Crowdfunding Business Models

Samantha Beinhacker
Director of Member Services, Jewish Funders Network

Josh Tetrick
Founder and CEO, 33needs

Derek Lomas doesn’t see business as evil; he sees it as a tool to fund and distribute interactive games for children in Latin America. Jesse Gossett doesn’t use his engineering degree to build bigger buildings; he is using it to democratize investments in renewable energy. Rosey Sambilli doesn’t just buy music to relax or dance to; she is using it as a platform to fund hundreds of undiscovered artists in Africa.

The convening power of the Internet, rapid advances in technology, and the reduced costs of launching a social enterprise in today’s wired world are driving the race to create business models brimming with purpose. In this environment, social entrepreneurs like these are developing new solutions to take advantage of these advances and recreate yesterday’s broken business models.

One example of their approach is crowdfunding — the collective cooperation by people who network and pool their money together. And the implications, from technology to community-powered renewable energy to political campaigns or to financing the next wave of social enterprises, are immense. Think about how the Obama campaign flipped the standard campaign fundraising model on its head through harnessing small repeatable donations from the crowd.

It’s an opportunity that has the potential to transform the business, political, and charitable landscapes. And it’s already happening.

In this discussion, we ask for your insights on this current trend. Some questions to consider:

1. What business model for social impact does your organization use? 

2. Does an opportunity exist for crowdfunding to scale your impact?

3. Besides the examples noted above, can you think of other possibilities to harness crowdfunding for good?

4. What isn’t sustainable about your business model? Why? Could "tapping the crowd" for funds enhance your sustainability?

Join social entrepreneurs Samantha Beinhacker and Josh Tetrick in the conversation.

roii patterson

our communiiity business model

Hi Josh and Samantha – we are a virtual incubator for social enterprises. we are crowdsourcing the execution of our startups. So unlike most incubators who look for entrepreneurs who have ideas – we reverse it. We have the ideas and we look for entrepreneurs and consultants to executue on specific tasks that the startups needs. In return we offer points that can be used on the products, services, or even shares of the startups in our communiiity. Its still pretty early stage but thats the model we are working towards. Any feedback or suggestions would be great. tks
- Josh Tetrick
  
  our communiiity business model
  
  You know (from our previous chats) I’m a fan of your model, and we’re excited to have you on 33needs.com. Any existing model that facilitates the "execute on specific tasks" element you mentioned?
- Samantha Beinhacker
  
  our communiiity business model
  
  Hi Roii, thanks for joining us here. I love your LinkedIn group on Crowdfunding- great resource! I’m curious about your business model.
  
  What kind of a point system do you offer? Have you partnered with retailers/service providers for the offerings? What is your incubator’s name/website? Is there a "social mission" involved in the start ups? Or do you accept all types of entrepreneurial businesses?
  
  Please keep the conversation going!
Ben White

Welcome to VC4Africa.biz, connecting entrepreneurs and their ideas

Great to see this discussion come online.

We believe we can crowdsource and crowdfund ventures in Africa….where entrepreneurs have to tackle the greatest challenges. At the same time where investors have to make the greatest effort. Here we seek to leverage the power of the crowd and lower all barriers to entry.

Please see the http://www.VC4Africa.biz platform, a free open source matchmaking platform. We have 3500 registered profiles in the first two weeks and are pushing 50 ventures. We are working hard to grow and scale this initiative and look for your support.

We welcome you to our community!

Kind regards,

Ben
- Josh Tetrick
  
  Welcome to VC4Africa.biz, connecting entrepreneurs and their ideas
  
  Thanks a lot for this, Ben. Spent lots of time meeting w/entrepreneurs in Liberia, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa over the years. Can anyone invest, or do you have to be an accredited investor to fund the ventures?
Tyler Hartung

Unreasonable Crowdfunding

I am very interested to hear the various crowd-funding business models that will follow this article. Thank you for writing this!

At the Unreasonable Institute, are searching for the next set of completely obsessed, high-growth, high-impact entrepreneurs that will unite at the Institute, connect with expert mentors, consulting organizations, and capital sources, and be given the resources they need to create a globally significant venture. (note: applications are open until Dec. 15th at http://UnreasonableInstitute.org)

How do we select these "Unreasonable Fellows"? We don’t! Here’s what we do (again, excited to hear what others do).

Step 1: Narrow down applicants to those that meet our criteria

We narrow our applicant pool down to about 50 finalists that best meet our eligibility criteria (ie. have a prototype or pilot, have a plan to become financially self-sustainable, will be scalable globally for ultimate impact). Then we…

Step 2: Let the world’s Unreasonable people decide

The Finalists place a profile on the Unreasonable Finalist Marketplace where people from around the world vote with their dollars to decide who will be the next Unreasonable Fellows (in 2010, 3000 people chose the Unreasonable Fellows).

The next chance for the world to select the next Unreasonable Fellows on the Finalist Marketplace will be in January at http://www.UnreasonableInstitute.org
- Josh Tetrick
  
  Unreasonable Crowdfunding
  
  Good stuff. Talk to us about the Unreasonable Marketplace. What about the potential of crowdfunding to finance the ventures of the fellows?
Matt Neidich

Clarification on Crowdfunding

After a little research, I’m having a hard time understanding how this approach differs from some of the traditional methods out there. From what it sounds like, any organization that looks for donations across a wide pool of potential donors would be seeking crowdfunding. For any organization that is seeking capital infusement through the same general methods would likely be following some form of either cooperative model or an IPO.

That said, if you are looking for capital infusement through this method, it sounds like you risk complications with securities regulations in the United States because the sale of business ownership generally has strict government regulations.

Is there a nuance to the crowdfunding method that I’m missing? It seems to me that the real difference it the channel through you are asking for donations or capital infusement; crowdfunding seems to rely more heavily on the internet to reach a wider audience. In essence, however, I’m having a hard time distinguishing how the model itself truly differs from other donation/capitalization strategies.
- Josh Tetrick
  
  Clarification on Crowdfunding
  
  Matt – You nailed the difference: the internet. It has changed the game by dramatically widening (and deepening) the pool of potential supporters. Glad you mentioned the sale of business ownership and potential violations of securities law. Have you though about a model that shares revenue, as opposed to equity? Anyone else…?
  - DanielBassill
    
    Pre and Post Internet
    
    Josh. I agree with you. I think that fifty or 100 years from now history will be defined as pre and post because of how much potential there is to attract people from all over the world to places where they can connect and learn from each other.
    
    I have been trying to apply this thinking for the past dozen years and if you search Google for "tutor mentor" I’ve succeeded in getting to the first page. That means anyone in the world could find my sites and use the information.
    
    It does not yet mean that people from all over the world are actually doing this, or that they are becoming resource providers, partners, collaborators, etc. That requires more communications resources and facilitation than I yet have.
    
    I’ve created a pdf that illustrates the role of intermediaries in connecting people who can help (from all over the world) with us, and with organizations like ours, which are spread all over the Chicago area, and in other parts of the world. http://www.tutormentorexcha…ose%20who%20need%20help.pdf
    
    The graphic shows that while there are many people in the world who might be interested in what I do, and might help, I’m one of thousands of organizations in different places doing the same type of work. Getting my organization noticed by a large enough group of people takes luck, great marketing, and for most is not likely to happen.
    
    I think where crowdfunding and ideas like this will gain traction is if intermediaries focus people who can help on an entire sector of organizations working for the same purpose, who are spread all over the world, or who may be located in a single city. This has the potential to recruit all of the beneficiary organizations as communications partners, and it creates a bigger vision that people might pay attention to.
    
    Thus, at http://www.tutormentorprogramlocator.net volunteers, donors and parents can find contact information for more than 200 youth serving organizations in Chicago, including the one I operate.
    
    This is pretty narrowly focused, which I also think is one strategy that will emerge. If the intermediary is something like Network For Good, which hosts information about more than 700,000 US non profits, their site can’t do much every day to draw attention to any single sector. Only those who area already well known benefit greatly from these sites.
    
    However, a NetworkforGood focused on AIDS, or Water, or Hunger, or a specific country, might have some real opportunity to demonstrate how crowdfunding can have an on-going impact.
    
    I look forward to seeing more examples that you all might share.
  - David Strouhal
    
    Clarification on Crowdfunding
    
    Another difference could be the "collective cooperation" element. I’m not sure how much traditional funding relied on collaboration with the donater but crowdfunding might employ more of a mass collaboration effect. The book WIKINOMICS describes this phenomenon in relation to ventures where those contributing are actively involved in making the product better (i.e. Wikipedia, Linux). With an internet medium, it’s much easier to actively engage the contributor because there are better platforms for a two-way conversation. People who are engaged in this way tend to be more excited about contributing and spread the word more often and more effectively.
  - Philip Tuuta
    
    Clarification on Crowdfunding
    
    Hi Guys
    
    New here but ProFounder in the USA does exactly that – share revenue with funders instead of equity. PLUS you can also offer other incentive and bonuses. Nothing wrong with rewarding good contributions as well as performance
  - Philip Tuuta
    
    Clarification on Crowdfunding
    
    Hi Guys
    
    New here but ProFounder in the USA does exactly that – share revenue with funders instead of equity. PLUS you can also offer other incentive and bonuses. Nothing wrong with rewarding good contributions as well as performance
Michael Solomon

Successful crowd funding requires successful communication

In early 2008, we copied the people behind the film The Age of Stupid – http://www.spannerfilms.net/films/ageofstupid. Indeed we even contacted the same lawyers that set up their crowd funding ‘debenture offer’ to do exactly the same ourselves.

We have recently relaunched our own crowd funding offer via a blog: http://seecrowdfund.blogspot.com/

What the folk behind the incredibly successful The Age of Stupid did so well was sell the idea of the film far and wide. Indeed, they sold ‘debenture units’ to people that did not regard themselves as investors at all. This was only possible because they were born campaigners and brilliant communicators and they told the story of why the film needed to be made, and why crowd funding was such a smart way to go about it.

But this in itself became a real job of work. Franny Armstrong and Co. needed to build, maintain and regularly update a great website. Crucially, they also got out on the road to stage public screenings of their ‘trailer’ and to speak directly to the different crowds they attracted in various pubs and clubs around the UK. The fund raising itself was a massive task, prior to the equally massive tasks of then making the film and then getting it screened.

In my opinion, one of the many interesting things that happened was the discussion around the likelihood of the film perhaps being eventually made, and perhaps being eventually viewed by a decent sized audience, but the chance of any financial return probably being quite slim. At the outset there was a strong sense that the participation and risk taking by the crowd funders who provided the capital was to be repaid by their satisfaction in helping the project to get off the ground. There was a sense crowd funders would be very much part of the story, but were not likely to make any real financial return.

While we are very keen to provide a good financial return to our investors, and be a social business with a very mainstream, for-profit model and approach, it is nonetheless important that our crowd funding investors – just like the angel investors who have gone before them – buy into SEE’s vision and mission. We want our investors to have the best of both worlds: a decent financial return AND the warm, fuzzy feeling that comes with helping to make the world a better place.

So we have recently reopened our 2008 crowd funding offer, but do so with our eyes wide open. In order for crowd funders to come forward we need them to first understand how SEE What You Are Buying Into benefits consumers and businesses. And then we need them to understand our business model and this innovative approach to fund raising. As such, we have rather doubled our normal workload! I am sure that key to success in both these tasks is clearly communicating a compelling story.

Naturally, I believe the crowd funding model has enormous potential for social business. This may be the only route to possible funding for a variety of great ideas and projects. But I know making it work will be challenging and will take a great deal of time and effort. Being able to make potential crowd funders understand how their investment can create social and/or environmental benefit is vital, but it is only one of a number of critical challenges.
- Josh Tetrick
  
  Successful crowd funding requires successful communication
  
  Great model. I’m a big fan of the Age of Stupid. Explain the characteristics of ‘debenture units’ that enable your company to get around some of the legal obstacles inherent in raising money from everyday (aka, retail) investors.
  - Michael Solomon
    
    Successful crowd funding requires successful communication
    
    Thanks for the question, Josh. At the top of our offer is an ‘IMPORTANT NOTICE’ that starts ‘THE INFORMATION SET OUT IN THIS WEBPAGE AND IN THE ‘INVEST’ WEBPAGES ARE A FINANCIAL PROMOTION AS DEFINED BY THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS ACT 2000….’ Our lawyers are regulated by the UK regulatory authority, the Financial Services Authority, under this legislation – called the FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS ACT 2000 – to vet and approve various types of financial offers. It took two months, and cost £5,000, for our lawyers to determine that our business was everything we said it was, and to verify all the claims we made in the debenture offer FAQs.
    
    The cunning part is talking about our offer without actually making it. We do not disclose what percentage of profits each £500 or £5,000 debenture unit attracts. To find this out, you have to ‘apply’, i.e. get in touch and state your interest. We will then tell you. But we can only tell a limited number of people at any one time. And, as such, this is not a financial offer, publicly made, and therefore meets the requirements of the law, which is unsurprisingly very strict. You could offer shares, it does not have to be debentures. I think you can raise up to £1.25m in this way in the UK. I think this is what we found out at the time.
    
    I believe that The Age of Stupid made some variations to their originally vetted offer and therefore had to remove the legal notification and reference to their FSA approved lawyers. And thus their crowd fund, for the majority of the time it successfully ran and raised the necessary funds, was not entirely compliant with UK law! But, nobody felt the need to intervene, the money got raised, the film got made: big social good. BUT….I was speaking with an AoS debenture holder today who thinks, not only will there not be a return on the initial principal invested, he will likely lose 80-90% of this money. As such, he is thankful his ‘investment’ gave him a VERY warm fuzzy feeling and he was not looking to put his kids through college on the proceeds!
    
    Our debenture is as initially vetted and approved. As such, it is a little out of date. But we do not expect to attract new investment now without considerable correspondence with new potential investors, through which further information can be shared and all their questions can be answered. On both the financial returns and the warm fuzzy feeling returns.
    - Josh Tetrick
      
      Successful crowd funding requires successful communication
      
      Open to American investors, too?
- Samantha Beinhacker
  
  Successful crowd funding requires successful communication
  
  Hi Michael,
  
  Good to see you on The Edge. I remember you from our conversations in London when you were ramping up SEE. You’re absolutely right that the key to success is exquisite communication. Age of Stupid was a brilliant example of that.
  
  I’d like to hear how you’re keeping busy communicating the crowdfunding story. What messages resonate with your investors? What don’t? And why? For others watching this conversation, please weigh in on this topic, too! Would love to hear your thoughts.
  - Michael Solomon
    
    Successful crowd funding requires successful communication
    
    Hi Samantha! Hope you are well.
    
    We are keeping busy on everything OTHER THAN communicating our crowd funding story! We are doing lots of selling, partnering and evaluation work, this has not left much time for fund raising. "Small social enterprise with limited resources and unlimited ambitions struggles to keep all the plates spinning at all times"; is this a familiar story?! We can bring funds into the business by selling and generating revenue, and by selling debenture offers. But without sales, investment will be difficult to raise, so I am happy to err on this side of the equation at the moment. I think this is the most important message for prospective investors: SEE works.
    
    Different to how things were in 2008, we now have an ethical IFA (Independent Financial Advisor) business signed up as a SEE listed company, see here http://barchestergreen.co.uk/…/corporate-social-responsibility
    
    They sell advice to people right across the UK on which pensions to go for, which life insurance, which bonds, which alternative investments, all of which must support the movement towards a more socially responsible business culture. We now have a few other ethical IFAs joining SEE too. And our newest partner is UKSIF – http://www.uksif.org/
    
    …so I am hoping to persuade these companies and this partner to refer the SEE Crowd Fund opportunity to their networks. Our websites need to be as good as possible, and those evangelising on our behalf need to be bitten by the idea and inspired to get others excited about it too. If our communications are not good enough to let this happen, we will have to continue to do it all ourselves and to sign up new companies, partners and investors, one at a time!
- Amy Carol Wolff
  
  Successful crowd funding requires successful communication
  
  Just a note to consider in this- and I’m so glad that you brought this up. When shaping stories that convey the need/issue or the "purpose" of the investment- it’s actually crucial to steer clear of language that is "warm and fuzzy" and actually SHOW the impact. Instead, it’s important to capture individual stories where the solution has impacted the need. We are living in a day and age where those with the resources to invest are actually more concerned with the holistic effect of a program- but want that effect communicated tangibly.
  
  So it become less about words and more about video and photos. It means matching the graphs and charts with real faces. People are no longer satisfied with an email update that merely states progress. The innovative and "ahead of the curve" communicator in the crowd-source world will invest in programs like monitoring and evaluation, and impact measurement to provide his/her community with the information they need to stick around, care about their investment and then invest again. There must be a sense of ownership- not just "contribution to a good thing". There are lots of good things to give money to- but there are arguably less "good things" that I, as an individual, can stake claim in. But if you do it right, you will communicate the actual truth that I, as an investor, have actually helped bring to fruition a program that provides clean water, education to kids, medicine to the ostracized. It is partially "my project"- I own part of it.
  
  That part of the story is the heart beat of this business.
  
  ACW
Danae Ringelmann, CFA

Crowdfunding stories happening all around us. Some really cool examples…

At IndieGoGo, crowdfunding is the act of lots of folks both contributing small amounts of money & sharing their support with their friends, with the benefit of perks. So it sits somewhere in between ROI investing and donating.

Crowdfudning is not just about raising money, it’s about building awareness and an engaged and loyal community behind your venture too. But I’m going to let the stories do the talking…

CREATIVE:

Musicians and other creative folks can pre-sell their work as a way to fund theat very work…like these hilarious musicians who are funding their next album through their fans. THE MAKEPEACE BROTHERS:

http://www.indiegogo.com/makepeacebrothers

ENTREPRENEURS:

Entrepreneurs offer special access & their products as way to fund their business. This new cafe is opening its doors thanks to funding from its future customers:

http://www.indiegogo.com/awakencafe

CAUSES:

People passionate about a charity or community effort now have a vehicle to translate their passion into dollars for their cause. This committed citizen raised money from his community to fund walking audio tour that will boost the very community’s local economy. Meta? yes. Cool? for sure.

http://www.indiegogo.com/nelson-walking-audio-tour

So crowdfunding is really about going directly to the folks who will benefit from your venture or work the most (fans, customers, colleagues/neighbor) and pooling their funds to make it happen. At it’s core it’s taking out the middle man, raising money, marketing and validating your idea all in one.

Some perspectives here:

5 Things I Learned About Crowdfunding for a Small Business

http://www.indiegogo.com/bl…sion-posting-my-projec.html

Some Ways Musicians are Using Crowdfunding

http://www.indiegogo.com/bl…ns-are-using-indiegogo.html

Funding Major Life Events

http://www.indiegogo.com/bl…fund-major-life-events.html

5 Benefits of Crowdfunding

http://www.indiegogo.com/…/benefits-of-crowdfunding.html

I’m one of the founders of IndieGoGo. We’re passionate about giving people the tools to make their idea a reality. danae at indiegogo dot com!

Cheers!

Danae
- Samantha Beinhacker
  
  Crowdfunding stories happening all around us. Some really cool examples…
  
  Danae, thanks for all these fantastic examples. Crowfunding is, indeed, happening all around us!
  
  I would love you, and others participating in this conversation, to share some thoughts about how best to build awareness and create an engaged and loyal community behind the cause/project.
  
  What works? What doesn’t?
Colin Mutchler

Crowdfunding to reach new audiences

Thanks Sam and Josh for beginning this conversation. We’re particularly excited about the timing of it as we have just launched the first tests of our new service <a href="http://loudsauce.com">LoudSauce</a>, a crowdfunding platform focused on buying advertising space on TV and billboards for social enterprises and ideas that matter.

In response to the question of crowdfunding to scale impact, we think there is a huge opportunity to use traditional media and advertising (which has become more affordable and accessible), to truly reach new audiences and help organizations scale effectively.

For all the benefits of social media, crowds online are starting to understand that the "re-tweet" and "like" buttons only go so far. Our hypothesis is that these same people may be willing to chip in to buy advertising space to promote their favorite causes, so that they can go beyond the choir with their message.

We’re testing these ideas with two campaigns to get <a href="http://loudsauce.com/?page_id=471">Green Patriot Posters on bus shelters in CA</a>, and to get the <a href="http://loudsauce.com/?page_id=428">Story of Stuff teaser on A&E’s Hoarders</a> and reach 2 million new people.

We hope that you will consider contributing (2 days left), and give us feedback on these tests so we can apply our learnings to promote more social enterprises from this community.
- Samantha Beinhacker
  
  Crowdfunding to reach new audiences
  
  Colin, great to see you here! Not sure why, but the HTML links you posted are broken. Can you fix them so we can all see the great work you’re doing with LoudSauce. So psyched to see how far it’s come since I saw you and Christie at WeMedia in March!
  - Colin Mutchler
    
    Crowdfunding to reach new audiences
    
    It doesn’t seem possible to edit the comment once I posted it. If anyone has any guidance, I would love to update it so it’s less ugly =)
    
    Also, an interesting take on the tangible differences between Crowdfunding and Crowdsourcing at the Design Observer: http://bit.ly/fHeSI3
Brad Powell

Crowdfunding Music & Dance

Thanks to Sam and Josh for hosting this conversation.

At Microfundo we’re focussed on crowdfunding for music and dance performing artists – particularly international artists who have been underserved by the music and entertainment industry.

Microfundo’s approach is to extend the model of crowdfunding so that it can become a sustainable funding source for the entire career of an artist – rather than for only a single project. Successful fundraising has always been about long-term relationship building and successful crowdfunding, if it’s going to have lasting impact, needs a similar, long-term approach.

For performing artists this translates into fan engagement and value propositions/rewards that go beyond material items to include social rewards such as membership in an art/music/dance community/scene/tribe and a social conscious benefit that comes from the perception that the crowdfunding efforts are contributing to a greater good.

Early (pre-internet) pioneers in this work were the Grateful Dead who created a large and loyal following of ‘deadheads’ – highly dedicated fans who crowdfunded a few decades of the band’s career.

A more recent pioneer is the artist Jonathan Coultan who’s succeeded with a high level of fan engagement including crowdsourcing concert locations and fan-driving promotion.

http://www.microfundo.com/jonathancoultan/

I’d like to take a minute to respond to Matt’s question about the distinction of crowdfunding over earlier models. Clay Shirky, the author of ‘Cognitive Surplus’ & ‘Here Comes Everybody’, suggests that crowd sourcing (and crowdfunding) are operating on a scale that was not possible before the internet and the open source movement. Now that our leasure time has been combined with digital media that is interactive – people are choosing to spend their time in creative ways that are for the benefit of the common good. Shirky’s examples include wikipedia and the open source Ushahidi platform.

I’d love to hear from others what they think about the Cognitive Surplus theory and how it applies to crowdfunding…
- Josh Tetrick
  
  Crowdfunding Music & Dance
  
  Thanks a lot for your post, Matt. Tell us a bit more about what each supporter (or backer) gets (and why) for their investment in an artist. Revenue share? Album?
Amy Sandoz

What’s not sustainable about crowdfunding

I like crowdfunding because it is accessible to many and it has been proven to make a powerful impact. What I dislike about crowdfunding is that it is usually project based and generally short term – donate to Obama’s campaign, fund this artist’s album, etc. It would be great to see fundraising goals transition from raising money for a one-time project to building a solid stream of on-going funding to organizations. I understand the focus on projects – people get excited about donating to specific projects and they are easier to promote than on-going funding needs, but it requires immense resources from organizations to fully execute crowdfunding campaigns. And as most of the money raised for projects aren’t raised to pay for the resources used in fundraising, it causes stress on the organization.

Would love to see examples of crowdfunding for on-going needs if anyone has seen or used them.
- DanielBassill
  
  What’s not sustainable about crowdfunding
  
  Amy, you’ve described the problem. I’ve been trying to find a solution for the past 20 years. It’s really simple. In the business world companies put stores where they see potential customers, then support those stores with centralized teams that do planning, HR, advertising, merchandising, etc. I was with a company that did this for over 100 years and had stores in 40 states. WalMart has stores all over the world.
  
  I was a retail advertising manager for the Montgomery Ward Corporation. In the 1980s we were spending $250 million each year just to send 52 weeks of print, radio and TV advertising to the 40 states where we had stores. All we were doing was changing the theme of each week’s ad to reflect what was happening and what consumers were interested in at different times throughout year, and showing customers that we had merchandise that they might be looking for. We also offered "sales" and other incentives to try to encourage more people to shop each week.
  
  No non profit has $250 million for advertising, yet the weight of the non profit sector could probably create this much regular media. This is where ideas like crowdsourcing can have an impact.
  
  If intermediaries in the non-profit sector can aggregate information and segment it by service category and zip code and share it in map-based directories, then anyone who cares for the mission the category seeks to fulfill can shop the database to choose where and with what organization they want to become a volunteer and/or donor. Furthermore, anyone can use some of the emerging technologies to point people in their network toward the charity sector of their choice on a daily basis.
  
  If we can create "events" throughout the year that motivate people to donate or volunteer, these can serve the same purpose as the "sales" and special offers that retailers offer to spur business on a regular basis.
  
  I’m sure there are other examples of people who are doing this better than I am, and who have more money to invest in this, however, if you visit http://www.tutormentorconnection.org and browse the various sections you can see what we’re trying to do, and help us by encouraging others to also take a look.
  - Josh Tetrick
    
    What’s not sustainable about crowdfunding
    
    Thanks for your comments and great work in this space, Daniel. What about globalgiving.org — possible answer for you?
    - DanielBassill
      
      What’s not sustainable about crowdfunding
      
      Global Giving is like many other platforms where charities can be listed and donors can find and choose them. This is fine for what it is, but it’s not what I’m suggesting.
      
      A "global giving" just focused on a single social issue that is present in many parts of the world is what I’m envisioning. The issue could be youth development/education, or on "water issues" or "hunger issues". The site would only host NGOs or social enterprises related to that topic. By doing this the site can act as an intermediary creating and hosting content that educates donors and encourages collaboration among non profits using the site. The site and its sponsors could be working with the non profits it hosts to educate and attract donors.
      
      This can’t happen when the host portal covers all social issues, in the US, or in the world. It’s too broad.
- Josh Tetrick
  
  What’s not sustainable about crowdfunding
  
  Hi, Amy. Thanks for bringing this point up. A crowdfunding platform orgs could use for hiring new staff, generating marketing materials, launching advertising campaigns, and other needs would be valuable. Tell us what you think of globalgiving.org — possible answer to your question?
  - Nik at Wishbone
    
    What’s not sustainable about crowdfunding
    
    Hi All,
    
    What do you think of the idea of using the crowd to generate a fund that could give financial (and/or more tangible) support to non-profits/social enterprises in the area of their non-grant making activities (marketing, admin, etc.), where the crowd would also be engaged to help decide which enterprises receive the support?
    
    You could here still utilise the specific project/event triggers that tend to drive donations, as discussed above, to tell the story of the enterprise but for the purpose of encouraging the crowd to support a financial input to the ongoing needs of that particular enterprise.
    
    Feedback and communication to the crowd are key and the right financial products need to be delivered to the enterprises, but you should be able to create a sustainable fund that enables growth in the enterprises and breeds commitment and engagement from the crowd.
    
    Still a lot of rough edges on this plan, but it’s what I’m thinking about whenever I have a spare minute!
    
    Would love to hear your views on this.
Rob Wu

Crowdfunding in Nonprofits, Loyalty

Crowdfunding is an interesting concept. The internet lowered the friction of socializing to create "social networking". It is now lowering the friction of donating and funding to create "crowd funding".

As such, crowdfunders (people with weak relationships to an org that participate in crowdfunding) tend to fund projects with a defined need rather than on-going support.

Amy – Although difficult, the best example of crowdfunding for on-going needs that I’ve seen occurs in the non-profit sector. The best way is to bundle up some of their overhead costs into the amount that they need to fundraise for a project. Fundraising just for on-going operations alone doesn’t get the nonprofit really far. My view may be limited based on the non-profits that my platform serves though.

Inherently for social enterprises, your goal is to build a business model that is sustainable, so crowd based funding isn’t very appropriate for social enterprises past the seed stage. My understanding is limited, but it looks like ProFounder, 33needs, and some other players are best for the seed stage area.

Samantha – building awareness, cultivating that to engagement, and creating a support base is a long-term activity. There’s no silver bullet approach. As far as non-profit projects/causes, we recommend the following (not a comprehensive list)

- Clearly articulate the mission

- Tell a compelling story of the need, and show metrics too

- Show a donor’s impact or intended impact

- Give people a defined action that you want them to take. Progressively ask for larger actions.

- Communicate regularly and personally

Traditionally, non-profits have followed a funnel approach from awareness, to familiarity, to consideration, to donation, to loyalty. McKinsey has a new approach that may be applicable to crowdfunding: http://bit.ly/e90Ub5. It requires registration, but it’s free.
- Josh Tetrick
  
  Crowdfunding in Nonprofits, Loyalty
  
  Thanks for your comments, Rob. You said, "As such, crowdfunders (people with weak relationships to an org that participate in crowdfunding) tend to fund projects with a defined need rather than on-going support." Any ideas on how to alter crowdfunding models to stimulate on-going support? I’m thinking about ideas to strengthen the connection between backer and enterprise. What about the thousands of repeat donors that helped fuel Obama’s campaign?
  - Rob Wu
    
    Crowdfunding in Nonprofits, Loyalty
    
    That’s a tough nut to crack, and I’m no expert on this. It sounds like we’re both on the same track on trying to solve the engagement issue too.
    
    When I think about Obama and other non-profits that have been good at getting people continually engaged, what makes them good at it is their ability to tell a story, show impact, and thank supporters. On the other side, opening up channels of consistent communication is important too.
    
    Perhaps transferring these best practices to enterprises would be beneficial too. Thoughts?
    - Josh Tetrick
      
      Crowdfunding in Nonprofits, Loyalty
      
      No doubt. Just look at what the power of story (and concrete visuals) is doing for TOMS Shoes and Charity Water.
      - Rob Wu
        
        Crowdfunding in Nonprofits, Loyalty
        
        At CauseVox (www.causevox.com), we’ve learned that the technology platform is only half the battle. Non-profits have to be good at the communication aspect to be truly effective.
      - DanielBassill
        
        Crowdfunding in Nonprofits, Loyalty
        
        Some non-profits may become great at communications, but most will not be as good as they need to. They don’t have the money to hire the talent that it takes to be great at communications, and they don’t have the money to distribute their stories consistently from year to year like corporate advertisers do.
        
        So what’s the answer? How about trying to enlist the people who benefit from what the non profit does to help communicate the stories and motivate people to get involved. While the youth in a tutor/mentor program can take this role, what about the businesses who benefit from a stronger workforce, or hospitals who benefit from lower cost of poverty, or universities who benefit from a more diverse student body? Here’s some articles showing what leaders can do that I’ve posted in an effort to motivate leaders to take this role. http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/leadership-strategies
        
        At http://tutormentorconnection.ning.com I’m attempting to bring people together to brainstorm ways to share this information and get more of these leaders involved with 12 month marketing of volunteer involvement in tutor/mentor programs.
        
        With all of the new on-line portals do any of you know one where the goal is collaboration on building the communications and marketing that is needed to support all non profits/SEs in the same geography, or in the same business/social sector?
      - Josh Tetrick
        
        Crowdfunding in Nonprofits, Loyalty
        
        Ah, I disagree, Daniel. The tools of social media don’t require hiring "talent" like back in the day. Look at Charity Water or TOMS Shoes or Invisible Children or Kiva… I could go on. Think Social recognizes some of the fresh and innovative approaches to making it happen w/out lots of cash: http://think-social.org/awards/2009-winners
        
        What does everyone else think?
      - Brad Powell
        
        Crowdfunding in Nonprofits, Loyalty
        
        Hey Daniel,
        
        Actually Microfundo is taking on this kind of collective marketing role for musicians. The traditional music model has a label (with a significant budget) sign an artist and then, in addition to producing a new recording, executing a marketing, promotion and fan development campaign.
        
        Most independent artists do not have the financial resources to compete on the same scale when they go to produce an independent recording – and while facebook and twitter are useful, most independent artists are not going to be able to run a significant ad campaign or reach out the the numbers of fans they need to make their projects financially successful.
        
        So, what we’re learning from our experience at Microfundo is that all of the artists we have chosen to participate are able to crowdfund $1,000 (or more). 30 – 50 Artists can then be placed in a collective group within the same music niche and the whole group now has the financial resources to do a significant fan development (pr and marketing that microfundo manages) that they will all benefit from.
      - DanielBassill
        
        Crowdfunding – Microfundo good example
        
        I visited http://www.microfundo.org/ and think you’re a good example of what I’m suggesting. The person on my staff who makes maps is also an independent musician. He organized a Tutor/Mentor Jam Concert in Chicago last August. http://www.tutormentorjam.org . I’ll encourage him to connect on your site.
        
        As people who do what you and I and others are doing connect and learn from the experiences of each other, I feel we will be able to innovate constant improvements. What you’re doing in music could be done to connect and single focus network of people and organizations with each other, and create collective action/crowdfunding that could benefit each member, and hopefully cover the costs associated with being the intermediary.
        
        Any other examples like this?
Pamela Hawley

Keep the Crowd Personal

Crowdsourcing has an incredible ability to have huge traction, and, be personal. It’s quite a new business model and way of doing business, balancing both scale and customization. It’s exciting to see these various methods and tools used for social good.

For UniversalGiving (www.universalgiving.org) we use the internet to connect people to quality, vetted opportunities to give and volunteer. It’s about leveraging the crowd to take action, but in a way that they can trust. As we crowdsource more and more, trust and relationships will be paramount.

As a social entrepreneurship nonprofit, part of UniversalGiving’s business model is revenue generation. In UniversalGiving’s case our public service is free — anyone can volunteer or donate, and we don’t take a cut on the donation. It’s not a part of our business model. Then, we package up our service for companies and their CSR programs. Companies pay us for this service, which helps them with their strategy, operations and NGO Vetting. Through this work, we help increase employee giving and volunteer rates, increase employee retention and attraction, and have a positive effect on their global brand.

So back on the public, free service…we’re finding many of our donations are small and personal. People give due to their personal experiences, or, because friends recommend it. So no matter how big we become, no matter how much crowdsourcing gains momentum, and it will — we still focus on what is meaningful to each donor. What drives each person? Some people like sending a gift — such as our Gift Package of Sending a Soccer Ball to an Impoverished Child for $15 (http://tinyurl.com/27lorz8), or Bringing Light to a Village for $115 (http://tinyurl.com/22l8ygp). People who choose to get on the ground may volunteer to Build a House in India (http://tinyurl.com/22s93dz) or Teach Children in Ghana (http://tinyurl.com/2fpd587).

And it really is across the board. When you are trying to crowdsource and be personal, you have to have a wide range of opportunities, in order to "keep the crowd personal."

Sincerely,

Pamela Hawley

Founder and CEO

UniversalGiving™

phawley@universalgiving.org

http://www.universalgiving.org

Living and Giving blog

http://www.pamelahawley.wordpress.com
Cindy Cooper

Tipping Bucket Makes it Fun

I’m enjoying this discussion and marveling at the creative ways people are tapping crowds efficiently, literally one person at a time.

In the Social Innovation Incubator http://www.sba.pdx.edu/sii at Portland State University’s Impact Entrepreneurs http://www.pdx.edu/impactentrepreneurs , we’re working with Tipping Bucket, http://www.TippingBucket.org , a start-up crowdfunding site that promises to “change the world or your money back.”

Donors can give as little as $1 (USD) to add a drop to the bucket. As they say, it’s about: “putting changing the world on the dollar menu.” Wish I’d thought of that! The founder’s (SaraJoy Pond’s) inspiration: she may not have $500,000 to give to a cause, but she is connected to 500,000 people with $1 each.

Tipping Bucket focuses on one project (“bucket”) at a time while a clock counts down the days, hours and seconds to make your donation. If the bucket doesn’t tip in time, donors get their money back. I think the project focus and urgency are key to generating support and tipping the buckets. Like Groupon buyers, donors are motivated to see that the deal goes through. There’s a real fun factor.

I also like that Tipping Bucket has strict criteria and for selecting projects, but are inclusive of non-profits and for-profits alike. Like other crowfunding sites, Tipping Bucket donors get project updates. I think there is a lot of room for innovation on using crowdfunding for vetting and reporting. Tipping Bucket has ideas on that, and I’ll invite SaraJoy to post.

All that said, as others have pointed out, it is costly to be the intermediary. Tipping Bucket forwards 100% of the donations to the projects, and while that makes sense for compelling their donors, it is also a challenge for their own financial sustainability. Donors can opt to give Tipping Bucket a “tip,” but you need a substantial critical mass of these small streams to make a dent in operational costs. They are also working on revenue generation through sponsorships and white labels and even a really cool way of filling buckets during events – think sports arenas where thousands can donate and fill a bucket during half-time and collectively celebrate their accomplishment. Fun, right?
- DanielBassill
  
  Tipping Bucket Makes it Fun
  
  Thanks for posting Cindy. I think Portland State has some great programs and I’d like to connect at some point. I like Tipping Bucket but would like to see something that works like an hour glass, connecting many donors, through the portal, to many places who do the same type of work, and who all need money.
  
  Portals that pick what project gets featured are making choices that affect the lives and success of every organization they don’t choose. Furthermore, by picking different projects at different times, money comes like rain. Drops land in different places at different times, they don’t keep landing at the same place over and over.
  
  Non profits or for profits need this consistent flow of revenue to grow effective businesses and when the design of the intermediary only points at one at a time, and does not repeat the focus from year to year, it’s not as helpful as it things it is.
  
  I’m sure someone could innovate ways that the attention on one featured project helps draw donors to all of the projects doing similar type work. If someone can innovate a way to do this maybe the Pepsi Challenge, Chase Giving, and all the bigger competitions will follow. That would mean more people in the middle are pulling more people who can help to more places where help is constantly needed.
  
  If anyone has a team working on this I’d certainly like to contribute ideas.
Natalie Kaminski

New Crowdfunding Model

Hello everyone! My startup, Sponzu (http://sponzu.com/) is a new kind of crowdfunding platform for socially responsible initiatives. It allows people to help fund ideas by engaging is social actions or donating small amounts of money (under $1). I invite you to visit the site and share your feedback.
Christiana Weber

Social Crowdfunding

I have been reading about crowdsourcing and its derivative crowdfunding for about 2 years and I must say how promising that model appears to me. I am currently taking a course in Social Entrepreneurship and it is interesting how such models that was once specifically design to fund movie or music projects is now able to raise money for any given projects as long as the community can relate to it. This is one of the great forces behind the crowdfunding (crowdsourcing) model, since it enables the company to test and validate its product/idea right away by connecting with the crowd. Indeed, if the users are willing to finance your projects it means that it makes sense, and on top of that they will be willing to contribute to your idea. If you take the example of 33needs.com (which is a social version of Kickstarter.com), it becomes more obvious how such model and the rise of technology has helped social entrepreneurs connect with fellows around the world and jump start their ideas.

As for some of the questions mentioned above, I would try to answer the third one. I think that successful models that can continuously harness crowdfunding for good, will be the platform that are the most transparent and accountable. I believe that with the multiplication of such crowdfunding platforms, only the ones that can actually show the givers where their money is going, what were the impact thus far, and keep them updated on any progress, will be the platforms staying in business for a long period.
Charles Crawford

For profit business

I am new to the whole crowd sourcing thing. I am trying to figure out if this is something that would help our business. On Edge Skating is a for profit business. We are a synthetic ice rink and figure skating focused retailer. We are the only year round synthetic rink in the US. We are also a very GREEN minded company in regards to recycling and being environmentally friendly. No high ticket items like traditional rinks have in Zamboni’s, compressors, utility usage and so forth. Synthetic doesn’t need any of that.

The situation we find our selves in is that we are just starting ( opened in NOV) and we are trying to see what our fundraising options are. We are trying to raise 14K to significantly increase the size of our rink. We are the only year round rink within a 2 hour drive each way. Local hockey players are making that drive weekly since our traditional rink shut down due to equipment failure a year ago almost. Currently we are not big enough for whole hockey teams to practice on but after our expansion if we can raise the money we will be.

Is crowd funding something that would help us? We have tried traditional funding avenues with no luck. If anyone is interested in looking at our site it is http://www.onedgeskating.com I guess I am just lost and curious what our options could be since we are not in a major metro area. We are in a town just under 70,000 people in Western Colorado I can also be reached by email from within our site as well. I would be more then open to any helpful suggestions anyone might have for us.

Charles
Terence Milbourn

Crowdfunding Business Models

I was very happy to find the thread you’d started here Josh and especially pleased to read DanielBassill talking abouut "intermediaries in the non-profit sector can aggregate information and segment it by service category and zip code and share it in map-based directories" etc., since that’s just one of the things we are going to be doing at Crowd VC. This is our model.

Crowd VC is community powered capital (our name for crowdfunding) and thanks to a little help from Richard Branson and Jacqueline Novogratz we’ve been able to take that idea and start something quite new.

It’s called a “Patient Capital Market”.

The idea is simple – connect Internet crowdfunding with local capital markets in the Least Developed Countries (LDC), and help kick-start their local economies.

With a network of Patient Capital Markets throughout the LDC we can focus global philanthropy and local community support by investing where there’s the greatest need. And by sharing the investments with each other, none of us need be a Rockefeller to start.

We can all help small businesses grow and economies to thrive, and each of us can become a “capitalist philanthropist”, as Richard Branson describes them.

The <a title="Community Powered Capital" href="http://www.crowdvc.org/" target="_blank">Crowd VC software</a> is a FREE web-server platform that connects those in need with private Investors in their own community and around the world – similar to some US sites with names like sponsume, newjelly, invested.in, kickstarter and profounder.

Several of these sites simply raise charity pledges, not investments, and most charge substantial up-front fees. And whilst they’re good for funding an operation on your pet, launching the latest gadget for an iPod, or a business in the US, they are not able to meet the social investment needs of a Patient Capital Market.

What’s the advantage of a Patient Capital Market?

Like the sites I just mentioned, and most crowdfunding software, Crowd VC generates community powered capital.

At a Patient Capital Market, anyone can make a small loan directly to a business or development project in the LDC. Moreover, in less than 30 days, entrepreneurs and change-makers can obtain the funding they need, at a price they can afford.

The Patient Capital Market always ensures the borrower gets the loan at the best possible rate. This works because the bid process integral to the market ensures those who offer the most favourable rates “win” the investment – the famous win/win situation.

You don’t have to lend the business the full amount yourself, typically several people will participate in the loan with what they can afford to invest, and the borrower pays an average of all the rates bid. As a result, almost anyone with a few Dollars/Euro/Pounds or local currency to spare can become a “capitalist philanthropist”.

Since you’ve made a loan not a donation, when the business makes money, you can make money too. But because it’s a Patient Capital Market, you can choose to defer your profit and reinvest your capital up to three times with the same borrower.

Why Patient Capital Markets in the LDC?

By patiently investing and reinvesting in business potential in these countries we can trigger long-term, positive social impact. Funding enterprise speeds up economic growth and prosperity permeates through the lives of the entrepreneurs, their families, employees and community.

Providing small loans to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify, or without access to conventional banking, has two distinct advantages over charitable giving:

* A typical 98% ‘on-time’ repayment rate means it’s sustainable and creates independence from aid and charity, not dependence upon it.

* Money goes directly to the people who need it – bypassing the bureaucracy and corruption that can compromise traditional methods of aid and charitable giving.

And a Patient Capital Market will never lend to a business without a local Field Partner first providing the help needed to build a business plan likely to succeed.

So the more we invest, the more we earn and can reinvest, the greater the difference we make.

What’s the Big Idea?

The platform will launch in the 26 National languages of Africa, have federated project-flow together with our partners at AKVO and Grow VC, The World Bank, IMF, and all the major NGOs and we will give the software away or share it with anyone who needs it to raise funds in their community.

Our goal is for Patient Capital Markets to become the progressive way for Governments, NGOs and charities to give support directly to developing economies, instead of building a dependency on aid or charity, and all the citizen disenfranchisement, poor governance and corruption they often entail.

We think Patient Capital Markets will prove a far more effective way of providing grass-roots economic growth and sustainable development funding, which is why we started Crowd VC.
Ricebowlproject

Ricebowlproject: a new fund raising platform for social entrepreneurs!

Hello!

We’re Ricebowlproject, the newest crowdfunding platform for social entrepreneurs working on cause-based projects that benefit the international, national, or local communities. Ricebowlproject operates on the principles of collective action where small financial pledges are pooled together to help fund a project. Ricebowlproject is now accepting project submissions. Visit http://www.ricebowlproject.com and click on “Start a Project.” We’re set for our soft launch on August 1.

At least 1% of profits will be donated to Oceanic Preservation Society (producers of the dolphin killing documentary, “The Cove”) through Ricebowlproject’s partnership with 1% for the Planet. Questions or feedback, please email hello@ricebowlproject.com.
Monica Heynes

Crowdfunding in South Africa

Hi there I am Monica Heynes, an entrepreneur from South Africa. Over the years i have really struggled to assist businesses with start up capital as our government have alot of red tape before funding can be obtained. What i have done in the interim was assisting small businesses in obtaining the resources, training, mentorships, support, facilities in stead of money for start ups.

That way the entrepreneur could still continue doing what they do and make money while they do not have so many costs involved.The barter system worked fine as well. So in a way i was using a model where i get resources together and that way the entrepreneur do not have any cost needed for equipment, rental of premises, etc for a period of 6 months and more, but with conditions attached.

For example if an entrepreneur started a networking/ computer company, i will get them a space with a company where he can do business but for the free rent and most of the time setup equipment, etc he or she will have to service the particular companies computer system free for 6 months. The entrepreneur also charge where necessary as certain repairs and maintenance do not form part of the barter deal.

I am also in the business matchmaking business.

Please advise me on how crowdfunding had been received in South Africa.

Monica
- yeking
  
  Crowdfunding in South Africa
  
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Daniel Gutierrez

FundaGeek for tech and science

We just launched FundaGeek the next generation crowdfunding platform expressly for technology and scientific research. We’re the solution for high-tech start-ups to build prototypes, start a revenue stream and prepare for the next funding round – traditional venture financing. Think of FundaGeek as an alternative to "friends & family" funding. Maybe even more important, we’re a resource for researchers in the physical and life sciences as well as engineering that can fill in gaps with NSF and NIH grants. Check us out at: http://www.fundageek.com

Cheers,

Daniel