Virginia Tech launched its new crowdfunding campaign — called Jump — last fall, with 23 faculty and student projects raising a total of $119,812. Each of the projects accepted donations for approximately one month, reaching out to potential donors via social media, email, and word of mouth.

Three projects associated with the college raised a total of $16,407.

The Virginia Master Naturalist campaign to improve volunteer leadership training had the most impressive results, raising 122 percent of its goal, or $10,318. Campaigns for an interdisciplinary undergraduate science policy fellowship and an undergraduate bird fatality study both achieved 50 percent of their goals, or $3,500 and $2,589, respectively.

"Virginia Tech's Jump campaigns maximize the power of crowdfunding by providing a platform to raise awareness of a project's impact for good and to inspire others to give," said Dean Paul Winistorfer. "They are great opportunities to raise project-specific funds, often for student-led efforts."

Visit crowdfund.vt.edu for details and watch for announcements of future Jump campaigns.

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