Our Crowdfunding Groups
Greetings,
I want to thank you for your support last year with giving to the Design Closet Fund. Your contributions have helped us put supplies in the hands of so many promising artists, designers, and planners.
One of our goals last year was to begin raising more money to go toward professional development opportunities for students. Our students go on to create great works with the materials, and supporting the opportunities to showcase their work and grow in the field is so important.
New this year we have established the UPLIFT Fund!
The UPLIFT Fund aims to uplift the voices, designs, and contributions of students supported by the MSS office.
Please consider supporting our new campaign here https://fundisu.foundation.iastate.edu/project/34405!
Thank you for your time and generosity,
From all of us in the College of Design, thank you so much for your generous contribution to our Design Closet 2021 crowdfunding campaign. With the participation of 32 donors, we raised $3,591 — that's 119% of our original $3,000 goal! We are deeply grateful for the enthusiastic response to this project.
Because of your support, we will be able to purchase introductory DSN S 131 supply kits for spring semester, materials for projects in DSN S 102 and ISU Book Store gift cards to help students buy other specific supplies required for their courses.
We'll also have funds available for students who may be entering their work in competitions or seeking opportunities to attend workshops, conferences or other professional development activities.
Your generosity inspires us and our students, including members of our BUILD (Building Up Inclusive Leadership in Design) learning community, pictured below, who also benefit from Design Closet support. Thank you!
Check back here for occasional updates on the impact of your support. The Design Closet fund remains open at www.foundation.iastate.edu/designcloset. We also accept in-kind donations of art and design materials and supplies any time throughout the year. Please contact Jordan Brooks, jwbrooks@iastate.edu, for more information. Thank you again!
We are humbled by your incredible support for the Design Closet. Thirty-two donors have contributed $3,591 and pushed us beyond our initial $3,000 goal! Thank you so much!
Every donation allows us to provide more students with the supplies and materials they need for their projects, and to cover entry fees and registration costs for others to participate in exhibitions, competitions, conferences and workshops that expand their knowledge, gain recognition for their work and help make them more marketable for jobs and internships.
With funds from the Design Closet, Lighton Nakidde, a first-year graduate student in community and regional planning, was able to attend the 2021 APA (American Planning Association) Iowa Chapter Conference in Des Moines in October. She took full advantage of the opportunity, attending sessions on increasing diversity and inclusion in planning, providing greater access to the disabled community, navigating the complexity of funding for nonprofit organizations for historic rehabilitation and urban revitalization, and investing in neglected neighborhoods to improve housing value and retain homeownership, among other topics.
"I learned different avenues that a career in planning can take me, and I also learned that as a planner, I'll have to take the big-concept ideas I am learning in school and apply them to a small scale," Lighton says. "I joined the AICP (American Institute of Certified Planners) mentorship program, where I got advice on what to expect in practice, how to tackle some common problems, and how to prepare for the AICP exam."
Lighton, who is from Kanabulemu, Rakai District, Uganda, decided to pursue a planning degree because she was disillusioned after working as a construction engineer for three years — "contributing to the problem by adding bigger buildings to a dysfunctional city," she says. "I wanted to be part of the solution at the critical planning stage."
Attending the APA Iowa conference allowed Lighton to interact with professional planners and organizations involved in planning and related fields. "I am honored and thankful for the generous support of donors to the Design Closet. Because of their support, I was able to interact with planners from a nonprofit in Des Moines who share my passion for affordable housing, and I hope to obtain an internship with them," she says.
This Giving Tuesday, we are so grateful to all who have given to the Design Closet. Our 2021 campaign ends at 9 a.m. tomorrow, Dec. 1. Please continue to share this opportunity with your networks and help us support students like Lighton!
Wow! Thanks to your generosity, we are more than halfway to our $3,000 fundraising goal! We’re so grateful for this amazing show of support. With two weeks left in the campaign, can you help us share the value of the Design Closet with an even wider audience and increase our total?
Students who have benefited from the Design Closet often spread the word to classmates and friends, expanding the impact through personal interactions.
Industrial design sophomore Sarah Oyervides grew up in Muscatine and completed high school in Ames. When she enrolled in the College of Design last year, Sarah obtained a portfolio kit and used the pages to keep her projects from her introductory design studio and drawing course safely organized.
“I needed something to separate my drawings inside my portfolio bag,” she says. “This helped immensely, because without dividers my work would smear. I also was able to keep all of my projects safe when I needed to transport them to the Design building to scan them in.”
Now in her professional degree program, Oyervides continues to use the portfolio to protect her work. She has returned to the Design Closet for drawing supplies. And she has recommended the Design Closet to friends who were worried about the cost of new supplies.
“With the help of the Design Closet, students who cannot afford all of their supplies have the same advantages as the students who can afford them have,” she says.
We'd love for you to spread the word about the Design Closet campaign on social media and through your personal and professional networks — one of the best ways to help us reach our $3,000 goal. Thank you!
Thank you to all who have contributed to our Design Closet 2021 crowdfunding campaign so far! We’re nearly halfway through the campaign and have reached 37% of our $3,000 goal. Can you help us get to 50%?
So far this year, the Design Closet has
Your support makes a huge impact on our students’ ability to focus on their courses and projects by alleviating stress over how to obtain the supplies they need to succeed. It also means the Design Closet can expand its reach to help students connect with resources more broadly in the College of Design.
Lamaur Benjamin, a first-year, pre-graphic design student from Chicago, is one student who has benefited from the Design Closet:
“I received emails from Jordan [Brooks, director of equity, inclusion and multicultural student success] informing students about the Design Closet and inviting us to submit requests,” Lamaur says. “I used the online form and obtained a large sketch pad, several pens and a portfolio case” to carry and protect his work.
Lamaur also participated in the college’s virtual job fair this fall, which Jordan organized to connect students with faculty and staff who hire student employees. “If our students find jobs within the college, it supports them academically and financially as well as socially,” Jordan says.
Lamaur was hired to work in the model shop, where he helps monitor peers using the facility, offering advice on the best tools to use for their projects and ensuring safety protocols are followed. He also assists the output center staff with operating the laser cutters.
“I hadn’t done a lot of hands-on work before, and it’s cool to learn to use the tools and help other students. Getting to know [model shop manager] Jeremy [Thurlby] and others working in the shop has been a really good experience,” he says. “Jordan and the Design Closet have been a big help.”
Please consider sharing this campaign with colleagues, family and friends in your network, and help us support even more students like Lamaur!
We all create because we were inspired by someone or something in our lifetime. Thank you for being an inspiration!
Our students are on a journey of imagination. Your contribution will help them make their ideas a reality one collage, model, sculpture, drawing or video at a time!
When our students create, they all start with a draft – a preliminary sketch, a small-scale model, a rough outline — that serves as the foundation for that final, polished project. Sometimes they just need a few extra dollars for materials to start a project. Your $50 donation will purchase gift cards for students to buy materials at the Design Store. The Design Store is a branch of the Iowa State University Book Store on the second floor of the College of Design. They partner with us to distribute materials to students in the college.
Once they have a draft, our students learn to refine their work until it's the best reflection of their inspiration, imagination and skill. A gift at this level will provide supplies needed for the Design Studies 131: Drawing I class, which teaches methods of visual thinking and drawing as tools for creative problem solving, design development and visual communication. These supplies are essential for the first year, and students continue to use them in their degree programs.
After students have refined their projects to the best of their ability and made changes after critiques, they're ready to present their finished work. Donations at this level can provide a comprehensive package of needed supplies for the first-year Design Studies 102 and Design Studies 131 courses or help more advanced students prepare their professional portfolios for career fairs and interviews for jobs and internships.
As our students advance through their degree programs, they seek opportunities to participate in conferences, art exhibitions, design competitions, internships and other professional development experiences. Financial barriers can make it difficult for some students to take advantage of these opportunities. Donations at this level will create professional development funds to help fill gaps in access to these experiences.
Our dream is to provide all College of Design students — regardless of financial need – with their required first-year supplies and access to professional development opportunities so they can focus on what matters: turning their creative ideas into reality and preparing for their future professions. Donations at this level will help us help more students and sustain the Design Closet for years to come!