Earlier this month, the University of Alabama in Birmingham launched its own crowdfunding platform, called Crowdfunding at UAB, as a way to help students, faulty, and staff secure funds for special projects.
According to the University’s student-ran media outlet, UAB News, director of annual giving and project manager, Randy Kinder, stated, “There has been growing interest across the university for special projects and for ways to generate support needed to further fuel efforts to change lives in a variety of ways. Crowdfunding at UAB is a vehicle that allows project creators, and those with a desire, to give to have a collective impact on our community.”
The media outlet also noted that anyone with a solution to a genuine need or problem can apply for a crowdfunding project. Those who do launch a campaign must explain their project and they can raise funds through a larger number of donors who can give a small amount of funds. The university guarantees that all funds will go directly to the project.
Senior vice president of development, alumni and external relations, Shirley Salloway Kahn noted, “Crowdfunding at UAB is a step toward innovation for the Campaign for UAB, making it easier for donors to give directly to something about which they are passionate. Crowdfunding is a remarkable tool for making big ideas a reality. Everyone can play a role in making history at UAB in ways big and small. With just a click, you can give something and change everything.”
The platform’s first three campaigns are the following:
- ACE (Acute Care for the Elderly): A Unit at UAB Highlands that trains hospital staff on the needs of elders and uses common items such as Uno cards, earplugs, and an activity apron to reduce delirium in patients. Through the campaign, the organizers hopes to replicate ACE’s model and implement it across all hospital units.
- NexMed Program: Director of Mood Disorders Program for the Department of Psychiatry, Richard C. Shelton, M.D., along with director of the Center of Exercise Medicine, Marcas Bamman, Ph.D., have teamed up for a campaign to generate funds for the NexMed Program, which is set to investigate the benefit of prescriptive exercise as a way to fight depression.
- Equal Access Birmingham: The free clinic that is ran by the medical students of the UAB’s School of Medicine is seeking to raise funds through a crowdfunding campaign to provide medical care to the underserved in Birmingham.
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