike

We’ve used our in-depth understanding of crowdfunding to create an intuitive platform built just for you, your donors and your project creators. The platform is optimised for all devices, removing every possible barrier to giving.

A familiar face

Your brand is a powerful way to engage supporters at all levels. Your crowdfunding platform will blend your institution’s digital presence brand with leading UX design, ensuring that potential donors have a seamless experience.

A secure and easy giving experience

In true Hubbub fashion, your platform will come with simple, secure and easy to use donation forms. Donors won’t be asked for unnecessary details that make giving more complicated than it should be. Your platform will also take gifts from all over the world, ensuring that donors, no matter where they are, receive the same giving experience.

Increase support with matched giving

Your project creators can spark excitement and inspire more gifts through matched funding. Matched funding can also be a useful way to increase relationships with major donors.

Real-time proof of progress

A live totaliser helps your teams to create a buzz, and inspires more people to get involved. It also gives crowdfunding donors immediate feedback, showing how their gift is part of a collective effort to make change happen.

Celebrate your donors

A virtual donor wall celebrates each donor’s contribution and showcases the collective impact of the wider community. You can also encourage donors to leave comments, generating a fundraising buzz.

Step-by-step project hub

Your project creation hub will guide students and researchers alike through an easy to follow and simple process for creating successful projects. Your platform will also come pre-loaded with helpful tips, templates and sample copy. Saving you time and hassle of creating materials from scratch. Finally, the hub also gives you complete control over if and when a project goes live.

Pump up the volume with Helpers

Helpers are the ambassadors at the heart of crowdfunding. They share the projects they’re most passionate about and as widely as possible with their networks. This is where crowdfunding really comes into its own - using the connections of others to widen your overall pool of potential donors. What’s more, Helpers are rewarded for their efforts. Seeing those who share the most and raise the most at the top of the Helper leaderboard.

Make it rewarding

In true crowdfunding tradition, your platform will encourage project creators to use rewards as a unique and effective way of recognising and encouraging giving. Project creators can offer anything from personal thank you messages on social media to publishing names of willing donors in show programmes. With rewards - a little creativity goes a long way.

Keep the crowd entertained

Because projects can take 30-60 days to reach the pinnacle of their success, project creators can maintain the momentum around their project by posting regular updates - keeping donors engaged in the progress of their live campaign. Creating a steady stream of updates keeps those who have already donated engaged, while also encouraging those yet to give to get involved.

Project galleries

Your crowdfunding projects can be categorised according to themes. Helping donors to easily find the projects they are most passionate about.

Go further: get the community involved

Open the doors of crowdfunding to those staff, students and community fundraisers who are keen to run, walk or cycle - all for the good of your institution. We know that there are other platforms out there that offer similar features. However, what sets us apart is a genuine connection with each and every donor - not just the fundraiser themselves.

Payment options

Your Crowdfunding platform will come with two options for processing donor payments - a crowdfunding model with totals and deadlines, and evergreen projects that last indefinitely.

Crowdfunding

Our deferred payments option suits projects with an all-or-nothing attitude. This option reassures the donor that their gift will only be made if and when the project meets its minimum funding need. If the project’s funding target isn’t met, no money is exchanged. Ensuring you only collect donations on projects that promise donor satisfaction.

Evergreen

With the immediate payment option, you’ll also have the flexibility to create projects with no deadline or goal, so donors can make an instant and lasting donation. This option is perfect for ongoing ‘evergreen’ projects or emergency fundraising that are run through the central development team.

Customer stories

Hubbub customers are creating year-round digital donor experiences.

“Crowdfunding has widened our supporter base, including young alumni. In fact, we have the highest proportion of alumni donors aged under 30 of any UK university. We couldn’t have done this without our crowdfunding programme.”

Matthew Ingram, Student and Young Alumni Officer, University of York

“Crowdfunding has been a real revolution at Essex. To increase donor numbers, we needed something that was bespoke to our University culture that would also inspire more donors to give than ever before.”

James Martin, Senior Philanthropy Officer, University of Essex

Little extras that make all the difference

Easily access your giving data

Because your platform will process gifts through Stripe, donations (once completed) will be instantly received to your account. No waiting for third-party sites to process your donations. What’s more, you’ll have access to gift reports as and when you need it. We even have a data integration API to seamlessly transfer data to the latest versions of Blackbaud’s Raiser’s Edge.

Customised ‘thank you’ emails

Your platform will come with branded and automated thank you emails to help keep the enthusiasm of giving alive long after the donor has made their gift. These helpful emails will confirm the donor’s original pledge, remind them when payments will be taken and will prompt them to share the project with their networks.

Make every gift count

If project creators receive monies from bucket collections or the odd cheque from a generous grandparent, you’ll be able to quickly and easily add offline donations - making sure the total raised represents every effort made towards project success.

Our approach

Donors first, with digital in mind

We blend our experience of technology and fundraising to help you grow whole communities centre around giving.

Why aligning with the passions of your donors matters

Generate a constant buzz across your entire institution that reverberates the success of your fundraising efforts.

• Show donors how they can make a difference by choosing to support the projects and areas of your institution that mean the most to them.
• Increase the variety of projects that donors can support - showing them the depth and breadth of what your institution is so well known for.
• Start a culture of giving that begins the second students step onto campus - maybe even before. Show them that giving makes a difference and that they can be a part of that tradition.
• Encourage passionate donors to share projects with their personal networks. Opening the doors to even more potential supporters to join your community.
• Connect with younger donors - allowing them to see exactly where their donation is headed and the impact they will have on the needs of today’s students.
• Bring a new-found understanding and a deeper appreciation as to the strategic importance philanthropy has to play within the needs of the wider institution.

How we’ll work with you

With you every step of the way

Our team of digital fundraising experts will guide you through the set up of your platform - ensuring it’s up to spec and meets your needs. Once you’re on your way, your account manager will be in regular contact to check everything is running smoothly. There will also be a support team on hand to respond to your technical questions, as well as a knowledge base with tutorials, guides and frequently asked questions.