Answer: To help a person in need

Questions:

• How would you define a "person in need?"
• Have you ever contributed to a crowdfunding site? 
  • If so, what was the reason you contributed?
  • If not, do you plan to contribute in the future?
• Who would have the greatest influence on getting you to contribute on a crowdfunding site? 
• 28% of people who contributed didn't know the person that they were contributing to. What do you think led them to give? 

Here's the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.

Behind the numbers (Pew Internet report):

The overwhelming majority of crowdfunding users have contributed to a handful of projects: Some 87% of donors say they have contributed to a total of five projects or fewer on these sites. And while 62% of donors have given $50 at most to an individual project, relatively large donations are not uncommon: 21% of these donors have given between $51 and $100 to an individual project, 14% have given between $101 and $500, and 3% have donated more than $500 at one time.

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Check out the NGPF Philanthropy lesson and help your students see how money can be used as a tool to help others. 

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.