WHAT IS THIS CROWDFUNDING THING?? I CAN’T STAND CROWDS!!
The first time someone approached me about supporting their Crowdfunding campaign I had no clue what they were talking about! It sounded to me like I had to pay them money to be in a crowd and who likes crowds?!
So before I was going to send my money into the virtual abyss, I had to do a little bit of research. To save you some time, here is what I came up with!
What is Crowdfunding?
Crowdfunding is online fundraising, where a person or an organization establishes a financial goal (tipping point) and a deadline, then encourages their supporters to donate money towards it. The idea behind crowdfunding is many people can work together to make big projects happen.
What is a crowdfunding platform?
The person, or organization (us) chooses a crowdfunding platform, like Kickstarter or in our case StartSomeGood. StartSoomGood is a crowdfunding company that has managed over $5 million worth of donations to a variety of campaigns. They create a page where we upload all of our campaign information and all of our donations will be managed by StartSomeGood through the use of PayPal.
What is a tipping point?
The person or organization (us) determines what the minimum amount of funds they need to make their project happen and they establish this as the tipping point. If they do not reach the tipping point within the set deadline then all of the donations go back to the supporters and the project does not occur. You can therefore be confident that when the tipping point is reached the project you have supported will be able to go ahead! Every donation, no matter how small, helps get the campaign closer to the tipping point.
What is the ultimate goal?
The campaign does not stop when the tipping point has been reached. Supporters can continue donating so the project can achieve the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is the amount of money needed to achieve an even bigger outcome. In our case we want to donate a book to every pre and primary school in Australia so our ultimate goal is significantly higher than our tipping point.
Why is there a deadline?
We have a 1 month deadline for our campaign. This ensures that your money will only be held by Paypal for the duration of the month. When the deadline is reached (November 19) two events can occur:
• if we reached our tipping point Paypal will transfer the money to us, or
• if we have not reached the tipping point your money will go back to you.
What are rewards?
Rewards add an incentive to supporters to donate a certain amount. The tipping point has to be reached for rewards to be sent out, and there is often a lag of a few months after the campaign closes before the rewards are sent. Since many of our rewards include copies of our book, rewards will not be sent out until our book is finished.
Who can donate?
Anyone and everyone! Our campaign uses Eway, so if you have a credit card you can donate! You do not need to be living in Australia to donate!
Is it safe?
Crowdfunding uses a third party (like PayPal or Eway) to manage the donations. The use of a third party ensures that all transactions can be tracked and returned if necessary. You should never donate money directly to a person’s bank account or send your credit card details directly to an individual that you do not know! If someone is asking you for money and they are not using a third party to manage the funds you should be suspicious!!
Why should you donate?
Be part of something big, it will make you feel good! Choose a cause that resonates with you and help make it happen!
