HSU uses crowd-funding platform to fund scholarship

HSU uses crowd-funding platform to fund scholarship

With its February launch of Scalefunder, Henderson State University became the first public university in the state of Arkansas to utilize the crowd-funding platform. The university’s first project – an endowed scholarship for student leaders honoring long-time Associate Dean of Students Paul Hankins – was fully funded in less than a week.

ReddieUp  will focus on increasing the awareness of activities and projects throughout the campus that need the financial support of Reddie alumni and friends, said Vice President for University Advancement Jennifer Boyett.

“The fact that our first project was fully funded just one week from launch demonstrates that our alumni and friends will support Henderson State students,” Boyett said. “This innovative platform, much like Kickstarter or GoFundMe, will allow more Henderson State faculty, staff and graduates to show their love for the School with a Heart. Our next project is designed to increase the total number of new donors we have.”

Launched March 4, Henderson State’s next Scalefunder project is 125 in 125. With this initiative, a group of young alumni have focused on increasing the number of donors. An anonymous graduate has agreed to match a portion of each donation under $100 and to match, dollar-for-dollar, each donation above $100.

“With ReddieUp, our campus community has at its disposal an important tool to create affinity and connect with our alumni, donors and the public,” Boyett said. “We hope that donors enjoy the opportunity to see what their dollars will do – how they’ll make an impact in a very concrete way.”

Founded by development directors and technologists in higher education to harness the power of crowdfunding, the ScaleFunder platform unites empowered volunteers with on-campus development administrators to showcase the unique philanthropic efforts of individual universities.