Ever heard of the Mathematical, English, or Astronomy Olympiads? We’re one of those.
The Czech Linguistics Olympiad is a group of student volunteers making and testing problem sets, organizing events, grading the competing students’ solutions, sending a 4-person team to the International Linguistics Olympiad every year, and, apparently, organizing crowdfunding campaigns, sending hundreds of emails to potential sponsors, and worrying if we’ll be able to afford to keep it up.
When I took charge of financing and partnerships this year, I didn’t expect the first words I hear in my new role to be: “We’re €11,000 short. I need you to find that money somewhere.” We needed this money to cover the expenses on Team Czechia’s trip to Brazil for the International Linguistics Olympiad, including the flights there and back.
The ministry of education had denied our request for funding and so had the university. So, I got to thinking — Where do you find €11,000 just lying around?
After what felt like breaking the world record for most emails sent within a week, I found out that seemingly every company in the Czech Republic has run out of funding for the year and can’t help us (even though they’d love to!). The answer became clear: crowdfunding.
I got into talks with Donio.cz, explained our situation, and just a week later, our campaign went live.
Within the first week, we raised over €2,000. This was wonderful news. We were on pace to meet our goal!
However, week after week, donations dropped off faster and faster, eventually plateauing at just over €3,000. Even though we were very grateful for the public’s generous help, it wasn’t nearly enough and we weren’t the most hopeful.
But then, with only 18 days until the end of our campaign, everything changed. I woke up to a message from Markéta Hronová at Hospodářské noviny: They wanted to run a story on us.
In her article, Markéta describes how our plight is the direct result of the Czech government’s lack of care for our talented youth. “The way our gifted children are being treated is pitiful,” adds Senator Růžička.
24 hours after the article went live, our campaign’s proceeds have almost doubled, and people started to notice us.
One of those people was Ondřej Bartoš, a businessman and philanthropist. We got in contact and in a generous move, he pledged to cover whatever amount we were short at the end of our campaign, lifting a huge burden off our backs and securing us another year at the International Linguistics Olympiad.
During this campaign, I learned about the importance of personal connections, perseverance, and I’m looking forward to more exciting challenges with the Czech Linguistics Olympiad!
And best of all — Team Czechia ended up winning the entire competition.
