Case Study: Drexel University
Raising $700,000 in One 24-Hour Crowdfunding Campaign
In 2016, the leadup to the 125th year since its founding, Drexel University turned to crowdfunding as a way to re-engage and energize students, parents, friends, faculty, staff—and especially alumni.
Award-Winning
KDG won several awards for its inaugural campaign with Drexel University, including a Davey Award, a WebAward, and a Horizon Interactive Award.
Trendsetting
The #Drexel24 Day of Giving campaign attracted so much attention that it briefly trended on Twitter during the day of the campaign.
Record-Breaking
Participation from alumni, students, faculty, staff, and friends exceeded the original goal for number of donors by nearly 5 to 1.

Missing Mario
For a custom crowdfunding platform that would get the job done, Drexel turned to KDG. Together, the two teams worked on a unique campaign. Its theme focused on finding the beloved school mascot, Mario the Dragon, who was missing and needed the support of special agents (donors) to help find him. The gamified campaign platform featured a spy-themed skin and real-time Google API widgets to display donor statistics.
- User experience research & personas
- Custom theme development
- Simplified donor form
- Mobile development
- Digital challenges
- Donor map
- Real-time Google API widgets
- Custom referral links
- Social media integration
- 24-hour support
- $713,000 raised with 2,887 donors
KDG was able to develop a... site that was so much more than we had envisioned.
Ivy Lane,
Executive Director of the Drexel Fund
Solutions
Donations Made Simple
KDG worked with Drexel to create a donor form that took less than 60 seconds to fill out on a mobile device and tested it with live users to ensure that the experience was going to be perfect every time on a mobile device. Campaign donations from mobile devices often exceed 30%.
Friendly Competition
Drexel schools, colleges and units competed in mini competitions and challenges to attract the most donors. From sports teams to clubs and dormitories, friendly competition kept everyone engaged throughout the day.
Going Social
By using custom referral links, donors could share the giving page and receive recognition and credit for each donor that they referred. Custom ID badges were created on the fly for each special agent (donor) and became instantly shareable on social media after the gift was made.
24-Hour Support
KDG was on call during the entire 24 hours of the campaign, monitoring site performance and ensuring that the campaign platform ran smoothly throughout the day. KDG’s powerful remote capabilities permitted them to build and support the campaign without setting foot on campus.
