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Dear all, We have established a crowdfund to support, Rana Alshamsi, a 21 year old graduate from the Department of English (BA English Literature), The Islamic University of Gaza (1). Rana has been accepted onto the full-‐time MA in International and Comparative Legal Studies programme at SOAS, University of London for late September 2014. (2). If she is unable to raise funds for her studies in time for this year, she also has been offered a deferred place for September 2015 by SOAS due to the recent war situation in Gaza and personal circumstances. The conflict also prevented her from sitting her required English language paper in July as intended, as all centres were closed. (3). Unfortunately, she failed to receive The Cultures of Resistance Scholarship, which provides £24,000 to support international students from impoverished backgrounds (4). Thus, we are attempting to raise a grand total of £23,513, independently, in time for Rana to commence her deferred programme in September 2015. We will be raising funds in two phases: phase 1 (tuition fees) and phase 2 (maintenance and travel) – please see FAQ for details. The funds must be raised immediately, giving Rana sufficient time to complete her IELTS English assessment (as per SOAS requirements) and deal with subsequent visa contingencies, [as well as the potential problems for Gazan citizens at the Rafah border crossing]. The funds will be collected in two stages (tuition and maintenance), as outlined in the questions and answers segment. Again, there is quite limited time to raise this amount in order for her to start her degree this year, hence SOAS has agreed to defer her place if required. SOAS, Hani Qaddumi Scholarship Foundation (HQSF), Hoping Foundation (Lizzie Leigh, Hoping Co-‐ordinator) and The Said Foundation (Ita Gallagher, Scholarships Officer) were unable to host a third-‐party account, on Rana’s behalf, in such short notice (5). Thus, we are hosting an independent savings account for donations via IndieGoGo – an international crowd-‐funding platform. We acknowledge the responsibility that is attached to this initiative and have been endorsed by members of the charity sector; student union and committee members of British universities to complete it sincerely (6). We sincerely hope this initiative receives financial support with the hope of providing world-‐class education to a very capable student overseas, Yours Sincerely,
ABIR QAZILBASH Founder of Global Right to Education Programme, LSE LSE Model United Nations Officer Year 3 UG, BSc International Relations, London School of Economics
HARUN KHAN Global Right to Education Committee
Head of Schools & Colleges, Charity Week London (2014) Year 4 UG, Imperial College School of Medicine
SAMIHA BEGUM Senior Director and Head of Funding, Global Right to Education Programme, LSE Year 2 UG, BSc Social Policy, LSE
HEBA AL-‐NASSER London Chevening Scholarship Ambassador Scholarship Officer, Global Right to Education Programme MSc Social Policy and Development, LSE FAQ Q: How was the total calculated? A:
• i) Tuition Fees = £16, 425 (Phase 1 until 28/10/14) Tuition fees amount to £16, 425 including a compulsory £350 pre-‐sessional fee (7)
• Thesis and assignment grant (payable upon production of receipts when dissertation/project has been submitted): £373.59 (8)
• Accommodation – £0.00 (Rana has confirmed, free accommodation with a family in Kent, UK) ii) Maintenance and Travel = £7088+** (Phase 2 until TBC)
• Travel -‐ £600 for travel to and from UK. • Food and Other Essential Costs – £2860 (9) • Domestic Travel -‐ £1028 (9) • Personal -‐ £2600 • Tier 4 Student Visa Application -‐ £310 (10) **we will require additional funds to account for IndieGogo’s commission charge (please see Q3 on FAQ).
Note: We plan on raising the funds in two stages (phase 1 and phase 2, as referenced above). We plan to fundraise the £16, 425 fixed tuition fee, initially, as evidence of sufficient funding is required for her visa application. We hope to do this within 60 days (see next question). Once this has been achieved, we will start the next phase of raising the maintenance and travel costs, again with the same intended duration of 60 days. Q: How are the deadlines calculated? A: IndieGogo, the online crowdfunding platform, only permits a 60-‐day period for campaigns (or a shorter 30-‐day period). Hence the deadline is simply 60 days after the first day of the live appeal. Q: How does crowdfunding with IndieGogo work?
A: IndieGogo is an international online crowdfunding platform, which allows the set up of independent campaigns for charitable purposes. IndieGogo imposes a 4% charge on all successful campaigns – and a 9% charge on unsuccessful ones. IndieGogo charges no additional fees [unlike many others], and offers the lowest rates when compared with other crowdfunding platforms from our research and past experience including JustGiving! It has also been used to collect funds for previous Gazan students. As stated, other foundations including Hoping were unable to set-‐up a third-‐party account in this case. Q: What will happen if the grand total is not achieved in time for Rana to commence this academic year (2014 entry)? A: Due to the recent instability in Gaza, this is very likely. Thus, fundraising will continue until the stipulated deadline and will support her confirmed place for 2015 entry. If the total is still not achieved, The Global Right to Education Project will set-‐up additional campaigns until August 2015, so we can financially support Rana’s deferred place for September 2015 entry (both tuition and maintenance). (3) Q: What will happen if you do not meet the deadline? A: Hopefully this will not be the case, as previous students from Gaza who have used crowdfunding, have managed to raise similar amounts in less time than a year. 1 If this is the case, The Global Right to Education Project will host additional campaigns to raise funds for Rana until August 2015 latest. In the very unlikely scenario that we do not have enough funds by August 2015, 100% of the funds will go towards funding another underprivileged student from Gaza/ Kashmir who cannot afford to study abroad. The Global Right to Education Projects works with students from both of these conflict-‐ridden regions Evidence of this will be confirmed on our Crowdfunding and Facebook pages to update all donors. There is always an instance of at least one such student at UK universities every year, from Gaza alone, who requires partial funding for their upcoming studies. But ultimately, we will do all we can to help Rana achieve her goals, and this is a very last resort. Q: What happens if the grand total is overestimated and/or Rana secures a scholarship next year? A: If Rana reapplies and gets a scholarship next year, which is fully funded (i.e. tuition and maintenance), then the money will contribute towards funding another underprivileged student in a similar position (as above). Evidence of this will be confirmed on our Crowdfunding and Facebook pages to update all donors. Our estimates are based on verified and average figures, but if any actual costs are less, then the surplus would contribute towards helping other students. Q: Are there any commissions from the fundraising site?
1 E.g. another Gazan student with similar issue at SOAS with her Masters’ Offer last year, managed to Crowdfund her tuition fees and part of her maintenance grant, in a month (starting 30th July 2013).
IndieGoGo charges a 4% commission charge for successful fundraisers, but no additional fees. Most sites have a commission fee alongside further extra fees -‐ for example, the popular site JustGiving has higher commission rate than IndieGoGo as well as additional fees. As above, charities such as Hoping were not able to provide a bank account as it complicates their due diligence. Hence IndieGoGo was the best option as we are not able to use a registered charity name for our funds and our time to raise is limited (it takes about 30 days to register a charity alone). Q: What will happen if Rana is unable to leave her place of residence due to the political instability of the region? A: In the past, some students from Gaza who have come to UK universities (including SOAS, LSE and Sheffield) have faced issues of being delayed at the Egypt-‐Gaza Rafah crossing. They have all eventually managed to come to the UK in spite of this, to our full existing knowledge. This is often achieved through liaising with the British Consulate for the Occupied Territories and/or through the University and/or the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO). We would set up a campaign in this instance.2 Doing this in itself, would raise crucial awareness of the restricted access to education for Gazans. References (1) The authors have access to an electronic copy of the transcript from the Islamic University of Gaza provided to SOAS postgraduate admissions portal (2) Evidence for official letter (3) Evidence for official deferral letter (Contact Harun or Abir) (4) http://www.soas.ac.uk/registry/scholarships/the-‐cultures-‐of-‐resistance-‐scholarships.html (5) Contact [email protected]; [email protected] for confirmation (6) Endorsements letter (7) https://www.soas.ac.uk/registry/fees/postgraduate/ (8) Rate by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) confirmed from 01/10/14 (2014/15) – document can be provided upon request (9) http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/studentfinance/livingcosts (10) https://www.gov.uk/tier-‐4-‐general-‐visa
2 A former campaign for a similar context: http://letothmanstudy.wordpress.com/
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