REIA READER Nov / Dec 2015 | Page 20

Crowdfunding Done Righ Dr. Teresa R. Martin, Esq. Crowdfunding is all the rage. Where else do you have a chance to raise money for your Christma any money at all. There are some great crowdfunding success stories, which are excitin Story #1: The Homeless High School Valedictorian USA Today, Time, and People all covered the story of Griffin Furlong, a high school valedictorian who was homeless. His mom got sick and died when he was only 6. Most of his subsequent years had been spent living in homeless shelters with his brother and father. At the time of the magazine article in People, Griffin had raised over $26,000 for college via GoFundMe. It was actually his friends that started the campaign. The money was raised in only 6 days. Fastforward to today and Griffin’s college fund has grown to over $105,000! He is now attending Florida State University. Griffin had great success in his crowdfunding efforts. Could you do the same? What can you learn from Griffin Furlong’s story? 1. Griffin had a great story. Who wouldn’t like to help send a homeless valedictorian to college? Can you create a great story around your cause?  If you’re trying to raise money to visit your sick grandfather, let the world see how much he’s meant to you over the years. Appeal to people’s emotions. 2. He had national attention. Nearly anything is possible if the national media is talking about you. The more people that know about your campaign, the better the odds of success. Maybe your story won’t garner national attention, but couldn’t you at least appeal to your local paper? Photo: Twitter Griffin Furlong