Now, entrepreneurs need to win over not just one potential sponsor, but in some cases, thousands of small sponsors in a new wave of fundraising through Crowdfunding.
The Crowdfunding phenomenon really started to take off two years ago and now multiple project funding platforms exist. The general idea is that a business puts together a slick ‘pitch’ on their chosen crowdfunding website, uses social media to spread the word and entice individuals to pledge anything from £1 to the project.
With such variety in crowdfunding platforms available to entrepreneurs, which one is best for your project? The best way to find out is to research and follow what they do. Look at how the projects are listed. Look at how the successful ones are raising the money. Look at the ‘type’ of projects they have online and type of people they attract. Be very clear that you cannot just list your project and people will find it. You have to work HARD at getting people to your page and then of course you have to get them to part with their money.
One business directly experiencing how much energy it takes to fundraise in this way is the Cambridge based e-Luminate™ Festival CIC. The group currently have a project listed on Kickstarter to help raise funds for an innovative festival to be held in February 2013 which pairs CleanTech innovators with light artists to create an exciting visual display in the Cambridge town centre.
The reason why Kickstarter is so relevant to initiatives like e-Luminate™, because it gives an opportunity to communities to support campaigns they feel strongly about. Thus, e-Luminate™ is backed by people from all over the world who believe that innovation in clean technologies can make a real difference to our carbon footprint therefore our quality of life. Kickstarter contributors, in turn, can enjoy the light festival and receive tokens of appreciation based on how much they contributed.
However, there is a catch; Kickstarter has one condition. In order to receive the money, the campaign must reach its target. Should the funds pledged be below target, no contributors would be debited, and e-Luminate™ would receive nothing.
So apart from Kickstarter, which other crowdfunding players are out there? As it turns out, it’s a busy market with just a few examples listed here - Wefund, pleasefund.uk, Sponsume, BuzzBank, Indiegogo, Posible, Quirky, Crowdcube and Peoplefundit. Some are more focused on the creative and cultural sectors, others on innovation and technology and then a more general mix. Peoplefund.it and Crowdfunder have now just merged and claim to reach over 2 million people.
We think the arts and culture should use these platforms, if anything it’s a good way to raise your profile and help you focus on what the ‘people’ get out of being involved with you.
Finally, I would suggest that whatever your target is – you need to be sure that when your project goes live at least a third or quarter of the funds required have already been promised by people you know! What looks more exciting; a £10,000 project that’s already got £3,000 or one that’s got £800?
Make it exciting and fun for people getting involved.
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