Episode 16: Crowdfunding and the Turtle Rescue Team

On the Season 3 premiere of the NC State Philanthropy Podcast, we’re joined by Niki Theobald, director of development for the North Carolina Veterinary Medical Foundation, to discuss crowdfunding and its impact on the College of Veterinary Medicine — specifically, its Turtle Rescue Team.

The Turtle Rescue Team is a student-run organization that helps treat wild turtles, as well as other reptiles and amphibians. Due to a population and construction boom in the Raleigh-Durham area, the Turtle Rescue Team saw a dramatic increase in patient numbers in 2021, leading the team to use medical supplies and equipment at an alarming rate. With more patients also came the need to store more food for them, which caused a desperate need for an extra refrigerator.

That led the Turtle Rescue Team to create an NC State crowdfunding project to raise the necessary funding. Part of the university’s annual giving efforts, crowdfunding is a relatively new way for donors to make a major impact on various departments, units and projects via smaller gifts. The Turtle Rescue Team saw an extraordinary 310% in its funding goal thanks to the generosity of 211 donors, making it NC State’s most successful crowdfunding projects to date.

Transcript available here.