29 Students Raised $18,000 for Rural India via Social Media

We previously wrote that a group of 29 students went on a social media quest to raise $10,000 for rural India. A pleasant surprise: The students ended up raising 79% more than their target as we receive news about their great achievement:

“Penn Olson’s support and coverage of our initiative is indispensable to our success. We have finally raised a total of $17,900 after closing our campaign yesterday night,” Yeo told us through an email.

A total of $17,900 was raised by students.The trip which lasted from Feb. 18 – 27, relied solely on social media — the blogs, tweets, and status updates of the students who hail from cities across the world — to capture an audience that donated generously in exchange for their content.

“Watching the experiences of these young people immersing in another culture and listening to their heartfelt opinions, moved me – and I too wanted to help,” says Kristian Ayre, one donor who logged onto the donation site daily. He donated $100.00. The amount donated was matched by charitable corporate sponsors such as Bombardier Aerospace, Hamilton Sundstrand, and Astral Media.

Professor Karl Moore, who lectures the 5 Hot Cities course at McGill said, “This innovative fundraising enterprise captures this generation’s ability to use the power of social media to spread a positive message and to make a difference.”

He went on to add, “Too often people of my generation flew business class, lectured emerging economies about the theory of markets and then flew back home. This generation is doing it better; they fly in the back of the plane with only their knapsacks, show up in the country they want to learn about, roll up their sleeves and plunge right in and they ask: How can WE help?”

For the students, this was also an opportunity to experience first-hand the economics, culture and situation in India. As planned the fund will be used for the education of impoverished girls at K.C. Mahindra Foundation’s Nanhi Kali Project.

Charles Bern, a participating MBA student said, “Meeting the girls was an eye-opening experience. Going into the classrooms of students who may not have much materially but have ample will and determination to learn was very inspiring.”

Without a doubt, this achievement would certainly be one of best examples to showcase how social media could help in promoting a social cause. Great job to all the 29 students who have done such an excellent job. We’re glad that our coverage did help a little and thank you for going this far to help rural India.