Tag Archives: crowdfunding

Unpacking Wired’s Cheeky Crowdfunding Formula

July 3, 2014News, Under the Hoodbaltimore, crowdfunding, fastcash, grassroots institute of fundraising training, internet of things, james mcgirk, kickstarter, kim klein, money for our movements, wiredErin Barnes

James McGirk’s calculus equation (Wired, June 2014) to a successful crowdfunding campaign has some good points.

Your campaign should be presented as professionally as possible, it should be communicated in an interesting way, it should be interesting in and of itself, and there should be some tangible and some intangible benefits to the potential donor. The “Money Woe Multiplier”, defined as ‘the factor by which the donor’s rent exceeds the national mean multiplied by their student debt loan,’ is where ioby’s mission and Kickstarter’s business part ways.

ioby is a funding tool for all people, not just young creatives with access to wealthy roommates and uncles (young creatives welcome, too!). If you’re working to make positive change in your community, we’ll make sure you can build support from within your neighborhood, from an important source of patient capital: your neighbors. You can learn an actual formula to a successful crowdfunding campaign with ioby’s friendly staff through our training program, FastCash, or join us in person at GIFT’s Money For Our Movements in Baltimore August 2-3.

Like Kim Klein says, no matter who you are, you already know all the people you need to know to fund your work.

How is ioby different from other crowdfunding sites?

March 23, 2014Newscrowdfunding, crowdresourcing, fastcash, fees, fiscal sponsorship, flexible finish, ioby, recipes for change, tax deductible, webinarsErin Barnes

How is ioby different from other crowdfunding sites? Glad you asked! There are some important differences.

1. ioby is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, so all donations to projects on ioby are tax-deductible. Anyone can use ioby, so if you’re not a 501(c)3 yourself, ioby can offer you a limited form of fiscal sponsorship.

2. As a nonprofit, we have a mission to make sure your project is successful. This means we go the extra mile to make sure our platform is designed to serve you.

• NEW DONOR ACQUISITION. We give donors an easy way to join your mailing list after they’ve supported your project and send you the contact information of those who have given to you. Using ioby to power your campaign means a long-term investment in building your own base of donors.
• HIGH SUCCESS RATE. We have a very high rate of fully funded projects. That’s true because we’re here to help throughout the process.
• FLEXIBLE FINISH. We have a unique flexible finish policy that makes it easy for you to keep the funds you raised. “All or nothing” policies might work for contests, but not for real people doing important work on the ground.
• LOW FEES. We have a fee structure that intentionally supports early stage ideas and small projects. No matter how you figure it, we’re cheaper than our competition.
• TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. We host webinars specifically designed to support civic leaders. We take the best lessons we’ve gathered from successful campaigns to date and share them.
• FRIENDLY STAFF. We care about your work and want to help leverage the ioby community of leaders to support you. We’re always here. And we listen to what you have to say.

3. ioby is more than a funding platform. We call ioby crowd-resourcing because we want you to get all the resources you need for a successful project. We connect you to other civic leaders, host meetings and discussions to support thought leadership in local solutions and civic engagement, like our Getting Good Done series, and bring you into a community of peer learning through our Recipes for Change toolkit. Check out our Resources.

4. You know what’s best for your neighborhood. All projects that are good for the community and make no profit are eligible to use ioby. We never judge how cool or innovative or creative your project seems to us. You know what’s best for your neighborhood, and we’re here to support you.

Miss us at #EPIPCrowd?

January 23, 2014Events, News, Under the Hoodallison fine, benevolent, brandon whitney, crowd giving, crowdepip, crowdfunding, donorschoose, epip, epip-ny, erin barnes, lean, liezl van riper, megan kashner, mertz gilmore foundation, microloans, networked nonprofit, oliver hurst-hiller, online microphilanthropy, rachael young, surdna foundation. kivaErin Barnes

Last night was a fantastic event at the Housing Works Bookstore hosted by EPIP-NY with DonorsChoose, kiva, and Benevolent moderated by The Networked Nonprofit co-author Allison Fine.

If you missed it, you can listen to the whole podcast right here. Enjoy! Photos below are by Vlad Drekalo. Thank you, Vlad!

EPIP 2014-01-22 (25)

Crowd-sourcing for the Citizen Sector

January 12, 2014Under the Hoodcivic engagement, crowdfunding, de toqueville, grassroots grantmakers, informal groups, janis foster richardson, neighbors, putnam, shannon dixonErin Barnes

Thanks very much to Shannon Dixon and Janis Foster Richardson for this thoughtful piece about the transformation of civic life in communities across the U.S.

They write, “As asserted by Robert Putnam in his much discussed work Bowling Alone and in subsequent writings, Americans are less socially and politically engaged now than 30 years ago. However, are these new forms of connection shifting that trend? For funders that prioritize civic engagement, this topic has relevance. Often this work is being done by informal groups of citizens. Sometimes this work needs an infusion of cash, and funders can certainly provide that ingredient. Members of the Grassroots Grantmakers’ network have experience funding informal groups (non 501c3) and our white paper details how (forthcoming to www.grassrootsgrantmakers.org).” There’s a lot to learn from this interesting report on the landscape; click here to read it.

Oh, and Grassroots Grantmakers, we’re looking forward to that white paper on funding informal groups.

Trust, Accountability and Your Neighbors

August 16, 2013News, Under the Hoodaccountability, crowdfunding, grantmaking, half-baked ideas, peer pressure, philanthrogeek, philanthropy, risk, small bets, social capital, tami johnson, tom finkelpearlErin Barnes

There is one question that every foundation and every local government partner asks us about crowdfunding, “What about accountability? How can you guarantee the group will actually do what they say?”

Of course you cannot guarantee anything. Just as in grantmaking or any other capital endeavor, there is risk. At ioby, we have spent a lot of time minimizing that risk, by building structure to ensure projects do what they promise and building policies around what would happen if someone didn’t deliver what they promised. We talk to every project leader on the phone, we review every project, and, if we have concerns about a project, we ask for others to vouch for it before it goes live.

And in 380 cases, no one has ever come close to taking advantage of the system – not once. For some reason, when people post their ideas on ioby, and get them funded online, they actually realize their ideas. And that goes for even the most “out there” ideas.

Read the rest of this blog in Erin’s guest piece “Trust, Accountability, and Your Neighbors” on Philanthrogeek.

“$49,275 raised, 811 Donors, 43 Neighborhoods, 1 Innovative Foundation” …Get the Full Story on Philanthrogeek

February 26, 2013Under the Hoodcrowdfunding, foundation philanthropy, jack johnson, johnson ohana charitable foundation, match campaigns, philanthrogeek, philanthropyErin Barnes

We’re pleased to announce that ioby is a contributor to Philanthrogeek, the new blog dedicated to exploring all the new vehicles for giving, from crowdfunding to SOUPs. Experts from the Awesome Foundation, Pollination Project, and many many more are all joining in the conversation. ioby has kicked off the conversation around crowdfunding and foundation philanthropy with the case study from our Back to School match campaign funded by the Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation.

To read the article–Crowdfunding + Foundation Philanthropy = Leveraged Community Engagement and Giving–in full, click here.

When We’re All Urban Planners

September 17, 2012Newscivic engagement, crowdfunding, david lepeska, deutsche bank americas foundation, digital engagement, forefront, geo-location, gov 2.0, miami, next american city, pollos del pueblo, small green patchErin Barnes

This morning Next American City, a weekly online magazine about cities, published a comprehensive Forefront feature on how digital platforms are shaping our cities — and creating new avenues for participation for their residents. David Lepeska spotlights two great ioby projects, Pollos del Pueblo and A Small Green Patch, and mentions ioby plans to grow in the near and longer term. Thanks to Nuala Gallagher, Tami Johnson, Sam Marks, Nichole Hefty and Frank Hebbert for working with ioby.

The hook follows, but follow the link to see read Forefront in full.

Everyone from the co-founder of Twitter, to the guy who sells haute donuts near your office, to your local councilman and even President Obama is betting on a future in which you’ll open your city app to get news as you geo-map that monster pothole on the corner, find your favorite food trucks for lunchtime and donate to a local park plan proposed by your activist neighbor. Journalist David Lepeska explores the players and tools vying for a place in this emerging, highly networked world. With an eye to structural inequalities and logistical realities, Lepeska provides valuable insights on the most effective ways of using the Internet to harness energy for local civic good. The article offers a close look at crowd-funding start-ups such as ioby and Spacehive, exploring their potential to transform the way we improve our communities and interact with our neighbors. Moving beyond Gov. 2.0 buzz, Lepeska digs into the complexities of civic participation in the Information Age. For anyone interested in how the Internet is reshaping cities and the way we live in them, this article is a must-read.

Go to Forefront in Next American City Now (subscription required).