Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Crowd Funding

Topics

  • What is Crowd Funding?
  • General Sources
  • Vendors and Platforms
  • Ethical Considerations
  • Best Practices
  • News Links

What is Crowd Funding?

As discussed in Wikipedia (TM), crowd funding refers to the collection of funds through small contributions from many parties in order to finance a particular project or venture, usually on Internet platforms. According to various sources, the term has been used since 2006.

General Sources

For a brief overview of this rapidly changing field plus a list of useful resources and a selection of crowd funding websites, see the following article from Advancing Philanthropy. (Requires login as an AFP member to access.)

How Crowdfunding Helps Engage Donors You Wouldn't Attract in Other Ways
http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/afp/ap_2014summer/#/32

 

For a short introduction to crowdfunding and steps to get you started, see:
Quick-guide-to-get-your-nonprofit-crowd-on
http://www.clairification.com/2015/10/18/quick-guide-to-get-your-nonprofit-crowd-on/
Also see:
CrowdFundamentals: 11 Steps to Fundraising Success

For a detailed discussion of ethical and legal issues in crowdfunding for nonprofits, see the following article. (Requires a subscription to The Chronicle of Philanthropy.)  For a detailed discussion of current vendors and fee structures, see the entire 9/25/14issue.
Caution! The Downsides of Crowdfunding
http://philanthropy.com/article'Caution-The-Downsides-of/148885?cid=megamenu

What Is and Is Not Crowd Funding
http://www.pbs.org/idealab/2014/07/crowdfunding-what-it-is-and-what-its-not/

Do Crowdfunders Have to Register to Solicit?
http://www.nonprofitissues.com/public/features/point/751-Why-don’t-crowdfunders-have-to-register-to-solicit.php

Crowdfunding Controversies and How They Impact Nonprofits and Charities
http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/community/b/tsblog/archive/2014/05/06/crowdfunding-controversies-how-they-impact-nonprofits-charities.aspx

Vendors and Platforms

The Internet contains hundreds of  crowdfunding vendors and platforms, and the numbers continue to grow. Here are links that mention some of them.

7 Top Crowdfunding Sites for Nonprofits and Higher-Ed Institutions
http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/crowdfunding-sites-for-nonprofits-higher-ed-li

How to Pick the Best Crowdfunding Platform
http://mashable.com/2012/06/18/crowdfunding-platform-business/

Which Crowdfunding Platform Is Best for Your Nonprofit?
A Free Crowdfunding Platform for Nonprofits
https://philanthropy.com/article/Indiegogo-Launches-Free/233839?

Ethical Considerations

Some crowdfunding services charge fees based on a percentage of funds raised. A discussion of when such fees are permissible under the AFP Code of Ethics will be presented in a forthcoming post.

Crowd Funding Best Practices

How Nonprofits Can Leverage Crowdfunding: Best Practices and Data -
http://www.bethkanter.org/crowdfunding-info/

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News Links

The AFP Recent News Blog contains a variety of additional articles about Crowd Funding:
http://afprc7.blogspot.com/search/label/NPCrowdfunding

The AFP Technology Blog also contains some articles about Crowd Funding. (Some overlap occurs.)
http://afprc11.blogspot.com/search/label/NPCrowdfunding