Gina Bounds is an Art History major currently studying abroad in Barcelona, Spain! When looking for ways to fund her experience abroad, Gina turned toward Fund My Travel, “an online crowdfunding platform specifically developed to suit the needs of individuals desiring to study or volunteer abroad.” Towson is pleased to partner with Fund My Travel in an effort to help more students fund their time abroad. Gina raised just under $1,000 to contribute to her semester in Spain.
Check out some questions on Gina’s experience, below. To view her online campaign click here.
How did you come up with a campaign idea?
My campaign idea really came from what I needed the most, money to get myself to Spain. In my campaign message I stated that the prices for studying abroad are more expensive than the tuition for studying at my home university and that there were program fees. I set my campaign goal at only $5,000 even though my whole program cost was closer to $15,000. I knew my financial aid would help with a big part of it and I had saved up some money myself. I asked for the money to help with Program costs and supplies.
How did you use this campaign?
After I made the initial message and campaign, every week I would post the link to my Facebook with a couple sentences to explain to my social media followers of what I am I am trying to achieve and how important it is to me. Once a week i would post a reminder with the link. Some of my peers and friends that could not support financially would share the link on their own profile so that their followers would see it. My social media really helped spread the word. My mom even shared the link to some of her friends via email who she had told about my trip and were interested in contributing.
What are you doing to “give back” or recognize to your donors?
Whenever I got a donation that was not anonymous, I made sure to give the donor a heartfelt thank you. I received a lot of small donations from lots of people and I figured a thoughtful sign of appreciation was the most efficient for me.
Did you look at other options besides Fund My Travel? If so, what? If no, why did you decide on FMT?
Fund My Travel was the first one I heard of and didn’t do much search for other fundraising options like it other than scholarships. But I was pleased with my choice.