Click, Essex's crowdfunding platform is open for students and staff to put forward big ideas and projects for crowdfunding.
If you have an amazing idea or an exciting project in mind, and you need funding to help it take off, then help is just a click away.
Click Crowdfunding have created a new stream of match funding for students who are interested in starting a business or theatre company. We will match up to £500 for a business start-up and up to £1,000 for a theatre project.
Crowdfunding is funding a project by raising lots of small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Donors pledge a donation to your project and in exchange they receive tangible, non-monetary 'rewards' such as an e-card, t-shirt or tickets to your show.
Click is the leading crowdfunding platform in UK Higher Education with a 97% success rate (compared to Kickstarter 40% and Indiegogo 43%.) and there’s a range of support you can access at each stage of the process to help you develop your project, craft your campaign, build your crowd and turn your idea into a reality.
You'll need to fill in the application form which will then automatically send to our Click team for approval.
For more information, see the Click guidelines (.pdf) and the Crowdfunding handbook (.pdf).
Projects can be about anything - but they should focus on the benefit they will provide to students, our University, alumni or the wider community. Projects will be judged on their goals, their creative or innovative merits and the level of organisation and commitment demonstrated by you and your team.
Your project must reflect at least one of the four core values of our University:
Our students are "members" of our university – for life. Projects in this category should enhance our mutually supportive community, enabling our members to develop interests, build friendships and embrace values which transform their lives and careers.
Essex provides a home for the tenacious, the bold, the inquisitive and those impatient for change. It’s not just an academic institution, it’s a place where students grow as people, develop moral and cultural values and gain skills for life.
Projects in this category should support the University community in breaking intellectual boundaries, extending the frontiers of knowledge and pioneering solutions to issues of global concern, or help students in their personal development.
You can discover the world in one place at Essex. Projects in this category should encourage members to develop a cultural sensitivity along with a genuine world view that prepares them for life as global citizens.
At Essex, our students partner with academics, informing and actively participating in research. Projects in this category should equip students with research skills, stimulate their curiosity to question conventional wisdom and nurture their desire to pursue new ideas.
We ask you for two amounts - the minimum you need, and your ultimate target. Funds only change hands if a project has reached its minimum once it hits its end date. This means you only need to carry out your project and deliver rewards if you achieve this minimum target. We recommend setting the minimum at the smallest amount you need to complete your project and successfully deliver rewards. You can still set a bigger project target as well! Most projects receive considerably more than their minimum.