To set up a crowd fund to pay for my post graduate degree?

[Spiceupyourlife1989]

I don’t have the funds to pay it and am currently living on a low income, topped up by universal credit.
I know the post grad loans are £11,500 or thereabouts, but that’s to pay for course fees AND to live on without help, I won’t be able to do it. I want to improve my job prospects, specifically for my toddler son, who I don’t want to end up going without, particularly when he starts school.

What postgrad course/qualification is it, and exactly how will it improve your prospects?

If you can clarify that, you’ll have a chance of writing a compelling crowdfunding pitch.

If you can’t distill it easily and show measurable benefits to doing the postgrad - if you can’t sell your story - then no, crowdfunding won’t work.

Siepie thank you, I am in Wales where it works differently.

Good luck but I can't imagine you will get many people wanting to contribute (especially given how many people are struggling financially right now). I did my MA part time (over 2 years instead of 1) and just kept working FT so that I could pay for it myself. Yes it was hard - financially and workload-wise but it was worth it. Would you consider doing yours part time while working?

I don't think you would get much funding. However as a single parent who wants to study I reckon you would get nursery funding mostly paid for, and possibly help with rent. There are also hardship funds which you could apply for to help cover costs.

It does depend on how vital the postgrad is for your career - could you go in via another route such as an apprenticeship?

Op seems reluctant to engage in her own thread.

The post grad diploma I completed recently was about two thirds funded by the generosity of friends, family and virtual strangers so I would say it's worth a try. In my case, the qualification is directly related to my current role but means I can offer (free) a particular type of therapy to children/families who often don't meet the threshold for CAMHS support.

Having the qualification doesn't enhance my own earning power in any way which I suspect is one of the things that made it easier for people to feel OK about donating but I've done years of fairly high profile voluntary work for a large online community and members of that group were very kind when it came to helping me to publicise my campaign as well as making donations. Hundreds of people donated £1-2 via a PayPal.me link rather than my crowd funding page (where the minimum donation is £5) and it really was a case of 'every little helps'. I entered competitions to try to win funding (and even got to the final round of one) and made very amateur mini films to share on social media to try to raise the profile of my campaign. A few local businesses that knew of me because of the online community ran promotions whereby they'd donate a percentage of their fee for any jobs booked using my name as the reference, I put my crowd funding link in my email signature and received donations from some unexpected sources that way too. By and large, I received a lot of small donations from people who feel they know a bit about me and what I do because of my role in the online community. Would I have received such a high level of support without having done that role for 7 ish years? I doubt it! Would people have been so keen to donate if the course was going to make me rich or if it was to study macrame techniques of the 13th century? Probably not.

So, I don't think YABU to set up a crowd funder but you do need to do so without any expectation that the money will just fall into your lap as a result - I spent a lot of time trying to drum up support with photos etc. whilst also trying to secure funding elsewhere. Unless the course is going to save lives and/or you know it's something a community you are active in will feel is in their interest to support, you may find it doesn't raise anything close to what you need.

Crucial information missing from my post; I continued with my teaching job 4 days a week throughout my post grad course but because the course is related to my role, my case studies were based on children/families I worked with as part of my job anyway. Written assignments and the reading etc. was done on my day off work (I've worked for 4 days pw for 15+ years). My only costs were the course fees.

@Babyroobs

I'd be thinking why don't you just take a loan like everyone else has to and pay it back when you are earning high enough wages. I'm sure there is funding available.

Yeah, sorry, but I think it's CF.

You can try though, no one will stop you.

I’d think you were a CF. I see quite a few of these “its my dream, please give me money” sort of fundraisers. Why should I give a shit what your dreams are? We all have dreams but most of us aren’t asking other people to finance them. I find it especially cheeky because I took a loan to pay for my masters so why should I give money for you to do one for free? Here’s a novel idea: work for your money instead of asking those of us who do work to give you freebies!

@Sunnygold

I’d think you were a CF. I see quite a few of these “its my dream, please give me money” sort of fundraisers. Why should I give a shit what your dreams are? We all have dreams but most of us aren’t asking other people to finance them. I find it especially cheeky because I took a loan to pay for my masters so why should I give money for you to do one for free? Here’s a novel idea: work for your money instead of asking those of us who do work to give you freebies!

Couldn't agree more.

It’s not unreasonable to ask for help but this thread proves a lot of people won’t want to contribute.

I wouldn’t because I’m struggling to pay for my own course, never mind contributing to someone else’s.

You can do whatever you like but aside from your close family I can’t imagine who would donate .

We all have dreams but most of us aren’t asking other people to finance them.

Nail on head.

@SmidgenofaPigeon

I going to be brutally honest and say that this isn’t something I’d contribute towards.

Nor me.

But there really is no harm in giving it a go

Thanks for the replies so far.
For those asking what course it is, it’s Play Therapy. Accredited by the BAPT.

Play therapy is really important and useful for many people.

I have a Masters degree from one of the top unis. I must say it never once helped enhance my career. It's pretty useless, but maybe that's just in my field (law)

Op's career doesn't appear to have even started yet. What's your degree subject, op?

Why can’t you use your degree to get work. Then while working, put $$ aside for the post-grad degree?

I would not donate to a strangers crowd funding thing.

Your situation isn’t unique, crowdfunding in the most part is begging. Look into alternative funding of the course if you are serious in doing it. Do it part time and you can still work.

Are you sure there's no way to improve your position using the qualifications you already have?

I do think if you share a gofundme around your friends and family a lot of them will think you're being cheeky and entitled.

I don’t know much about play therapy but it probably would stand a better chance of getting some people donating than some self indulgent courses. However it takes work to make crowdfunding a success. Even teenage cancer crowdfunders don’t just get money rolling in. They take some engagement and work.

Saying that would the effort be worth it? I agree with the general opinion that while anyone is free to set up a crowdfund it’s difficult to see this one getting many donations given most people fund their own courses and given the competition there are many more worthy causes.

I might contribute for something as important as play therapy but I would only give £10-20 to somebody I didn't know. Assuming everyone gave £10, you would need more than 1000 donors. If you look at ordinary people raising money for charity, anyone who raises £5k has done incredibly well so your target is very ambitious.

Wouldn't it be better to get a an unqualified job in the field where you could then apply for a work-based route to becoming a play therapist?

If you have lots of media contacts and a good back story, a crowd funder might work but I just don't think it's that feasible to raise such a big sum. Nothing to stop you trying of course.

One option is to get a post graduate loan www.gov.uk/masters-loan You could also look at part time and distance learning options. I did mine distance learning part time while working full time. It was hard but got it done. It also had advantage that I was gaining experience in sector and had access to sector and good contacts for writing dissertation.