Fund Lifelong Learning is a crowdfunding platform developed by the Graduate Union of the University of Melbourne. Here you can create your own Crowdfunding ventures for People, Programs and Places within education, research, development, social good and lifelong learning or you can donate to other ventures supporting these areas.

Basic terminology

Venture: A venture is the initiative or idea you are seeking to crowdfund.
Post: A post is the online crowdfunding campaign created on Fund Lifelong Learning you can share on different online platforms to raise funds for your venture.
Post or Venture Creators, Creators: These are the individuals or groups of two individuals who create ventures on this site to raise funds.
Any more than two members can assist with the venture, however only the two members listed as creators will be responsible and liable for the crowdfunding activities of the venture.
If an individual creates posts for a company, organisation or the like, the company or organisation will be responsible and liable for the crowdfunding activities of the venture.
Donors: They are the financial contributors to each venture
Pledges: These are the amount that a donor contributes or donates to a venture.
SDG: This refers to the United Nations 2030, 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Any one over the age of 18 can create crowdfunding ventures or donate to other ventures at Fund Lifelong Learning. Children between the ages of 13-18 must receive consent from a parent or legal guardian and only under their supervision, use the services of this website.

Donors and Creators from all over the world are encouraged to engage with the services offered by Fund Lifelong Learning. However, it is important to note that international surcharges may apply for donations made outside of Australia. 

If children (aged 13-18) want to initiate a crowdfunding post, they should receive consent and be under supervision of the parent or legal guardian while using our services. Children should not provide their personal information including links to their personal social media profiles. The parent or legal guardian should use their own information for the purposes of the crowdfunding venture.

The parent or legal guardian is responsible and liable for any representation made, damage, fraudulent activity, tortious activity etc.

Fund Lifelong Learning is a website open to public, which means any person can view the website. However to engage with the services provided, the user must be over 18 (or a child with a legal guardian present) and must log in to create or donate to ventures hosted on this platform.

On the login page, click on “Forgot Password” and an email will be sent to your registered email address with a link to reset your password. You will have to reset your password within 24 hours after receiving the resent password link.

At Fund Lifelong Learning, we recognise that people are the backbone to our developing world. By providing opportunities to develop and improve people directly and indirectly through programs and places, we are setting up a better opportunity to improve and sustain the planet.

As a project of the Graduate Union of the University of Melbourne, a Not for Profit organisation focused on advancing education for social good, Fund Lifelong Learning branches out with the same vision. We recognise that these areas are pivotal in improving our society. Accordingly, this site encourages the furtherance of these areas by allowing crowdfunding ventures in these categories.

If the venture is discontinued or cancelled, all the funds raised will be returned to the donors minus the third-party payment gateway and transaction costs. Read more information on our Fees here.

A payment gateway as a merchant service (a system that enables businesses to accept credit and debit card payments from customers) that processes credit card payments for E-commerce sites. Popular payment gateways include PayPal/Braintree, Stripe, and Square.

At Fund Lifelong Learning, Stripe, the payment gateway is used to accept payments online. Stripe  charges fees varying from 1.75% to 2.9% depending on domestic or international cards, plus a AUD 30c transaction fee.

Stripe accepts Visa, MasterCard and American Express Credit and Debit cards. Their fees includes Gift and Service Tax (GST) at a 10%. You can read more about their financial structures here. 

This model acts as a responsible fundraising model that ensures creators participation and further acts as a validation of the venture. Donors typically trust crowdfunding projects where creators actively work to engage communities and networks to gather support. The creators’ involvement at the fundraising stage gives donors the confidence that there is commitment to reaching targets and accomplishing the venture.

This method also acts as a safety net as donors get their cash back if the target amount is not met.

You can read more about our endowment reserves here.

Fund Lifelong Learning and the Graduate Union cannot guarantee that an individual creator may be able to complete the venture in accordance to the crowdfunding post and is not liable for the creator’s failure in doing so.

If the venture fails entirely, they must work with donors to reach a mutually agreed solution, which may include providing donors a refund. Donors may be able to bring a legal action against the creator for failure to comply with the rules and non-fulfilment of the venture.

Both donors and creators agree that Fund Lifelong Learning and the Graduate Union of The University of Melbourne are not liable or responsible for a creators failure to fulfill the stated tasks for the crowdfunded venture. Fund Lifelong Learning does not guarantee that the donations will be used as promised in ventures created by third parties.

As soon as a pledge is made, Stripe submits the pledged charge to the donor’s bank for payment authorisation, after which Stripe holds the funds till release. If the venture is extended because the target amount has not yet been met, the donated amount will be held until the end of this period for release

Donations to Individual Ventures

Once the target amount is met, Fund Lifelong Learning will enable the release of the funds through merchant services and the amount will change hands and be delivered to the creator, minus the platform fee. If the amount is met, funds will be transferred to the creator. If the venture is cancelled, on account of the target amount not being met, the pledged donations will be refunded back to the donors, minus the transaction fees.

Donations to Graduate House Ventures

All Graduate House crowdfunding ventures will ensure that the donations pledged changes hands and reaches Graduate House for the specified ventures, as soon as they are pledged. The donations will feed into the ventures as they are ongoing. All donations to Graduate House ventures are tax deductible.

Fund Lifelong Learning is not responsible to ensure the full receipt of the funds to a pledged post or venture due to the occasional failure of the creator or donors some credit or debit cards.

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You can also visit us at the Graduate Union Office at 220 Leicester Street, Carlton, Melbourne Australia 3053.

This is so that donors can view and manage donations and create a profile that is visible to creators. However, donors can choose to remain anonymous while donating.

Payments through cheques cannot be made.

All donor’s information is collected by Stripe, the payment gateway and merchant services to charge the amount to your bank.

Fund Lifelong Learning stores your basic details including your name, email address and contact details. However, we do not store your credit card and account details.

Donors’ names and email addresses will be passed to the creators so that they can respond to your donation and thank you personally. Donors however have the option to remain anonymous. In this case, information will not be passed onto creators.

For ventures such as research or the like, creators may chose to thank the donors in their papers etc.

The first thing to do is make sure all the details are entered in correctly. If the payment is still declined, contact your issuing bank.

If Stripe does not accept your currency and you still wish to donate, you can contact the creator directly and organise a transaction. However, this will not be a part of the crowdfunding campaign the creator has initiated, but a separate donation towards their cause.

Donations in a foreign currency will incur a different transaction fees, which you can check here.

• Understand Crowdfunding and our funding model
• Plan your Venture and Post
• Create your post and set up your Stripe account
• Launch your Post

Crowdfunding posts initiated by children (aged 13-18) with consent and supervision of legal parents or guardians should not contain personal information of the children. The parent of guardian should put in their personal information in the child’s name. The post should clearly indicate the purpose and the beneficiary of the venture.

Fund Lifelong Learning and the Graduate Union of the University of Melbourne reserves the right to stay the publication of the post until it has met all our standards and guidelines.

Note: Our review process does not guarantee the success of the venture, the crowdfunding post and the creators intentions for the post and venture.

Check our Fee structure for more details.

You can demonstrate your preparedness to fulfil the venture by not leaving questions unanswered. This readily gains donors trust and willingness to donate to and support your cause.

If a creator does not have a Stripe account, one can be set up via the “Creator Account” tab on their dashboard (access to which is granted by registering and creating a profile). Click on “Connect with Stripe” to be redirected to the Stripe website and initiate the set-up process. Fill in the required details and voila, your stripe account is set up.

Detailed information on setting up your Stripe account:

Rules and regulations for the fulfillment of your venture may differ across jurisdictions.

Prior to reaching your target amount, you may decide against the venture and cancel your crowdfunding post. Here, the funds raised will be refunded back to the donors without incurring a fee. But, if you cancel your venture after you reach your target amount, you will be charged the platform fee and the pledged donations will be returned to donors.

Additionally, if you cancel the venture after extending the timeline of your post, you will incur a fee.