Millions of dollars have been raised through crowdfunding. Made possible by the internet, crowdfunding is where people donate to a cause but expect something in return. Many arts projects offer free art pieces or give access to special exhibitions, while software developers provide free access to software to those who contribute to its cost. Many musicians have successfully used crowdfunding to record and release records (giving free copies to those who help pay for it). You can do something similar.
One major attraction of crowdfunding is that it can be risk-free. People only donate, and you only reward them, if your target is met. Or you can accept any donation amount, but you will still need to be able to give your rewards.
The flip side is that crowdfunding websites – an essential platform if you’re going to make this form of funding works – takes a fee. What you need to do is decide how much you wish to raise, then add on the fee – because you know an amount that will be taken from you when the campaign ends.
Our advice is simple: if you’re competent on the internet and can create multimedia items – videos, writing, audio files – or know someone who is, crowdfunding is worth a try. The success on your campaign will largely depend on how compelling an argument you make for it.
Crowdfunding is too big a topic for us to cover here. Suffice to say it could be one fundraising tool you use amongst many – or even the only tool if you are prepared to invest all your fundraising energy into it.