Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Category Archives: Press Releases
OMNI college adds FundRazr as Revolutionary New Funding Option
by FundRazr Blog Administrator on October 17, 2012
Through a partnership with FundRazr.com, OMNI College student applicants now have the option to raise all, or part, of their tuition. This opportunity is based on the premise of ‘crowd funding’, raising one sum of money through a crowd of different individuals.
“We are extremely excited about this new opportunity for students interested in joining our College,” says Jade Burke, President of OMNI College, a school specialized in training internationally-educated nurses for the Canadian workforce. “It will help open doors for some individuals that were once closed”.
Historically, students within Canada who already have citizenship or permanent residency have a multitude of options to finance their education costs – through student loans, bursaries, low-interest bank loans, and the like. However, international students have not had the same opportunities. They had to either come up with the money on their own, or borrow from banks within their country, some facing exorbitant interest rates.
Through this new partnership, student applicants can raise the money for their study plans. They can set up campaigns online that will be shared across their social media platforms (like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube) reaching out to their worldwide network of friends and family asking each one to help contribute funds towards his/her study goals. A few hundred dollars from one uncle, twenty dollars from a friend, fifty dollars from a cousin in another country, it all adds up. Friends who manage to share their campaigns will help spread the word out to even greater ‘crowds’ of people and soon students may potentially see strangers who were inspired by their story want to contribute and help them reach their goals. And all the transactions are managed by PayPal, the world’s largest online payment processing company, which is trusted worldwide.
Nurses around the world are not all regarded as they are in Canada. In fact, nurses from some countries experience a lower socio-economic status as they earn very little compared with other professions. Many of these nurses have dreams of coming to Canada, some with tremendous experience and know-how, but very few have the financial means to do so. The College is hoping that this new platform will help change that.
Some may even use this new platform as a way to borrow the funds, with the promise to repay once the student is gainfully employed in Canada. And based on the College’s post graduate employment rates, the chances of repayment are extremely high. In 2011, 100% of the College’s graduates were employed within 1 month following graduation. Often times, these nurses earn back their entire tuition costs within 3 months of working full-time as Registered Nurses in Canada.
“FundRazr is thrilled to help address the chronic nursing shortage by enabling OMNI College to graduate more internationally-educated nurses for work in Canada. Crowd funding education is a powerful way of reducing student debt and bringing dreams to life for talented students,” stated FundRazr CEO Daryl Hatton. He added “We applaud OMNI for leading the way in innovative financing.”
The idea of crowdfunding emerged online back in 1997 when a group of British rock fans raised $60,000 in donations, with no involvement by the band itself, in order to support the band’s concert tour through the U.S. Today, it is being used throughout the world by high-profile organizations for various philanthropy projects including the Tiger Woods Foundation and the $1 million dollar Sharcraft2012 campaign in support of children in the Horn of Africa. Even US President Barack Obama has signed the JOBS Act (JumpStart our Business StartUps) legalizing crowd funding for entrepreneurs seeking investors.
OMNI College is now one of the first in the field of education using this as a solution for student financing.
For more information visit www.omnicollege.com/fundrazr
Oct 3, 2012: National Crowdfunding Association of Canada Launches
Media Alert: Attention News Editors
Release Date: October 3, 2012
THE NATIONAL CROWDFUNDING ASSOCIATION OF CANADA
LAUNCHES AND JOINS 'THE CROWD'
TORONTO, ON October 3, 2012 –
The National Crowdfunding Association of Canada (NCFA Canada) is a newly formed Canadian non-profit organization created to fill a need to unify a crowdfunding voice of the various industry groups, associations and affiliations into a single national organization and to provide a forum and network for all businesses, industries and stakeholders across Canada interested in crowdfunding.
Internationally, forms of crowdfunding including donation, pre-purchase, lending and equity-based models have already been legally permitted in countries such as Australia, the UK and Europe. On April 5, the JOBS Act (Jump Start on Business Start-Ups Act) was approved in the United States paving the way for businesses to legally raise funds from the general public over the internet via crowdfunding portals (CFPs).
The crowdfunding industry is exploding with entrepreneurs, investors, portal operators, third party service providers and experts from around the world who are all jockeying for position to take advantage of a promising and brand new fundraising channel for small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and creative or social projects. In 2011, the worldwide crowdfunding industry facilitated over one million successful fundraising campaign offerings equivalent to $1.5 billion dollars. As of May 2012, globally there were a total of 452 CFPs with analysts projecting the crowdfunding industry to be worth $2.86 billion by the end of 2012, according to Massolution’s industry report released in April of this year.
“The crowdfunding revolution is picking up steam in Canada, and it’s time to get on board”, said Craig Asano, Founder and Executive Director of NCFA Canada. Asano further states that “Without a vibrant and dynamic ‘made in Canada’ crowdfunding solution, we risk losing many of our brightest and best minds to the US and other countries and our economy will suffer as a result. Entrepreneurs are the grassroots lifeblood of Canada’s economy and they play a pivotal role in a much larger capital formation eco-system.”
Initially, NCFA Canada’s focus will be:(1) educating businesses, entrepreneurs, investors, the public, media and regulatory bodies on crowdfunding trends, initiatives, regulations and emerging best practices; (2) developing programs to assist, educate and support crowdfunding communities through webinars, conferences and events; (3) educating its members and the public in identifying and reporting fraud in the crowdfunding industry; (4) providing networking opportunities to connect with crowdfunding professionals in the industry; and (5) advocating for the growth of a collaborative and dynamic crowdfunding industry in Canada.
“Collectively, we need to increase Canada's ability to fund innovation, said Marty Gunderson of Gunderson and Associates, a member of the NCFA Canada Board of Directors. “This is about economic freedom – freeing Canadians to invest in projects and businesses that they believe in. While crowdfunding may not have all the answers, it’s a sign of hope and by all measures of success, strongly supported by local communities, organizations and industry.”
Asano said, “One of our challenges is to help demystify exactly what crowdfunding is for the benefit of the general public, prospective investors, SMEs and all other interested organizations. The NCFA Canada is looking to host its first crowdfunding event in Toronto early in 2013, bringing industry and legal experts to talk about best practices, regulation issues, risks, latest trends and up-and-coming initiatives.”
About the National Crowdfunding Association of Canada
The National Crowdfunding Association of Canada (NCFA) was newly formed in September 2012, to fill a need to unify a national crowdfunding voice for all industries, stakeholders, and associations in Canada. The NCFA offers its members advocacy, education, support and the ability to network and connect with leaders in the crowdfunding space enabling them to plug into a ‘National Crowd’ and remain informed in an exciting and rapidly evolving industry. The NCFA Canada holds an independent position with membership open to the general public including interested parties such as entrepreneurs, investors, lawyers, technologists, financial advisors, regulators, educators, students and media professionals. For more information please visit ncfacanada.org.
Source: NCFA Canada
For more information please contact:
Craig Asano
National Crowdfunding Association of Canada
Executive Director
(416) 618-0254
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