In 5 Things That Will Change the Way Nonprofits Work in 2103, the Chronicle of Philanthropy listed “crowdfunding” first. “Tools like Catapult, Gofundme, Indiegog, and Kickstarter have made it easy to issue appeals for financial support. Increasingly, nonprofit workers may need to demonstrate savvy when it comes to using such ‘crowdfunding’ networks.”
Simply put, crowdfunding is a way for a not-for-profit, company, or individual to get significant financial support in small increments from a lot of individuals. Crowdfunding is like drops of water collecting to form a large puddle and then a lake, except each drop is a small dollar amount. Crowdfunding is specific to the Internet, and it allows ordinary Web users to support projects that appeal to their passions at whatever level they can afford. Crowdfunding tools also let nonprofits reach a much wider audience than they ever could using traditional methods.
DonorsChoose.org is one of the major players in crowdfunding for public schools. Individual teachers submit project proposals complete with budgets to DonorsChoose. It’s completely free for full-time teachers at US schools. Once approved, they are posted on DonorsChoose.org for up to five months. If they are not funded within that time, teachers can repost and try again. Donors then can search the site for projects geographically, by topic, or even by project number. The donation then goes directly to that project—and donors have the option of giving 15% to DonorsChoose to cover its overhead.
To date, DonorsChoose.org has raised $165,980,454 and has over 1 million supporters for public and public charter schools since its founding in 2000.
As a private-independent school, you may be able to use indiegogo.com to raise funds for specific projects. This organization allows both for-profit companies and non-profit organizations to post their needs. For not-for-profits, funding is processed through FirstGiving.com, so there are processing fees. You can check it out here.
CircleUp does essentially the same thing for entrepreneurs—helping investors find that business they believe in. “I love CircleUp! Thirty years ago, Ben & Jerry’s raised money through our Vermont community in a similar model. Having passionate customers, friends, and supporters as part of our business was important to our success,” said Ben Greenfield, Ben & Jerry’s co-founder, in a quote that appears on the CircleUp Web site.
Here are few more articles about crowdfunding for your consideration:
Top 10 Crowdfunding Platforms
Crowdfunding for Small Business Is Still an Unclear Path
Crowdfunding Is About to Get More Crowded
Additional ISM resources of interest
ISM Monthly Update for Development Directors Vol. 9 No. 4 Online Giving: A Tool to Maximize the Relationship
ISM Private School News Vol. 10 No. 4 How Schools Are Helping Tornado Victims
ISM Resources for Consortium Gold Members
Ideas & Perspectives Vol. 25 No. 3 Online Shopping Rebates: Balance Dollars and Drawbacks
