What happens when ten schools that have never run a crowdfunding campaign get a single workshop and a clear plan? In a matter of weeks, most of them go live.
About the project
In early November, Brodoto held a crowdfunding workshop for ten schools from Split-Dalmatia County. The workshop was part of two projects: BioMOZAIK Krš i more, run by CEDRA Split, the association for eco-social innovation and development (Michael Freer, Ivana Antišić and Marin Udiljak), and the Erasmus+ project MORE Than Online Education.
None of the schools had any previous experience with crowdfunding. Yet they organised themselves remarkably quickly, and most launched their first campaigns!
More than just a fundraiser
Running a campaign as a school is a challenge of its own. Each team had to:
- build a team and share out the work
- choose a cause and decide exactly what they were raising money for
- plan what happens next with the product or service they were funding
- involve students from day one, in preparing and running the campaign and in shooting the campaign video
- work out the accounting side, since a school raising money online for the first time runs into questions that few people have answered before
Most of the schools managed all of it, and we couldn’t be prouder of them. Congratulations to every team!
The campaigns
- OŠ Stjepan Radić, Imotski: Baštinski let za cijeli svijet (A heritage flight for the whole world)
- OŠ Runović: Budite naše svjetlo (Be our light)
- OŠ Milana Begovića, Vrlika: Rastimo zajedno za vrt budućnosti (Growing together for the garden of the future)
- OŠ Trilj: Let us reach the stars
- OŠ Tin Ujević, Krivodol: Tinova sunčana učionica (Tin’s sunny classroom)
- OŠ Kamešnica, Otok: Učionica na otvorenom u Otoku (An outdoor classroom in Otok)
- OŠ Ivana Mažuranića, Han: Učenje nije teško, ali torbe jesu (Learning isn’t heavy, but school bags are)
- OŠ dr. fra Karlo Balić, Šestanovac: Zajednica koja brine (A community that cares)
- OŠ Ivan Goran Kovačić, Cista Velika: Tovar i natovar (The donkey and its load)
Why it matters
These campaigns show that crowdfunding is not just for start-ups and creatives. A school can use it to build an outdoor classroom, plant a garden or lighten its students’ school bags, and in doing so bring together pupils, teachers, parents and the wider community around a shared goal. For the students, it was also a first, hands-on lesson in planning a project, telling its story and asking people for support.