Crowdfunding

Contact Sarah Wakelin, Senior Annual Giving Coordinator, to apply to crowdfund for your program. The Foundation needs one month notice from when your request is submitted to the date the fundraising page is ready to share. 

All crowdfunding request MUST include:

• Fundraising campaign name
• Fundraising goal
• Language about the fundraising initiative
• Date campaign begins (about a month before funds need to be raised)
• Date campaign ends (when funds need to be raised)
• Images/videos to be included on the page
• Thank you email language/video

What is crowdfunding?

The Foundation utilizes the fundraising platform GiveCampus. Through this platform, the Foundation can set up a specific fundraising page where programs can crowdfund by sharing the page with their communities asking for support. Gifts can be made through the fundraising page via major credit card and mobile payments (Venmo, PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay). The Foundation will share a link to the fundraising page and track all donations.

When can the Foundation help your program fundraise? 

During the school year, the Foundation can help you raise funds for your program at specific times of the year: Beginning of the school year in September, GivingTuesday in the fall, and Give a Hoot our annual day of giving in March.

Other times are subject to approval by Executive Director, Institutional Advancement & Westfield State University Foundation, Bill Hynes.

What fundraising efforts can I ask for help from the Foundation?

Program fundraising through the Foundation is submitted for approval by Executive Director, Institutional Advancement & Executive Director, Westfield State University Foundation, Bill Hynes. 

What does the fundraising page look like?

Examples from Westfield State University

• WSU Cheerleading
• Give a Hoot 2025

How can I best utilize the GiveCampus platform to fundraise?

The Foundation will provide a link to the fundraising page through the GiveCampus platform. Create an account or log in to GiveCampus and share the page with your community. The Advocate Toolkit provides more details and a sample email and social media posts to use in your outreach.

What happens when we reach our fundraising goal?

Congratulations!! The Foundation will reach out to you and celebrate the success of your fundraising campaign. The page will continue to accept donations until the campaign end date. Keep on sharing the fundraising page asking others to support! The Foundation will process all gifts, provide a summary of funds raised, and send a specialized thank you to donors.   

Questions? Please reach out to annualgiving@westfield.ma.edu.

The Foundation is able to provide some support for your campaign by creating the fundraising page. It is expected that the program's point-person will provide the necessary materials and reach out to your communities about supporting your cause. You can distribute your message using the Advocate Toolkit to your networks of family and friends, encouraging them to make a gift and share the fundraising page with their networks.  

• Recommended number of Advocates per campaign: 10-20 active members to share the fundraising page with their networks
• Recommended fundraising goal: $500-$5,000
• Recommended project time prep: contact Westfield State University Foundation 1-2 months before campaign goes live, campaign is live for 2-3 weeks before end date

Download this Advocate Toolkit, providing your volunteers with messaging asking their communities to support your crowdfunding campaign.