CROWDFUNDING STAKEHOLDER TOOLKIT

BUILDING YOUR COMMUNITY

IN THIS GUIDE YOU WILL LEARN:

● WHY you need crowdfunding stakeholders.

● WHO the key stakeholders are.

● HOW to get these stakeholders involved.

● WHAT incentivizes stakeholders.

To run a successful crowdfunding platform, it's vital to gain

the support of key stakeholders within your institution.

If stakeholders feel involved and invested from the get-go, it's

easier to ensure that your platform will be filled with

successful projects from its launch week.

CROWDFUNDINGSTAKEHOLDERS

WHY DO YOU NEED STAKEHOLDERS?

Why do you need crowdfunding stakeholders?

To run a successful crowdfunding program, you

will need the support of various stakeholders

across the university to: ● help you acquire crowdfunding projects

● mentor/champion/moderate projects

● share projects across communication channels

● support and donate to projects

● champion the crowdfunding website

● help you find project match funders

KEY AREAS FOR STAKEHOLDERS’ INVOLVEMENT

● Who do you think most projects will

come from?

● Who will help you to find students and

staff who will want to crowdfund

projects? Student Union leaders?

Department heads? Clubs and

societies?

● Will your crowdfunding program be

open to alumni?

FINDING

PROJECTS

● How can your platform and projects

be publicized to the wider

community?

● Who in your institution has links to

university, local and national press?

● Can you make use of your careers /

marketing / alumni relations teams?

● Who is most connected to the wider

community?

PROMOTING YOUR

PLATFORM

● Who can make sure that the platform

succeeds?

● Who will mentor / champion projects

and ensure that they have a high

completion rate?

● If you could set up the ideal

crowdfunding work group / steering

group, who would you have in it?

ENSURING

SUCCESS

POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS

FRAMEWORK

GROUPS

Identify relevant groups within your university.

e.g. Student Union, Heads of Departments, Marketing Team.

POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS

Identify stakeholder candidates within these groups.

e.g. Student Union President.

CROWDFUNDING ROLE

Identify how can they help with your crowdfunding program.

e.g. Advocate use of the platform, bring projects on board, distribute

regular comms.

STAKEHOLDER INCENTIVES

Identify why these stakeholders might want to be involved.

e.g. Help students fund and realise more activities.

POTENTIALSTAKEHOLDERS

FRAMEWORK

Every university is organised differently. With that in

mind, the following framework will help you to identify

potential crowdfunding stakeholders within your

university.

POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS - TEMPLATE

GROUPS POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS

Stakeholder candidates within these

groups.

CROWDFUNDING ROLE

How can they help with your crowdfunding

program?

STAKEHOLDER INCENTIVES

Why might these stakeholders want to be involved?

IDENTIFY POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS

Great Ideas

Great Ideas

Great Ideas

Great Ideas

Great Ideas

Great Ideas

Great Ideas

Great Ideas

Great Ideas

Great Ideas

Great Ideas

GREATIDEAS

University

Management

POTENTIAL

STAKEHOLDERS

Student

Union

Academic

Departments

Finance

Department

Legal

Team

Comms &

MarketingData

Team

Alumni

POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS - EXAMPLES

GROUPS POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS

Stakeholder candidates within these

groups.

CROWDFUNDING ROLE

How can they help with your crowdfunding

program?

STAKEHOLDER INCENTIVES

Why might these stakeholders want to be involved?

University

Management

For example,

● Vice Chancellor

● Senior management

● Academic and Support

Staff

For example,

● Support from the top sends a

powerful message and helps to

embed the program within the

university

For example,

● They recognize the many benefits

that a crowdfunding program could

bring to the university

● The crowdfunding program could

align with the university's mission

and goals

Our Vice-Chancellor, Anthony Forster, has been incredibly enthusiastic and supportive of Click from

the very beginning. Not only did he attend the launch event, but he also donated to every launch

project personally, and posted encouraging messages and retweets during their campaigns. His

tweets generated some of the highest clickthrough numbers across the platform, and his support

was invaluable in embedding the concept across the University.

James Martin,

Alumni Relations Officer, University of Essex

click.hubbub.net

GROUPS POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS

Stakeholder candidates within these

groups.

CROWDFUNDING ROLE

How can they help with your crowdfunding

program?

STAKEHOLDER INCENTIVES

Why might these stakeholders want to be involved?

Finance Department For example,

● Director of Finance

For example,

● Approval of payment gateways

● Signing off financial processes

For example,

● To oversee income streams

Legal team For example,

● Head of Legal

For example,

● Approving terms and conditions

For example,

● To ensure the program adheres to

university regulations

Data team For example,

● Database Manager

For example,

● Data processing

For example,

● To ensure data is processed in line

with data protection regulations

POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS - EXAMPLES

GROUPS POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS

Stakeholder candidates within these

groups.

CROWDFUNDING ROLE

How can they help with your crowdfunding

program?

STAKEHOLDER INCENTIVES

Why might these stakeholders want to be involved?

Student Union For example,

● President

● Marketing/Comms leader

● Activities/Sports leader

● Engagement team

● Raise and Give (RAG)

team

● Society representatives

For example,

● Finding projects

● Distributing communications

● Recruiting crowdfunding

ambassadors

For example,

● Connect students and societies to an

additional source of funding

● Make more activities possible

● Empower students through

entrepreneurial skills development

● Showcase student initiatives

POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS - EXAMPLES

GROUPS POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS

Stakeholder candidates within these

groups.

CROWDFUNDING ROLE

How can they help with your crowdfunding

program?

STAKEHOLDER INCENTIVES

Why might these stakeholders want to be involved?

Academic

Departments

For example:

● Head of Arts and

Humanities

● Head of Sciences

● Head of Technology

For example:

● Finding projects

● Finding project mentors

● Finding crowdfunding ambassadors

For example:

● Help students fund end of year

shows

● Showcase student achievements to

the wider community

POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS - EXAMPLES

GROUPS POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS

Stakeholder candidates within these

groups.

CROWDFUNDING ROLE

How can they help with your crowdfunding

program?

STAKEHOLDER INCENTIVES

Why might these stakeholders want to be involved?

Marketing For example:

● Head of External

Relations

For example:

● Advise on marketing strategy for the

crowdfunding program

● Distribute regular crowdfunding

communications.

● Include a section on crowdfunding

on the university website.

For example:

● Crowdfunding projects make

heartwarming positive stories and a

great source of content to share on

marketing channels

POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS - EXAMPLES

HOW CAN YOU GET STAKEHOLDERS INVOLVED?

● Discuss the crowdfunding program and keep stakeholders

updated

● Educate stakeholders about crowdfunding strategies

● Ensure that everyone is clear about their goals and actions

THE STAKEHOLDER WORKGROUP MEETINGS ARE AN OPPORTUNITY TO:

Initially, it can be a lot of work to get people involved in the program. We tend to find that face-to-face communication is very effective at

this stage. You may find it helpful to set up a working group of stakeholders who get together every month or two.

CROWDFUNDING WORKGROUP

● Gather feedback from various areas of your institution

● Spot opportunities for improving your strategy

● Celebrate success

Dear {insert stakeholder name}

The University of {name} will soon offer a unique opportunity for our

students and staff to raise funds for their projects through our dedicated

{insert platform / university name} crowdfunding platform. Crowdfunding

is a popular method of fundraising that offers an engaging and fun

experience for donors; it is proven to encourage strong community

involvement that goes beyond the traditional channels. It is already

raising millions across the education sector.

We are in the process of developing the platform with hubbub.net, and we

are bringing together a select group of individuals within the university to

take part in the setup. We would love you to be involved in the next steps.

{insert reason why eg. Your students especially are already very active in

fundraising}.

STAKEHOLDER INVITATION - EMAIL TEMPLATE

What is crowdfunding exactly?

Simply put, crowdfunding is an online funding mechanism that involves a

broad pool of donors each contributing a small amount to a project or

idea. An example of a university platform is yustart.hubbub.net.

Join us!

We are organising a meeting of a select group of people from across the

university to look at our crowdfunding strategy and help select launch

projects.

Can you join us on {meeting time, date} for a crowdfunding kickoff

meeting to give your input?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards, {insert name}

● Introduction to crowdfunding

What is crowdfunding? Where do projects come from? Who

moderates projects? Who donates to projects? Who owns the

data? What skills are developed?

● Brainstorm benefits for stakeholders

Crowdfunding programs bring many benefits across the

institution. How can crowdfunding benefit various

stakeholders and their communities?

● Vision for the crowdfunding program

● What are your crowdfunding goals?

E.g. 28 projects/year, 80% success rate, engaged alumni, skills

development

FIRST WORKGROUP MEETING

● Strategy for onboarding projects

If your goal is 28 projects/year, can seven stakeholders

commit to onboarding one project/quarter?

● Launch actions

Finding projects, supporting launch projects, completing a

marketing calendar, writing a press release, involving the Vice

Chancellor, developing a promotion strategy

● Communications plan

How often will you meet? How will you distribute

communications - minutes, updates, success stories? Who will

create and action the marketing calendar?

Dear {stakeholder name},

Do you know any students who need to raise funds for their projects

(degree-related or personal)?

At {insert university name} we provide free crowdfunding for everyone on

{insert}.hubbub.net. The Development Office offers fundraising support

for students who embark on this journey - we will actively help them to

create compelling campaigns and strategies for reaching their

fundraising targets.

{Optional: Additionally, we now offer matchfunding, and match every

donation up to {insert amount}.

CALL FOR PROJECTS - EMAIL TEMPLATE

I'd really appreciate it if you would let your students know about this

opportunity. We'd love to help them raise funds and make their ideas a

reality.

You can take a look at our crowdfunding platform on https://{insert}.

hubbub.net. Please get in touch if you have any questions.

Kind regards,

{insert name}

STAKEHOLDER RESOURCES

What to include in your stakeholder pack:

● What is reward based crowdfunding?

● Benefits of crowdfunding

● The vision for your crowdfunding program

● Matchfunding (if relevant)

● An endorsement from your Vice Chancellor

● The types of projects you support

● Examples of successful campaigns - see Hubbub clients to find

relevant examples.

● Links to Hubbub resources - the crowdfunding handbook, the

rewards guide and the promotion guide.

● Any branded images, templates and materials you are using for

your crowdfunding communications.

We recommend creating a stakeholder pack to help

stakeholders who are looking to communicate your

crowdfunding message.

This will give them the confidence that they are on message

and allow them to focus on acquiring projects, promoting the

program and distributing communications.

STAKEHOLDERRESOURCES

THANK YOU

We hope you find this toolkit helpful and wish

you the best on your crowdfunding journey. If

you have any questions, please get in touch.

Best wishes,

The Hubbub Customer Success Team

CONTACT US

hello@hubbub.net