I would like to share my thoughts for this:

1. This idea has been running in steemit for months already. We're just taking it slow for there are things that more important than this. We believe funding it thru steemit is great way and not a "free money" sort of a thing.
2. There are two kinds of steemians/investors, one who invest his/her time and one who invest his/her money and time. And we're proud to say that we invest our time and purely rely with our talent here on steemit so there's no problem with what we are doing "funding" our initiative, what's steemit for? If some investors think steemit as a profit generator for their investments, so as we. We think steemit as a collaborator for our initiatives. It's a mutual relationship, we give and take.
3. We are doing this not just to promote steemit but to give thanks to our fellow engineering friends/students. We want to embark strong bond in the society where steemit is recognized and acknowledged.
4. Lastly, if people think that this is unnecessary and that you think people thought about it, think about on some initiatives were funded with thousands or even millions of steem just to get through. And to add, some of these initiatives are for certain benefits and specified people, not for the whole community.

Thank you for reading. 😎