Empowering college and graduate student survivors of life threatening childhood cancers to proactively finance their education, College Beyond Cancer offers an innovative donation-based fundraising platform.
FAQ / Help
The Basics of College Beyond Cancer
What is College Beyond Cancer?
How does online fundraising work?
Creating a Profile & Fundraising Campaign
Who is eligible to create a profile and start a fundraising campaign?
What does it cost to create a profile and start a fundraising campaign?
What if I am concerned about privacy with regard to posting a profile?
Which educational expenses can I raise funds for?
Is there a limit to how much I can raise?
How long do I have to raise funds?
Is there a limit to how many campaigns I can run?
When will I receive the funds?
Are there any tax implications based on the funds I raise?
Contributing to a Fundraising Campaign
Who is eligible to contribute to a fundraising campaign?
How much can I contribute to a student campaign?
How many different student campaigns can I contribute to?
Are contributions tax deductible?
How will my contribution be processed?
How can I be sure that a student has met the eligibility criteria?
How can I be sure that a student is going to use the contributed funds for their college expenses?
Additional Questions
What should I do if I have a question that was not addressed here?
The Basics of College Beyond Cancer
What is College Beyond Cancer?
College Beyond Cancer is an online fundraising platform designed specifically for college and graduate students who are survivors of life threatening childhood cancers and tumors. It differs from other crowdfunding websites in that it is designed specifically for these students to develop and implement successful fundraising campaigns for educational expenses. It is meant to complement traditional funding for education such as scholarships and grants. Please be sure to review the mission statement for more information.
Crowdfunding refers to fundraising via small contributions from many different individuals. In the case of College Beyond Cancer, contributors come together in an effort to support a fundraising campaign started by a student to assist with their educational expenses. Crowdfunding campaign managers strive to harness the power of the crowd by utilizing online social media networking tools.
How does online fundraising work?
Online fundraising is a fairly simple concept. An eligible student develops a profile about themselves and the educational expenses they hope to raise funds for. They publish their profile on the College Beyond Cancer website and notify their contacts that they are running a campaign via email and social networking sites. Potential contributors are able to view their profile and if they are so inclined, they are able to contribute to the student's campaign online. A third party payment processor, WePay, is integrated into the College Beyond Cancer website making it easy to give and receive funds.
Creating a Profile & Fundraising Campaign
Who is eligible to create a profile and start a fundraising campaign?
Any college or graduate school student that meets the criteria described below may submit a profile for approval for a fundraising campaign. Students must be 18 years of age or older and must have been diagnosed with a life threatening cancer or tumor on or before the age of 21. For eligibility purposes on this platform, this includes students diagnosed with benign tumors that are considered life threatening secondary to anatomic location. Students must also be a current college or graduate school student and agree to use funds raised on this website for college and graduate school expenses. Finally, students must also have a valid social security number, United States address, and United States bank account in order to receive funds from the third party payment processor, WePay.
What does it cost to create a profile and start a fundraising campaign?
Nothing! There is no application fee to submit a profile and start a fundraising campaign. A small percentage of the funds raised on a campaign will be withheld for third party payment processing by WePay and the operational and administrative costs of College Beyond Cancer to provide the service. WePay charges a fee, comparable to PayPal, of 2.9 cents per dollar raised plus 30 cents per transaction. College Beyond Cancer collects 6 cents per dollar raised. These fees are automatically deducted.
What if I am concerned about privacy with regard to posting a profile?
It is understood at College Beyond Cancer that everyone has a different comfort level with regard to their cancer diagnosis. There are many different ways to complete a profile ranging from very open to very private. If you are interested in posting a profile, but want to limit how much information is provided, that is absolutely possible. Simply send an email to Lisa requesting some hints and ideas on how to go about the process of developing a profile in that manner.
Which educational expenses can I raise funds for?
You can raise funds for any appropriate college or graduate school related expense. Obviously, this includes tuition, room and board, and books. However, it could include, but is not limited to, any of the following: vehicle related expenses for a commuter student, travel and living expenses for an internship or clinical affliation, or expenses related to a college sponsored summer experience or experience abroad.
Is there a limit to how much I can raise?
There is no limit to how much you can fundraise with a campaign. You will set a goal for your campaign, but you can exceed that goal.
How long do I have to raise funds?
When the profile is developed and the fundraising campaign is set up, you will have a choice between 45, 60, or 90 days to run a campaign. Once your campaign expires, you maintain the option to reset your campaign if you are so inclined.
Is there a limit to how many campaigns I can run?
There is no limit to how many campaigns you can run during the course of your academic career. For some students it may make sense to run campaigns at certain junctures of their academic career. Each student needs to assess what will be most effective for their individual situation. Also, please remember that once your campaign expires, you will have the option to reset that campaign if that makes sense for you.
When you set up your campaign, you will create an account with WePay, the third party payment processor utilized by College Beyond Cancer. WePay is integrated into the College Beyond Cancer website so you will seamlessly be directed to the their website to complete this process.
When will I receive the funds?
WePay will automatically distribute funds to your checking or savings account each time a contribution is made to your campaign.
Are there any tax implications based on the funds I raise?
College Beyond Cancer is not authorized to provide legal or tax advice and therefore recommend that you consult a legal or tax professional regarding such questions. The basic premise is that most contributions made on this website are considered personal gifts, however, each student's situation is unique and must be treated as such. We recommend specifically reviewing the federal gift tax regulations.
Contributing to a Fundraising Campaign
Who is eligible to contribute to a fundraising campaign?
Anyone who is at least 18 years of age or older and has a credit or debit card can contribute to a campaign.
How much can I contribute to a student campaign?
There is no limit to how much you can contribute to a student campaign. The third party payment processor will accept donations up to $1,900 per transaction. However, you can complete as many donation transactions as you would like.
How many different student campaigns can I contribute to?
There is no limit to the number of student campaigns that you can contribute to.
Are contributions tax deductible?
College Beyond Cancer is not authorized to provide legal or tax advice. Therefore, it is recommended that you consult a legal or tax professional for such questions. As a general rule, campaigns run on the College Beyond Cancer website are created and managed by individual students, rather than non-profit agencies and therefore contributions are typically not considered to be tax deductible.
How will my contribution be processed?
All contributions will be securely processed through the integrated third party payment processor, WePay. At no time will College Beyond Cancer be managing any component of a financial transaction.
How can I be sure that a student has met the eligibility criteria?
Students must complete a series of screening questions prior to receiving approval to publish their profile and fundraising campaign on College Beyond Cancer. An eligibility question is visible on their campaign where they state that they do indeed meet the criteria. The screening process itself provides a deterrent to anyone that does not meet the criteria. Any student that posted a profile on College Beyond Cancer and did not meet the eligibility criteria would be in violation of the terms and conditions. A concentrated effort has been made to prevent this from happening, however, College Beyond Cancer does not assume any responsibility for someone falsifying their identity or eligibility. It is the responsibility of the contributor to screen the student by reviewing their profile and making a diligent decision whether to donate to their campaign. This can best be accomplished by contributing to campaigns of students that you know or that someone you trust knows. Additionally, successful campaigns are typically receiving the first 30% or so of their funds from family and friends which helps to validate their authenticity.
How can I be sure that a student is going to use the contributed funds for their college expenses?
Students who have started fundraising campaigns on the College Beyond Cancer website have agreed to use the funds they raise for their college expenses. They are required to outline exactly how they plan to use those funds and what they will use any funds raised in excess of their goal for. It is the expectation that students that chose to create and manage a fundraising campaign are responsible young adults who are committed to the process. It is the responsibility of each individual contributor to decide if they are confident in the student's pledge regarding use of the funds. College Beyond Cancer provides a service by offering a fundraising platform to eligible students but does not assume responsibility for the actions of students, including any actions that would be considered misuse of funds raised.
Additional Questions
Could you provide a reminder of which states comprise each of the regional divisions of the United States?
Yes, here is a listing of the states the comprise each regional division as defined by the United States Census Bureau.
New England States: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut
Mid-Atlantic States: New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey
East North Central States: Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio
West North Central States: Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa
South Atlantic States: Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida
East South Central States: Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama
West South Central States: Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana
Mountain States: Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico
Pacific States: Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Hawaii
What should I do if I have a question that was not addressed here?
Please feel free to email College Beyond Cancer with any questions you may have.