SchoolRaise provides you, the student (or parent), with the opportunity to set up your own fundraising machine. In its simplest form, SchoolRaise formalizes and makes scalable the process of raising funds through family and friends, making an often difficult task easy and comfortable. Once you have determined how much money you need for school expenses, make a list of all your family and close friends. Create a fundraising profile on SchoolRaise, and you are ready to start raising money. Just follow the steps below, and you are one step closer to your new degree and brighter future.

Step 1: Start a "Raise"

A "Raise" is a fundraising profile. All students should start by creating a Raise. Determine how much funding you need (from $500 to $50,000) and for what expenses (e.g., tuition, room/board, books). You can upload a photo and/or video too.

To start a new Raise, you must sign in, click on the RAISE tab at the top of the page, and then click START A NEW RAISE.

Step 2: Invite Your Family & Friends

Send email invitations to your family, friends, and others to invest in your education and help you reach your funding target. Also, ask them to invite their friends and family to invest too!

To invite people to view your Raise and to make an investment or contribution, you must sign in, go to MY ACCOUNT, and click INVITE FRIENDS AND FAMILY next to your Raise. The more people you invite, the better your chances of reaching your funding target.

Also, you may share your Raise on Facebook or MySpace! On your Raise profile page, click SHARE ON FACEBOOK or SHARE ON MYSPACE in order to place a link on your Facebook or MySpace page. This way your friends can easily access your Raise and help to spread the word.

If you'd like to spread the word about SchoolRaise to other students seeking funding, then add SchoolRaise to your Facebook page or add SchoolRaise to your website.

Step 3: Get Funding

People who view your Raise may invest from $50 to $10,000 each, as a contribution towards your school expenses. Investments can be made in various increments up to your funding target, but you set the funding target (maximum $50,000). After you have raised at least $1,000 per Raise, you will receive a disbursement of the amount raised (minus a service fee of 5%) at the end of each month, as long as the amount raised since your last disbursement is at least $1,000. The funds can be mailed to you by check or deposited to your checking account.

Be sure to thank all your investors and fulfill any promises that you made to them. Keep them up-to-date on your progress at school, so they can see how their money is helping you to succeed.

Good Luck! If you have any questions or want to provide feedback on the process, contact us to let us know what you think.