Online Crowdfunding Options
Online Crowdfunding
Crowdfund for success
Regardless of the work you want to do, the goals you want to accomplish, or the lives you want to change and save, there are crowdfunding platforms of all sizes, aims and areas of focus. There are investors who want to see a return on their loans, and there are sites where the only aim is to fund creative projects or lifesaving nonprofits.
Figure out your end goal, and start your research. Find a platform that will suit you and your desires, and then go all in.
Let’s take a closer look at each crowdfunding platform.
1. Kickstarter
This platform is so popular, it’s entered our everyday language. Kickstarter is geared more toward creative projects like a new album or writing a book, as well as products and inventions like a personal single-wheel vehicle or a pocket-sized solar charger.
It’s not really for buying equipment or helping a nonprofit, and you don’t get to keep your money unless you reach your goal through financial pledges. Categories include Arts, Comics & Illustration, Design & Tech, Film, Food & Craft, Games, Music and Publishing.
2. Indiegogo
I’m more familiar with this crowdfunding platform, having used it to help a friend get funding for his nonprofit organization. Like Kickstarter, you can use Indiegogo to start up any project or idea. But unlike Kickstarter, you can set up nonprofits on the site.
Indiegogo also offers Flexible Funding, which means you get to keep the funds you raised, even if you didn’t reach your goal.
Indiegogo also allows you to buy funded products on its marketplace. Indiegogo has a lot of inventions and technology you can support too, similar to Kickstarter, in addition to its traditional arts and nonprofit crowdfunding.
3. Patreon
Image: Patreon
Unlike all the other platforms on this list, which are all one-time donation sites, Patreon is a monthly subscription platform where supporters and donors provide regular monthly contributions, rather than make one bulk payment. You can support projects for as little as $1 per month or as high as you would like to go. It’s sort of like a donated subscription.
The goal is not to support a particular project, but to provide ongoing support for a creative venture or artist, such as supporting your favorite webcomic, band or musician, or even your favorite podcast.
I support the Canadaland and I Hear Of Sherlock Everywhere podcasts on Patreon, because I enjoy what they do. Canadaland has managed to turn its subscription base into a small-but-powerful media criticism and publishing platform.
4. GoFundMe
GoFundMe is the “Hey, can I borrow 50 bucks” of crowdfunding platforms. I see it used mostly for personal emergencies, but it can be used for any number of short-term personal projects.
I’ve seen people use it to cover an emergency vet bill, a trip to the dentist and even for a Kenyan farmer to attend an agricultural conference in Australia.
In an increasing number of cases, people use GoFundMe to raise money to cover uber-high medical bills for terminal and chronic illnesses.
(Last year, we included Crowdrise in this list, although they had been purchased by GoFundMe in 2017. GoFundMe has now folded Crowdrise into the GoFundMe branding, and it has become the charity and nonprofit division of GoFundMe.
5. Chuffed
Chuffed is a nonprofit crowdfunding site that is only for nonprofits and social issues, so no inventions or art projects. Pitches are limited to just 50 words, and you’ll promote your cause to your different social networks.
Unlike most other crowdfunding sites, Chuffed will transfer your money as it comes in. No delays as you’re trying to hit targets or reach specific levels before you get your funds. The funds can be transferred to a credit card on a rolling seven day cycle or to a PayPal account as they come in.
6. ArtistShare
Being a musician can be pricey. And as the husband of a jazz singer and father to three budding musicians, I can attest to that!
So anything you can do to cover costs when you launch an album, promote it or go on tour takes a load off.
That’s where ArtistShare can make a real difference.
The site, which started in 2001, is a go-to site for many jazz and classical musicians who want to fund their upcoming projects. Nine of the projects have received Grammy awards, while another 18 have received nominations.
7. MightyCause
MightyCause is a site that’s not geared so much toward business funding as it is for helping “worthy causes.” It lets you fundraise for nonprofits and special events for children and family, education, animals and pets, and even faith-based causes.
NuDay Syria, Doctors Without Borders and Southern Poverty Law Center all use MightyCause for fundraising.
Related: Why now is the best time to solicit donations
8. InKind
Image: InKind
This crowdfunding site is unusual in that it’s geared specifically toward restaurants. Because restaurants often have trouble getting funding, it’s great to see InKind try to remedy that.
The way it works is that you get funding by providing gift cards to InKind, and they’ll sell them for you as “House Accounts,” which brings in repeat business.
Related: Restaurant startup basics
9. Crowdfunder
If you’ve gone through all the crowdfunding platforms but still want to land an angel investor or venture capitalist (VC), you can catch their eye on Crowdfunder.
Just like a regular venture capital program, you can sell equity and debt in your company to raise money and attract angels and VCs to your company at the same time. I saw projects that needed $1 to $2 million in funding, but were reaching five times that amount.
10. GiveWP
GiveWP is a WordPress plugin you can add to your WordPress blog to collect donations from visitors.
Unlike every other crowdfunding platform I reviewed, GiveWP does not take any fees based on what you raise.
They make their money selling premium add-ons to their system, which you can use if you need additional functionality. If your startup isn’t a great fit for the other crowdfunding platforms on this list, then maybe Give (and Charitable) are for you.
Related: How to use your blog to fuel startup crowdfunding efforts
11. Charitable
Another WordPress plugin, Charitable lets you collect donations on your website via PayPal, and they don’t charge any transaction fees for credit card donations. You also can use well-known and trusted credit card processors like Stripe and Authorize.net to accept plastic. Charitable and GiveWP are ideal for nonprofits that don’t want to give up transaction fees.
The tradeoff is that you have to manage your own WordPress blog, or at least know someone who can do it for you.
12. Lending Club
This is a site for investors who want to invest their money, but still do a little good. As a borrower, you can borrow up to $40,000 for a personal loan, and the investors will make between 5.5 and 7.7% as you repay the loan with interest. It’s easier to get a loan on Lending Club than through a normal bank, and they’re more likely to fund unusual projects and ideas.
It’s also great for people who need to borrow some money for, say, car repairs, getting a new laptop because their old one crapped out or even a minor medical procedure.
13. AngelList
Image: AngelList
If your business idea didn’t pan out, don’t give up. Give AngelList a shot. Through this site, you can apply for a job at more than 60,000 startups with a single application, and many of them let you work remotely. It’s the only site I found that lets you do that.
But if you’re looking for a place to invest, then AngelList has those opportunities as well. Oh, and you can still apply for funding, too. Just fill out an application, and you’ll be introduced to potential investors and lenders.
14. Ulule
I added Ulele to the list of top crowdfunding platforms partly because it’s an international crowdfunding platform, but also because I like to say the name. Ulule. Ulule. Ulule. It’s like saying ukulele, but without the “K.”
Ulule funds mostly creative projects, and they’ve helped more than 16,000 artists and entrepreneurs in 198 countries.
Don’t let their international focus frighten you, though. The company is headquartered in Paris, with offices in Barcelona, Rome, Antwerp and Montreal. If you have a worthwhile project you believe in, give Ulule a try.
Related: 10 hot crafts to make and sell
15. Funding Circle
A competitor to Lending Club, Funding Circle will grant between $25,000 and $50,000 in small business loans — interest rates run between 4.99 and 27.79% — as well as give you the option to invest money.
16. Seed&Spark
If we have music-based platforms, then it stands to reason we’d have at least one for filmmakers. Enter Seed&Spark, the crowdfunding platform for movie makers around the world.
Whether it’s documentaries, dramatic films or offbeat comedies, you can get funding for your movie and even watch others’ contributions.
You can also watch the movies that are produced on their website or your Apple TV or Roku.
17. Crowdcube
Crowdcube is another online investing site that lets investors choose which projects they want to back. It’s a great way for entrepreneurs to spread the risk of their new ventures a bit, while still getting the “grown up” funding of investors without needing to deal with banks and financial institutions that typically aren’t interested in smaller projects.
This one is based in the UK, so it may be geared more toward the UK/European crowd. But if you’re based in the United States, it’s still worth a try if you want an international funding source.
18. GoGetFunding
Image: GoGetFunding
I like the directness of this website’s name, as if it’s a command and not just an explanation of what they do. Similar to GoFundMe, GoGetFunding will let you raise funds for any cause, whether personal, nonprofit or even a business.I saw campaigns raising funds for a British documentary, a man to keep his motel room, funeral expenses for a German jockey, and hearing aids for a Polish DJ.
If you have a worthy cause to support and people to help, GoGetFunding and GoSaveTheWorld.
19. Fundable
Fundable is a sort of crowdsourced venture capital. You post your business or idea on Fundable, and investors can pledge money to your project, just like KickStarter.
The only difference is, you have some skin in the game — it costs $179 per month to be on Fundable, and they take 3.5% + $.30 of every transaction. You can give rewards (items like prizes or product pre-orders) or give equity in your company.
And like KickStarter, the rewards campaigns are all or nothing. If you don’t meet your goal, you don’t get any money.
20. Kiva
Kiva is a special crowdfunding platform, and one I truly appreciate: The money raised here is not for you. Rather, you can become a micro-lender to entrepreneurs and artists all over the world.
Whether it’s lending $250 to a women’s sewing group in Burkina Faso to buy sewing materials, or $2,000 to an Armenian photojournalist, you can loan a small amount to any borrower you choose. Plus, as the loan is paid back, you can make a little bit of money in return. (They have a 96.8% repayment rate.)
This is a way to help deserving individuals, especially in underserved parts of the world, get just a little bit of money to make a vast difference in their lives.
It’s also a great way to teach young kids about investing and loans, while educating them about artists and life around the world. Invest (loan) $100 to a few people, and then count the money that comes back.
This can teach your kids about personal responsibility, investing and smart money management.
These and many more online crowdfunding sites that can help you.
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Understanding Cash Flow
HOW TO CORRECT CASH FLOW PROBLEMS:
This is one of the most common problems in business. Many of the reasons are:
· Too much cash tied up in receivables(people who owe you money)
· Too much cash tied up in Inventory( not turning over inventory fast enough)
· Too much money spent on overhead (costs to run the business)
If this is under control the only other reason is: Not enough profit, or someone could be stealing. Studies show that most employees will steal. Analyze all your costs including direct and indirect expenses that may be overlookedPrices are too low and costs are too high: Analyze all costs regularly can costs be reduced. All the money you can save increases your profit margins.Unrealized costs are: Employees: when you pay an employee $20 an hour there are other costs that must be realized, taxes, benefits, payroll costs which could add up to an additional 20% of unrealized overhead costs.Every single cost must be written down when running a business so that your products and services can be priced properly with enough profit margin. In my retail store my accountant told me I needed a two and a half time mark up in order to make a 40% profit margin. All businesses have industry standards that can help you determine what the mark up and profit margin should be. In our manufacturing business we had mass distribution and were able to make it on a smaller profit margin. We realized 15% after all expenses. The danger in that is having too much inventory, receivables and expenses. Always find an accountant that can guide you to make sure you realize all your costs and expenses so that a profit can be realized
Understand your Cash flow and create a system you can understand. A big mistake we made as our company grew was that our bookkeeper had full control of our bank account. There were 3 that stole from us. I will begin to tell you that our partner had his mother do the books and as a small company we trusted her but found that she gave her husband who worked for us a raise without our knowledge and was paying her bills out of our bank account. When we replaced her the next accountant had full control of our checkbook and payroll, in fact we had a signature stamp made and months and months later we found that he had embezzeled $250,000. He was cashing checks at the bank, paying his American Express Credit card out of our bank account. He even bought a condo in Puerto Rico with our money. We sued our Accountant for not doing his due diligence and picking it up and sued the bank for not doing their due diligence in checking ID before cashing our company checks. Once we fired him and got another bookkeeper we found her stealing the cash from our retail store that never went into our bank account. The lesson we learned is NEVER allow anyone to control your bank account or control the finances. Always have a system in place. Perhaps 2 signatures on checks above a certain amount. All expenses need to be approved.
Another issue to understand is that when you are in a 50/50 partnership anyone can clean out the bank account and steal or make decisions that may hurt the business. So beware of partnerships and never if at all possible have an equal partnership. I learned the hard way by allowing a 25% partner to buy into a 50% partnership and that was the total downfall of the company. Even with a partnership agreement and an employment agreement. It did not help with a 50/50 partnership. We had a huge legal battle. You can not force anyone to pay if they do not want to. It is the character of the person that has to be looked at. It is all about greed, and what people feel entitled to. It is one of the reasons people will steal from any company. They do not feel they are compensated enough. They judge and think the owners have enough and won’t miss it, or various other reasons that a person can justify stealing. Speaking of stealing, We found an employee walking out with a box and asked to see what was inside and it was toilet paper. He was fired on the spot. Who knows what else he stole. Another employee who did jewelry repair broke an emerald, the customer complained and said it was not her stone. I confronted the repair man and he denied it and a week later I found the invoice that an emerald was ordered and he was fired on the spot. A business cannot succeed with dishonest employees. Your trust and integrity is all you have. Another story that is relevant. A customer bought a pair of diamond stud earrings and lost one came in and said the back was defective. I offered to sell her a replacement at our cost. That totally back fired as she thought our profit margin was too high. These are a few of the many challenging situation I faced in business.