Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship 2013 Day Two Morning Plenary
Marina Silva, Adrian Anatawan, Molly Melching, Richard Jefferson, Pamela Hartigan
When Crowdfunding Collaborates
Josh Tetrick
Founder and CEO, 33needs
Oh, when crowdfunding collaborates.
In the midst of the all the potential changes to crowdfunding law during the past three weeks, something inspiring (not that legal reform isn’t inspring!) was taking place: World Give Day 2011 (WGD). WGD is a day when the crowdfunding community collaborates; a day when a number of websites committed to micro-philanthropy and micro-investing band together to promote the spirit of giving.
WGD was started in 2010 by Ethan Austin and Desiree Wrigley, the founders of GiveForward, a crowdfunding platform to help people raise money for medical expenses. WGD 2011 featured sites that specialize in medical, educational, social entrepreneurship and non-profit crowdfunding. It’s a unique way to catalyze giving and volunteering through the power of the crowd, and we couldn’t be more excited about their work.
The crowdfunding sites that participated included GiveForward, (medical expenses) GiveGlobalGiving, (non-profits) CauseVox, (non-profits) IndieGoGo, (creative) Edulender, (education) 33needs, (social enterprise) and many more.
Both Ethan and Desiree saw the campaigns and resources dedicated to volunteering through the years, but not as much for giving. Their answer? Start something! Some early results from this year? WGD 2011 had almost 30 bloggers join their blog series about giving; the day raised lots of money for causes that matter, including a large corporate contribution; and, awesomely, GiveForward gave out literally hundreds of hugs. Check out their video.
We’re ready for next year. So today, go online or go outside, and make a donation or volunteer your time in recognition of the power of the crowd and WGD.
