Raise A Librarian: A Crowdfunding Initiative for Professional Development

The purpose of this crowdfunding campaign was twofold:

1. To raise funds for student initiatives associated with two of the University of Alberta’s School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS) student groups: the Library and Information Studies Student Association (LISSA) and the Forum for Information Professionals (FIP).
2. To create a student run and student led professional developmentopportunity in order to provide real world experience in fundraising for SLIS students.

The intent was to raise $5,000 over a one month period in October that would be evenly divided between the two student groups for their specific purposes. This goal was considered to be both achievable, based on the scope of the campaign, and aspiring in the difficulty associated with raising this amount.

Crowdfunding was always intended to be the primary method for raising funds for the campaign. Since there are several pre-existing crowdfunding platforms that are popularly used, this provided the crowdfunding team with an easily accessible launch point for the campaign.