Raftr reimagines communities so every member can connect and thrive.
The Raftr Story
Like most startups, Raftr was born from a problem that hit close to home: With her own children starting college, founder Sue Decker began noticing how disjointed the college experience could be for students. With a severe lack of accessible, centralized communication channels for students to ask questions, get access to resources, or network with their peers, Sue discovered that students often only heard about important events after they had already happened.
After some digging, we found out that an increasing number of university admins were seeking alternative channels to reach & engage their student bodies and foster a deeper sense of campus belonging. And with that, Raftr was born.
“We built Raftr to be the communications and content sharing platform we wish existed on campuses – it shouldn’t be difficult for students to find people with shared interests or to communicate with those in their residence halls and pre-orientation groups.”
Sue Decker
Founder & CEO of Raftr
Raftr Today
While Raftr’s initial market focus was in HigherEd, COVID changed the game.
With an increasing number of groups, organizations, and enterprises looking to increase community-building – and some even requiring in-house community building software to achieve retention and growth goals – we decided to evolve beyond Higher Ed, and offer digital community building platforms to groups of all shapes and sizes.
From college campuses to unions (and beyond!) Raftr is the best community management software to create, track, and grow your own private digital communities.
Why “Raftr”? And what’s the deal with the otter?
Sea otters float on the ocean waves in groups that are called “rafts,” sometimes holding hands in order to better stay together.
Inspired by this natural example of how a community can positively influence member stability, belonging, and prosperity, our company name reflects the things we value most about community-building.
