Beedie pilots new crowd funding platform to boost JDC West

The SFU JDC West Legacy Fund is intended to make scenes such as this – the 2015 SFU JDC West team celebrating their achievements – an annual occurrence.

In 2013 when the SFU JDC West team was named Academic School of the Year, the scenes of euphoria among the victorious students were both heartwarming and inspirational in equal measure. Now a new crowd-funding initiative at the Beedie School of Business is aiming to make such scenes an annual occurrence.

The Beedie School of Business is spearheading a month-long fund raising drive utilizing USEED, a new crowd-funding platform developed specifically for higher education institutions. The campaign, which will be the inaugural one to run on the USEED platform at Simon Fraser University, will see Beedie students attempt to secure funds to benefit the SFU JDC West team for years to come.

JDC West is the largest student-run business case competition in Western Canada, attracting the top business schools and students from across the nation. Each year, the competition features teams representing top business schools with hundreds of delegates competing across a range of disciplines, including academics, debate, sports, and social competitions.

“The Beedie School of Business has a long tradition of being pioneers, and by piloting this crowd funding platform for SFU we continue that tradition,” says Casey Dorin, executive director, undergraduate programs at the Beedie School of Business. “Although this initiative is about raising money to fund the JDC West team, it is also equally about raising awareness about the competition, and generating a sense of community spirit within the Beedie community.”

As part of the fund raising drive the Beedie School has established a committee consisting of past JDC West team captains to help recruit Beedie alumni to donate both their money and professional expertise to the worthy cause.

With an initial target of $10,000, all funds raised will go towards creating the SFU JDC West Legacy Fund. The fund will ensure that the team continues to compete at the consistently high level it has reached in recent years, as well as potentially hosting the competition at SFU in the future.

“The committee consists entirely of Beedie alumni who have directly benefited from the mentoring JDC West offers,” says Rosanne Ng, manager of undergraduate student engagement and recruitment at the Beedie School of Business. “These alumni are now giving back their own time to ensure that current students receive the positive experience that they did.”

One former JDC West participant who can testify to the benefits of the competition is Joel Thom, co-captain of the victorious 2013 SFU JDC West team. For Thom, the time and energy that Beedie alumni put into his training for JDC West was invaluable, and directly contributed not only to the team’s success, but to his own professional development.

“Both I and my team mates gained so much from the SFU JDC West experience – having industry professionals train you on real world business situations makes you so much more employable and ready for life after graduation,” says Thom. “Our aim with this crowd-funding drive is to ensure as many Beedie alumni as possible recognize how important it is to contribute. Giving back as an alumnus and being able to impact current students in a positive way is extremely rewarding, and is very much in keeping with the SFU JDC West team spirit.”

To donate to the JDC West Legacy fund, visit sfu.useed.net/projects/302/home