交不起MBA學費 那就衆籌吧

Funding is a significant barrier for many who want to attend business school. Whether you need to raise the cash to cover some or all of your course and other costs, not everyone can rely on their parents or loans.

對於許多想上商學院的人而言，資金是一大障礙。你需要籌錢支付部分或全部學費，還有其它費用，並不是每個人都能依賴父母或者貸款。

High street banks tend not to lend internationally, and while more flexible online options exist — Prodigy Finance offers alumni-funded MBA loans, for example — there are still restrictions, such as nationality, or that finance is offered only to those attending certain business schools.

大型零售銀行通常不提供國際貸款，同時，儘管存在一些比較靈活的在線貸款選項——比如Prodigy Finance就提供由校友資助的MBA貸款——但仍有一些限制，比如國籍限制，或者貸款僅提供給進入某些商校學習的人士。

Faced with such challenges, some students are turning to crowdfunding.

面對這樣的挑戰，一些學員轉向了衆籌。

Any potential business student can set themselves up on a crowdfunding website such as Indiegogo, GoFundMe or Crowdfunder. But it is a hard sell beyond close friends and family and it is tough to raise the amounts of money needed. So how can someone start a successful MBA campaign?

任何一個準備進入商學院學習的人，都可以在Indiegogo、GoFundMe、Crowdfunder等衆籌網站上發起衆籌。但在密友和家人以外，這是一樁難以達成的交易，很難募集所需要的金額。那麼如何啓動一次成功的MBA籌款活動呢？

It is not a case of setting up your donations page with a picture and basic description of your intentions, and the money will come flooding in.

建立一個捐款頁面，配上一張圖片和有關你的意圖的基本描述，錢就會涌進來？事情不會像這樣發展。

“If you put no effort into a campaign, then you’ll receive few or no contributions,” says Kelly Angood, UK director for technology, design and hardware at Indiegogo, a California-based platform.

“如果你沒有在籌款中投入任何努力，那麼你只能得到很少，或者得不到任何捐款，”總部位於加州的衆籌平臺Indiegogo的技術、設計和硬件英國總監凱莉•安古德(Kelly Angood)說。

Addis Tigabu, who is from Ethiopia and is currently doing a masters in international business at Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, needed to find the Euro8,000 to cover his living costs in order to obtain his visa to study. After he failed to find anyone who would lend to him, he set up a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo and ended up raising Euro6,000.

來自埃塞俄比亞、正在法蘭克福金融和管理學院(Frankfurt School of Finance & Management)攻讀國際商務碩士的亞的斯•蒂加布(Addis Tigabu)當初需要籌集8000歐元支付自己的生活費，從而獲得學習所需要的簽證。在未能找到任何能夠借錢給他的人以後，蒂加布在Indiegogo上發起了一次衆籌活動，最終籌得6000歐元。

His experience highlights that to be successful you need to think of everything from how you present yourself, to social media and marketing strategies.

他的經歷凸顯出，要想成功籌款，你需要考慮從如何展現自己，到社交媒體和營銷策略等方方面面的事情。

His advice is to make sure enough time is given to develop an appealing story. The first question any potential donor will ask is, “Why do I want to contribute to you?” says Mr Tigabu.

他的建議是，確保用足夠的時間來想出一個有吸引力的敘述。潛在捐款者會問的第一個問題是，“我爲什麼想要給你捐款呢？”蒂加布說。

He appealed for funds on the basis that he wanted to be involved in Africa’s development and would also set up a platform to help others who wanted to study but struggle to raise the money.

他呼籲人們爲他捐款的理由是，他想要參與非洲的發展，他在學成之後將設立一個平臺，幫助其他想要學習，但難以籌到錢的人。

Yacine Zerkdi, who is from Morocco but lives in France, started a campaign on GoFundMe and has so far raised Euro30,000 towards an MBA at Harvard Business School. He also highlights the importance of an effective personal narrative. “The statement I wrote on my page seemed to have hit the spot,” he says. “People really related to it and said they decided to invest after reading it.”

來自摩洛哥、現居法國的雅辛•澤爾迪(Yacine Zerkdi)爲了在哈佛商學院(Harvard Business School)攻讀MBA在GoFundMe上發起了籌款，到目前爲止已募得3萬歐元。他也強調了有效的個人敘述很重要。“我寫在我的頁面上的陳述似乎打動了人們，”他說，“人們真的產生共鳴，並表示他們在閱讀後決定投資。”

On his page he portrays himself as someone who breaks the HBS student stereotype and highlights that great things come from crowdfunding — such as Alexander Pope’s translation of Homer’s Iliad, which he started in 1713.

他在他的頁面上將自己描述成一個打破哈佛商學院學生固有形象的人，並提到了衆籌造就的一些偉大的東西——比如，亞歷山大•蒲柏(Alexander Pope)從1713年開始翻譯的荷馬的《伊利亞特》(Iliad)。

Videos and photos are also a good way to get people’s attention. Ms Angood points out that campaigns with these elements do much better.

視頻和圖片也是吸引人們注意的一個好辦法。安古德指出，有這些元素的籌款要成功得多。

It is also important not to underestimate the small things: Ms Angood adds that you should make sure to use correct grammar and spelling and avoid sounding sad or desperate. “Don’t write a long list of why the world has done you wrong,” she says.

不輕視小處也很重要：安古德補充，你應該確保使用正確的語法和拼寫，而且避免聽起來很悲哀或者絕望。“不要羅列一長串你的委屈，”她說。

When it comes to social media it is important to use various channels to spread the word. “Create a Facebook page, Twitter account and if possible even a website,” says Mr Tigabu.

至於社交媒體，使用多個渠道傳播你的訊息很重要。“創建一個Facebook頁面，一個Twitter賬號，有可能的話，甚至可以建立一個網站，”蒂加布說。

Ms Angood adds it is worth trying to build an audience before a campaign is actually launched. “Once they know and trust you . . . strangers will be much more likely to give money,” she says.

安古德補充，在實際發起籌款前嘗試建立一個受衆羣體是值得的。“一旦他們得知消息，並且信任你……陌生人捐錢的可能性會大得多，”她說。

Mr Zerkdi says that if he was to go through the process again, he would start by raising a specific amount through friends and family first so he could begin a campaign with a little bit of money already behind him. “I think it has a different impact psychologically when you actually come up with something already in the bag,” he says.

澤爾迪說，如果他要再一次進行籌款，他會首先從朋友和家人那裏籌集到特定的金額，這樣，在他開始籌款的時候，已籌集金額上就已經有一點點錢了。“我認爲當你已經籌到一些錢之後，那會產生一種不同的心理效應，”他說。

Once your campaign is up and running Mr Tigabu recommends updates such as facts and figures on progress, which can help keep up momentum. His partner also helped him to set up a “Euro3 challenge” on Facebook with the aim of creating a multiplier effect. Mr Tigabu asked people to contribute Euro3 and challenge three other people to do the same.

一旦你的籌款開始，蒂加布建議更新你所取得的進展的事實和數據，這能幫助你的籌款維持勢頭。他的夥伴也幫助他在Facebook上發起了一個“3歐元挑戰”，目的是取得乘數效應。蒂加布請求人們捐獻3歐元，並向另外3人發起採取同一行動的挑戰。

As part of his marketing plan he contacted various media outlets. The Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper picked up the story and one reader contributed Euro1,000. A friend also hosted an event in Frankfurt that raised Euro800.

作爲營銷計劃的一部分，他和多個媒體渠道取得了聯繫。《法蘭克福匯報》(FAZ)對此進行了報道，一名讀者捐出了1000歐元。他的一個朋友也在法蘭克福發起了一個活動並募得800歐元。

Fundraising targets must be realistic — do not expect to raise enough to cover the full $200,000, or thereabouts, to attend a top school for two years. Aim to raise a proportion that covers something specific . Mr Zerkdi’s aim was to try and raise up to $100,000 to reduce the amount he would need to borrow from a bank. He has not raised anywhere near this, but “Euro30,000 is still great”, he says.

籌款目標必須切合實際——不要期望募集到進入頂級商校學習兩年所需要的整整20萬美元，或者類似的金額。以募集到一部分金額以支付某個特定目的費用爲目標。澤爾迪的目標是嘗試募集10萬美元，以減少他需要向銀行貸款的金額。他所募集的金額距離這個目標還很遠，但“3萬歐元還是很棒”，他說。

Crowdfunder, a UK-based platform, says the average pledge is ￡50, so for every ￡10,000 you will need an average of 200 backers for a project. Try to offer rewards, no matter how small, to those donating. Mr Zerkdi, for example, intends to pay the money back to those who pledged to his cause. Mr Tigabu offered various gestures depending on the amount given: for Euro1, a donor would be kept informed of progress; those giving Euro50 would get an individually designed and signed thank you card; and for Euro100 a donor would be thanked personally in a thank you video.

總部位於英國的平臺Crowdfunder表示，支持人的承諾捐款金額平均爲50英鎊，因此每爲一個項目籌集1萬英鎊，你就需要找到200名支持人。嘗試給予那些捐款者回報，不管這些回報多麼微不足道。比如，澤爾迪打算以後把錢還給那些承諾幫助他的事業的人們。蒂加布則根據捐獻金額做出多種表示：捐獻1歐元的人將會獲知籌款的進展；捐獻50歐元的人能夠得到個性化設計和簽名的感謝卡片；捐獻100歐元的人能夠在感謝視頻中得到親自致謝。

Whichever way you choose to run a crowdfunding campaign, it is not an easy route. “It takes time and dedication,” says Ms Angood.

不管你選擇哪種方式來進行衆籌籌款活動，這並不是一條簡單易行之道。“這需要時間和投入，”安古德說。