Crowdfunding Campaign Garners $400,000 for UMass Social and Behavioral Sciences Students Affected by COVID-19

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The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has left many students without access to the basic technologies needed to research, study and successfully complete their degrees.

To help span the gap, the University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS) created its inaugural SBS Together 2020 giving campaignchallenging the greater UMass community to help support current students.

The answer was resounding; by the time the two-week fundraising drive closed on December 11 a total of $403,905 from 395 gifts had been raised.

SBS Together rallied the college’s network of alumni, donors, friends and community members to help generate funding for students’ school supplies, laptops, computers, software, reliable Wi-Fi and experiential opportunities like internships, research and study abroad.

“These gifts bolster department programs and ensure that our faculty can continue to deliver world-class pedagogy and initiate ground-breaking research that informs and improves society,” said SBS dean John A. Hird. “Gifts at the college level provide us the opportunity to meet immediate challenges and priorities.”

The college took a grassroots approach to the campaign. SBS Together received contributions from residents of more than 20 states across the country and Washington D.C.

SBS Together is over, but supporters can still make a difference. Moving forward, gifts to SBS will support strategic initiatives to enhance student success, faculty excellence and knowledge creation, and public impact of SBS students.