Crowdfunding Your Next Project: A Good Idea Or Not
Crowdfunding is one of the most powerful ways to raise money when you lack the credit or resources for your project. We discuss the pros and cons.
Whether you’re an engineer or an artist, the advantages of crowdfunding are well known. It’s an “easy” way to work with your audience and beyond to get funding for a cause or project you are passionate about.
A range of projects have been funded by crowdfunding from every niche and industry worldwide. Their fan base created passion projects such as off-kilter films and plays through a quick fundraising project. Charity organizations use crowdfunding to sponsor initiatives and trips. Musicians share their work with random people online and ask them to contribute to a greater album or EP they are working on.
You can crowdfund on the right platform regardless of your background, location, or project.
What are some of the advantages of crowdfunding?
Whereas institutions such as banks and investment groups rely on what they can get financially out of a loan, crowdfunding is a fun and neat way for many people to contribute to causes and interests that they like. Crowdfunding is flexible in that people worldwide contribute to random and celebrity crowdfunding attempts because of the diversity in what you can experience.
For established crowd funders, it’s an easy way to drum up capital, given that you provide crowdfunded with the right perks. For startup businesses, there are a myriad of ways you can do so. You can offer betas of a product that is being developed, such as a video game or a new tool.
For artists, you can offer fans a first listen or a single that has yet to be released in exchange for contributing to the album or music video campaign.
For beer craftsmen, you can offer (where legal) a taste of a new product in the form of a shipped bottle or one of the larger contributors’ names on the bottle itself or on the website.
What’s interesting about crowdfunding is that it is just another way to buy and sell, but it’s repackaged. It’s about what you are willing to offer in exchange for the patronage of strangers, friends, and family alike.
What are some of the disadvantages of crowdfunding?
Most people can never predict what their crowdfunding campaign will be like. Even celebrities with masses of followers have trouble getting their point across well enough to generate a successful campaign.
It’s challenging because you have to sell others on your cause and have a worthwhile enough project that they are willing to give you in exchange for perks only.
The competition is also fierce for those who don’t already have a following.
Ultimately, it comes down to perseverance, creativity, branding, and just luck. For most, crowdfunding is a fun way to get involved with a digital community. For a few, it can be a life-changing opportunity.
