Non-profits are the original crowdfunders. The first time someone went door-to-door asking for contributions, or collected donations on a street corner, they were essentially crowdfunding, by collecting numerous smaller contributions to fund social impact projects that couldn’t otherwise get off the ground.
So non-profits should be naturals at using the new generation of fundraising platforms which have been given the crowdfunding label. But many are hesitant about giving it a go, put off by a fear of failure or a lack of understanding about what’s involved. Hopefully this blog post can help encourage more to make use of this great opportunity!
At StartSomeGood, we’ve hosted scores of successful non-profit crowdfunding campaigns and are passionate about helping non-profits (and for-profit social enterprises) take advantage of crowdfunding to raise the funds and rally the community you need to make a difference.
We wanted to share some advice and answer some common questions from non-profits looking to take the leap.
How is crowdfunding different to other fundraising activities?
Non-profits were crowdfunding before it was cool – before the term was even coined. The underlying dynamic of many people pooling their contributions to make impact on a social problem they care about still remains. What today’s version of crowdfunding offers you is improved game dynamics, greater transparency and the additional momentum of social media.
Crowdfunding projects are:
Pro-tip: It’s easy to define your crowdfunding campaign when you’re engaged in discreet projects such as pilot programs or once-off infrastructure creation. But non-profits are often doing long-term, ongoing work, so it can seem difficult to create a tangible project to crowdfund. Consider how you could reframe ongoing activities as discreet “chunks”. For example, you could aim to fund your operations for a particular time period, expand to an additional location or hire a new much-needed member of staff. Then try to quantify the impact of the changes you can make with the additional funds you’re seeking.
How does offering rewards help?
Crowdfunding gives you the opportunity to combine a social change story (inspiration) with a great product/reward (acquisitiveness) plus personal networks (relationships) to make contribution uniquely compelling.
Pro-tip:
Don’t dial it in when it comes to rewards. Apply your experience and skills from traditional fundraising to the crowdfunding setting. If you’ve ever tracked down prizes for a raffle, you’ll know how willing local businesses can be to sponsor prizes. If you often have a keynote speaker at gala events, consider offering tickets to a talk as rewards. Here are some more ideas on choosing rewards.
Question: We’ve never crowdfunded before – how can I inspire confidence within our organization and amongst our supporters?
Look to the track record of the crowdfunding platform you’re using, and ask them to point you to similar organisations to yours who have succeeded. At StartSomeGood, we can connect you with success stories from similar non-profits and give our view on what helped them connect.
For supporters, trust is particularly important when non-profits turn to crowdfunding. If I’m buying a Pebble Watch and it arrives late, I might be a little miffed. But if I’m funding an organization that claims to be making the world a better place but leaves me wondering where my money went, then bigger things are at stake.
Pro-tip:
Be explicit and accountable. Set out on your project page exactly how you will use funds, and then update your contributors after the campaign to let them know how their support has made a difference. Think credibility when choosing a crowdfunding platform. We vet all projects on StartSomeGood according to a transparent set of values and criteria, so your project won’t be featured next to a Romanian Viagra scam.
Question: What happens after the project is funded – how can I harness that momentum when we need ongoing support?
The excitement and personal interaction around a crowdfunding campaign make supporters feel more engaged with your organisation than a typical once-off donation. If you’re starting something new, backers will feel like co-founders of your new venture, they’ll want to join you on that journey. This is an opportunity to expand your community that you can’t afford to miss.
Pro-tips:
Hopefully, this has given you some food for thought on how crowdfunding can work for your non-profit organisation. We’re here to help if you have any questions, or if you’d like to do some more reading, check out our page on how to run a successful crowdfunding campaign. Ready to StartSomeGood? Get started here.
For many disadvantaged women living in rural India, their reality is living in a cycle of constant and crippling debt just to stay afloat. Vandanamu Ethical Cottons wants to break this cycle by providing these women with sustainable employment so they can feel empowered to provide for their families and secure a bright future for their children and community.
Vandanamu Ethical Cottons sources wholesale orders for cotton bags in the UK and has them produced at their sewing unit, which employs women from a small town in Southern India. These lovely bags are printed by hand and then sewn by the women employed at the sewing unit. Unfortunately, the unit has been suffering from daily 12-14 hour power cuts, which greatly affects productivity. When productivity suffers, turn around time is slower and urgent large orders are lost.
Luckily, Vandanamu Ethical Cottons has a solution! These women’s livelihoods can be saved and all it takes is a few solar panels to generate electricity for 20 sewing machines. Obtaining and installing these panels will cost about £4,990. Not only does this mean more work and better pay for the ladies who need it most, it also means the sewing unit will become ultra green by going completely off the grid. So let’s help Vandanamu Ethical Cottons reach their goal of empowering women in South India. And, in the process, pick yourself up a beautiful handmade cotton bag as part of your backer rewards!
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What good do you want to create? Visit StartSomeGood today to learn about how to start your own campaign.
Brand New Good! StartSomeGood’s newest campaigns:
Orlando First Stick Lacrosse started off their campaign with a ton of momentum, tipping almost immediately after launching. This program teaches at-risk & minority girls in Orlando to play lacrosse. They’re raising funds to buy equipment for a pilot program this summer. The city of Orlando will allow a 6-week pilot program during the girls’ regular summer camp, but to make the project work, each girl will need her own equipment.
Help inspire youth to identify their greatness and pursue their dreams. Inner Hero is a no-cost program for 4th through 7th graders that focuses on self-awareness, individuality, conflict management, and positive thinking. Reaching a $2,500 tipping point would enable the program to operate 4 times per week until the end of 2013.
The Perot Museum of Nature has generously donated a Digitalis Alpha 2+ planetarium projection system to Nomad Domes for use in Kenya to help children understand, and inspire them to preserve, the amazing night skies in East Africa. The $8,000 tipping point will cover shipping costs to Kenya and training for the Amateur Astronomy Society of Kenya staff members so children across East Africa can begin to explore the beautiful Kenyan skies.
350 Australia is a grassroots global movement working to unite the world around solutions to the climate crisis. Following Bill McKibben’s widely successful “Do the Maths” tour, they’re ready to tackle the fossil fuel industry head on by launching the “Go Fossil Free” website. This will provide tools for individuals, universities, and institutions to switch from banks that are funding fossil fuel projects in Australia. Just $10,000 will help initiate this project to preserve the Australian landscape.
GET Local Ireland creates local employment and delivers quality local Irish food to empower communities to become more resilient and sustainable. They’re currently developing the boabox system. The biabox will allow people to order fresh, local, and fairly priced food online and have it delivered to their doorsteps. This will also make it easier for local producers to enter the marketplace and create sustainable employment. They’re looking to recruit and train 3 ambassadors and support and train 6 new local food producers.
A group of filmmakers, photographers, and sociologists aim to empower Tibetans through digital storytelling. Via digital channels, Tibetans will be able to record and share the increasing challenges and dramatic changes they face on a daily basis. These films can help ignite social change! Through Their Eyes seeks $9,100 to run the first digital storytelling workshop and purchase 5 cameras and 2 laptops to train up to 20 participants in the first year.
There are many children growing up in the UK who learned English as a second language and therefore face an achievement gap when compared to their English fluent counterparts. SmartNative aims to combat these educational struggles bilingual children face in the UK. Campaign funds raised will enable them to launch an interactive website to aid schoolteachers in improving the academic performance of bilingual children.
Uncle Jack Charles is one of the most well known and loved Indigenous Australian Actors. Stolen from his family at a young age as part of an experiment to merge Aboriginals into white society, he struggled with addiction and abuse in his life and was able to overcome great odds. He is now a greatly respected Aboriginal Elder and role model. Leonie Rhodes is an artist seeking $1,000 for materials and studio rent to make the first original piece of her ‘Significantly Small’ collection. It will be a highly detailed sculpture of Jack Charles that will help share his story and highlight and bring awareness to prejudice issues that still exist in Australia.
Shawn D. Ross
I am a Northwest Native living in Washington State. A graduate of Washington State University and University of Phoenix with degrees in Architecture and Education I write about social, cultural, and personal improvement on the StartSomeGood Blog and SDRinspire. I am also a filmmaker and owner of Giraffe and Penguin Productions, a single daddy of two beautiful children, avid reader, writer, and hat wearer (Not in that picture but believe me, I wear ‘em). I am currently at work on my first feature length documentary. Follow me @shawndross and visit my websites: sdrinspire.tumblr.com and giraffeandpenguinproductions.tumblr.com.
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What good do you want to create? Visit our site to learn about how to start your own campaign.
Shawn D. Ross
I am a Northwest Native living in Washington State. A graduate of Washington State University and University of Phoenix with degrees in Architecture and Education I write about social, cultural, and personal improvement on the StartSomeGood Blog and SDRinspire. I am also a filmmaker and owner of Giraffe and Penguin Productions, a single daddy of two beautiful children, avid reader, writer, and hat wearer (Not in that picture but believe me, I wear ‘em). I am currently at work on my first feature length documentary. Follow me @shawndross and visit my websites: sdrinspire.tumblr.com and giraffeandpenguinproductions.tumblr.com
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What good do you want to create? Visit our site to learn about how to start your own campaign.
Do you have a social entrepreneurship news story or an event you’d like to see on the StartSomeGood Blog? Email Nicole (Nicole @ StartSomeGood.com)
Erin Biebuyck was working with domestic violence survivors for the Middle Way House when she discovered a real need within the community. Middle Way House is a non-profit domestic violence program and rape crisis center in Bloomington, Indiana. They provide emergency shelter and a plethora of other services for women and children who have survived domestic violence. When Erin realized the local libraries in the Middle Way House service area were lacking critical books related to understanding and overcoming domestic violence, she decided it was time to take action…
The Pages for Change display in the Bloomfield Library in Greene County, IL. (source: Middle Way House)
What sparked the idea for the Middle Way House’s Pages for Change project?
I was working as an advocate for domestic violence survivors, and I found myself wanting to recommend books to many of the women I worked with. Books like Lundy Bancroft’s Why Does He Do That? Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men and Ginny NiCarthy’s Getting Free: You Can End Abuse and Take Back Your Life can help domestic violence survivors to understand that they are not alone and that the abuse is not their fault. These books also provide information about safety planning, the characteristics of abusers, the likelihood that an abuser could make a permanent change, and resources that are available to domestic violence survivors. Reading a book like this can help a domestic violence survivor make an informed decision about her future.
I wanted to recommend these books to the clients I worked with, but many of them could not afford to buy a copy. I began searching for the books at the libraries in Middle Way House’s service area, thinking that I could tell my clients to check the books out from the library. I was very disappointed by the selection of books on domestic violence and sexual assault in our local libraries. The more I read and the more I worked with clients, the more convinced I became that we needed to do something to fix that problem and make these books available in our community.
What made you decide crowdfunding was the right platform for Middle Way House?
As a small non-profit providing free services to our clients, Middle Way House didn’t have money to buy the books and donate them to libraries. We thought about simply asking the libraries to buy the books themselves (and a few larger libraries did), but many of the libraries in our service area are small libraries with small budgets.
I had heard of Kickstarter, and I thought that soliciting donations online might be a good way to fund Pages for Change. Middle Way House had never done a crowdfunding campaign, and I was excited to try something new. After discovering that Kickstarter does not allow non-profits, I asked my intern, Lindsay, to research crowdfunding sites for non-profits and charities. We decided on StartSomeGood because the site takes a smaller cut of the donations than some other sites, and we found the site to be more attractive and user-friendly than similar sites.
You were able to raise over $3,000 for your Pages for Change project. What do you believe were the main contributors to your success? Any insider tips for crowdfunding rookies?
The biggest contributor to the success of our campaign was the support of friends, family, and supporters of Middle Way House. Most of the people who donated to our campaign had a personal connection with me, Lindsay, or Middle Way House. We promoted the campaign heavily on Facebook and Twitter, and personal connections were really key to our success. We also raised awareness about Pages for Change through posters, radio ads, newspaper articles, and tabling at our local farmer’s market. Through these outreach efforts, we were able to reach people we didn’t know personally, which helped to put our campaign over the tipping point.
I’m currently preparing for a new crowdfunding campaign, and this time around, I am starting much earlier. My hope is that by spreading the word about this new project well before the launch of the crowdfunding campaign, we will be able to reach more people outside of the personal networks of those involved in the project. When we finished Pages for Change, I realized it would be really helpful to ask donors how they heard about the project. Having that information would be very helpful in running future campaigns, and if StartSomeGood hasn’t added that question to the check-out process, I will add it to the Google form that we use for rewards after the campaign has ended.
The Pages for Change project was initiated to get important books about domestic violence and sexual assault into libraries you serve in Indiana. Do you have any updates to share with us on how this project turned out?
The project turned out great! We were able to buy over 250 books for our partner libraries, and we put a bookplate with Middle Way House’s crisis line number in each book. The libraries were happy to receive the donations, and the books are being checked out. My colleagues and I are now able to refer clients to the library to read these books and learn more about domestic violence and the resources available to them.
Several of the libraries that we donated books to put up displays in October for Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The displays helped to educate library patrons about domestic violence and sexual assault, and they spread the word about the new Pages for Change books that donations from our campaign’s supporters made available to library patrons. Above is a photo from the display at the Owen County Library in Spencer, Indiana.
You said you’re planning to run another crowdfunding campaign on StartSomeGood in the near future. Can you give us any teasers about this upcoming campaign?
The new campaign will be to raise money for Middle Way PAWSS. PAWSS stands for Providing Animals and Women with Safe Shelter, and the goal is to create a network of volunteer “foster parents” to care for the pets of women and children coming into shelter at Middle Way House. The link between domestic violence and animal abuse has been well established, and we want to make sure that our clients do not have to choose between their safety and their pets’ lives or safety. This campaign will be much larger than the Pages for Change campaign, and we will use the money to pay for routine vet care for PAWSS pets, offset the cost of fostering pets, and establish an emergency fund for life-saving veterinary care.
For more information about Pages for Change, check out their campaign page on StartSomeGood. And, of course, keep your eyes peeled for the new Middle Way PAWSS campaign coming to StartSomeGood very soon!
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Now…what good do you want to create? Visit our site to learn about how to start your own campaign.
GalliGalli exists to assist the citizens and visitors of Nepal navigate the city and government services in an effort to literally get most of Nepal on the map. In their second campaign with StartSomeGood, they are raising funds to help provide high quality education to children in rural Nepal.
Dorje Gurung was born into a family of low socio-economic status in a small town in Nepal, which meant he had to attend a local government school. These local government schools suffer from poor infrastructure, a lack of resources, poorly trained teachers, high dropout rates, and very low exam pass rates. A teacher recognized Dorje’s potential and helped get him into a high quality school in Kathmandu where his education was subsidized by the owners. This simple step was a real life-changing moment for Dorje. He was able to attend college on scholarship and become a teacher. He realizes how much education has contributed to his success and his freedom and now wants to give back to his community by helping one of the government schools he visited last summer.
(a typical government school classroom in rural Nepal)
The government school in Sindhupalchowk needs an overhaul, and Dorje is ready to help its students succeed. His $28,135 tipping point goal will help him and GalliGalli begin a holistic intervention at this school and find a sustainable source of income to keep it growing. Projects include building a playground, updating the teaching methods for Science and English, building a community-based fishery as a sustainable source of income for the school, and building the first floor of a new school that will include two classrooms. Funds beyond the tipping point will help the team build a library and a second floor to expand the school from 8th grade to 12th grade. If you believe education can change the lives of the children of Sindupalchowk for the better, please help Dorje and GalliGalli reach their fundraising goals!
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What good do you want to create? Visit StartSomeGood today to learn about how to start your own campaign.
Brand New Good! Recently launched campaigns:
It will take £4,990 to install enough solar panels to power 20 sewing machines in rural southern India where Vandanamu Ethical Cottons employs and empowers marginalized women to produce cotton bags. Unfortunately, Vandanamu suffers from daily power cuts, which results in lowered productivity and loss of wages. Going solar would improve productivity and improve the lives of those depending on power to complete their jobs.
CommuniToy Toy Hacking workshops bring people together to make new exciting hybrid creations out of toys destined for landfills. These free workshops hosted by Exploring Senses encourage people to develop and learn new skills while simultaneously reducing landfill waste. Exploring Senses needs £2,500 to host six CommuniToy Toy Hacking workshops in Brighton and Hove.
Let’s Celebrate! Recently Tipped Campaigns:
Food Connect Sydney connects city dwellers with farmers, hopefully increasing their awareness about how food is grown. They are launching a series of local farm tours and were able to raise $6,402 to help get the ball rolling on a local scale.
World Wellness Group raised enough funds to expand and move their healthcare clinic for marginalized migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers into a bigger space. They’ve raised over $15,000, which means they can find a new space and begin to cover rent so they can provide services to more patients in need.
Access Afya is creating a chain of ultra mini-clinics, which provide standardized health services for the extreme poor in Nairobi slums. With over $10,000 raised and still 11 days to go, they’ll be able to begin construction on a second mini-clinic.
Shawn D. Ross
I am a Northwest Native living in Washington State. A graduate of Washington State University and University of Phoenix with degrees in Architecture and Education I write about social, cultural, and personal improvement on the StartSomeGood Blog and SDRinspire. I am also a filmmaker and owner of Giraffe and Penguin Productions, a single daddy of two beautiful children, avid reader, writer, and hat wearer (Not in that picture but believe me, I wear ‘em). I am currently at work on my first feature length documentary. Follow me @shawndross and visit my websites: sdrinspire.tumblr.com and giraffeandpenguinproductions.tumblr.com.
________________________________________________________
What good do you want to create? Visit our site to learn about how to start your own campaign.
Shawn D. Ross
I am a Northwest Native living in Washington State. A graduate of Washington State University and University of Phoenix with degrees in Architecture and Education I write about social, cultural, and personal improvement on the StartSomeGood Blog and SDRinspire. I am also a filmmaker and owner of Giraffe and Penguin Productions, a single daddy of two beautiful children, avid reader, writer, and hat wearer (Not in that picture but believe me, I wear ‘em). I am currently at work on my first feature length documentary. Follow me @shawndross and visit my websites: sdrinspire.tumblr.com and giraffeandpenguinproductions.tumblr.com.
______________________________________________________________
What good do you want to create? Visit our site to learn about how to start your own campaign.
Do you have a social entrepreneurship news story or an event you’d like to see on the StartSomeGood Blog? Email Nicole (Nicole @ StartSomeGood.com)
There’s a prominent and growing gap in access to affordable, quality, and culturally relevant healthcare for migrants and refugees in Australia. Because of this, they hold off on seeking help until it’s too late, resulting in higher costs for everyone involved. This quickly escalates into a lose-lose situation; the migrants are extremely sick and are therefore an even larger burden on the public healthcare system.
World Wellness Group is a not for profit started by a group of professional healthcare practitioners striving to address health inequality in Brisbane. Last year, they launched the World Wellness Clinic, a makeshift operation that they set up with no financial support at the Brisbane Multicultural Centre. They have been operating there in two rooms rent free for the past year, but they have quickly outgrown their capacity and need to set up something larger and more permanent.
World Wellness Group has tapped into an unmet need, but this means the demand is now exceeding their available resources. Just $60,000 will secure them rent for an entire year, in addition to allowing them to set up the administrative services necessary to support a much larger clinic. This will help accommodate the growing list of healthcare practitioners who want to join the center in providing services to migrant patients in need of support. It’s “do or die time” for the clinic and your help will mean contributing to the health of countless migrants in need.
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What good do you want to create? Visit StartSomeGood today to learn about how to start your own campaign.
Let’s Celebrate! Recently Tipped Campaigns:
Mary Beth Tinker and the Student Press Law Center raised over $50,000 to fund Tinker Tour, a two-month tour during the 2013-2014 school-year meant to inform students about free speech and civics education.
23 young entrepreneurs will represent Australia at the G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance Summit in Moscow because the Enterprise Network for Young Australians was able to raise $12,265.
The need for literacy training, especially among low income youth, is extremely high. With funds raised through this project, Access to Meaning can now collaborate with schools in Southern Berkshire County to offer intensive reading instruction to low-income youth in the region.
Brand New Good! Recently launched campaigns:
GalliGalli’s second campaign with StartSomeGood, Education is Freedom-Nepal, will allow them to provide a high-quality education to children in rural Nepal. This will give children the freedom to pursue their dreams and provide hope for a better future.
The Cambodian Children’s Trust (CCT) strives to give vulnerable Cambodian children the best chance at leading a happy, fulfilling, and successful life by teaching them critical thinking and problem-solving skills. The $2,241 tipping point goal will pay for half of the pilot project.
Around the world, thousands of people are working to create a better future. NGOpolis brings these people together to share their ideas and work. NGOpolis seeks £16,000 to maintain their website, hire two people, and generate content to inspire and support those working for conservation, aid, and development.
Überfoods wants to produce automated food production systems, or smart gardens, as an alternative to the current food options. These EcoGardens will empower communities to provide themselves with their own food. Reaching their $8,000 tipping point goal will allow them to cover pre-revenue material costs and their website launch.
The idea behind BOGO Bowl dog food is simple: For every bag of food purchased, we donate another bag of food to dogs in need. Over 50 animal welfare organizations in 25 states are BOGO buddies that have already given away thousands of bowls of food. This project will help connect these organizations and send BOGO Buddy kits to help shelters, rescues, and pet food pantries.
Student volunteers and doctoral students from UCLA will travel to 11 remote villages in Fiji to bring clean water and sanitation to improve the health of 8,000 local residents. This rural water and sanitation assessment program will ensure proper wastewater treatment and disposal and provide residents with knowledge of sanitation issues in the hopes that public environmental health will improve.
People driven from their lands; conservation funding misused—you can help change this story. The Conservation Justice Video will promote the conservation of our natural world in ways that ensure the rights of those living in or around conservation areas are respected.
Shawn D. Ross
I am a Northwest Native living in Washington State. A graduate of Washington State University and University of Phoenix with degrees in Architecture and Education I write about social, cultural, and personal improvement on the StartSomeGood Blog and SDRinspire. I am also a filmmaker and owner of Giraffe and Penguin Productions, a single daddy of two beautiful children, avid reader, writer, and hat wearer (Not in that picture but believe me, I wear ‘em). I am currently at work on my first feature length documentary. Follow me @shawndross and visit my websites: sdrinspire.tumblr.com and giraffeandpenguinproductions.tumblr.com.
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What good do you want to create? Visit our site to learn about how to start your own campaign.