Our crowdfunding experience as a lift-up of our growing network...

Who funds the Global Campus?

Throughout its history, the project was funded mainly through the generosity of mainly European individual donors. The fundraising was coordinated and carried out by the GC team in Tamera without significant involvement of the base-stations. This model functioned to some extent, but our last projects left us with a deficit that Tamera had to cover. This year, together with the Grace Foundation, we approached fundraising differently, with the intention to share responsibility with the other base-stations and a wider global community. We see the significance of money in the healing between the Global North and South, and our intention is to find new forms of cooperation. Through studying economy –studying the current system behind our culture of destruction, as well as sharing our research in the ‘humanization of money’ – we came to a new level of trust, easing tension and permitting greater transparency. Our practical focus was to make the GC and the base-stations themselves more sustainable. Although our coordination team, together with the Grace Foundation, held much of the responsibility for the crowdfunding, it was successful because everyone participated – mainly through artistic contributions and social media. Every base station also gifted ‘perks’ offered to the donors. During the campaign there was a feeling of global solidarity and excitement from within our network, which was met by a global wave of support. Through two months of preparation and crowdfunding research, we created a wider interface to receive the world's feedback to our work. And it was a success!

Vision and Strategy of funding of the GC The biggest outcome of our financial time was a decision to share responsibility for funding future events. I In the coming time the GC Council will create and implement a strategy. This widening of responsibility will open new avenues for funding; a local project will receive more direct protection and support from their own regions, when their project becomes visible as a global actor and attractor for internationals. Members of the base stations learn through doing, and this education in finance, media, and fundraising, will directly assist their projects. Some of the members contributed financially to the event by funding their own participation. The amount that they paid is not represented in the figures shown here and still we want to acknowledge their effort, and their sharing the responsibility for financing this event. The total sum of their visa, transport, food & lodging costs comes to approximately €14600.

How we spent the gifts? Due to unexpected expensive flight tickets and some participants needing more support in fundraising for their flight tickets, the budget of this project rose 12% from €58.000 to €65.000. One expected participant from Kenya couldn’t join because his visa to travel to Europe was denied.