donations

Crowdfunding Landscape Q1 2013

The first online crowd funding/sourcing idea was born in 1997, when fans underwrote an entire U.S. tour for the British rock group Marillion, raising $60,000 in donations by means of a fan-based Internet campaign. (Wikipedia). The market for crowdfunding per a research report from massolution last year stated that it doubled in 2012 to $3 billion.

There are hundreds of crowdsourcing companies now, from Christian-based www.faithlauncher.com and http://www.1and700.com to Islamic crowdsourcing sites such as http://www.shekra.com. There are those who cater to women and girls, like http://www.catapult.org. Those who focus on specific countries and regions of the world like http://www.eureeca.com for the Middle East or http://www.51give.com, http://www.emohour.com and http://www.dreamore.cn each for China.

Kickstarter, the popular self proclaimed crowdsourced funding for creative projects, released numbers for 2012 which included:

• 2,241,475 members
• $319,786,629 in pledges
• 18,109 successfully funded projects

Some donation type crowdsourcing services help specific industries, like digital media such as http://www.agency20.com or http://www.citizinvestor.com, a site that addresses civic concerns. Both http://www.healthycrowdfunder.com and http://www.caringbridge.org raise money for health-related companies and ideas. One site, http://www.inlieugiving.com, allows you to collect donations for your favorite cause in lieu of receiving gifts for your birthday, wedding, or other special occasion. DonorsChoose.org is a crowdsourcing site that allows you to select from a list of items to fund that public school teachers have asked for, or at http://www.travel720.com, you can ask for donations for a trip you are planning. Some do crowdfunding for academic research, science, music or arts only. Others concentrate on any field, but all startups, like Fundable and Seedups, using equity as the main model.

Another model is the rewards-based services like http://www.cinemashares.com, which will send you a DVD for successfully funded movie projects or Credibles, a site that gives you “edible credits” for funding food-related projects and companies. GoFundMe is a service that allows you to raise money for your choice of a large number of donation sites. Interestingly, in 2012, 3 of the top 5 largest crowdsourcing projects were video games. Whichever model used for this phenomenon, it’s clear that the Internet once again proves itself useful in gathering the resources worldwide to push ideas forward.

If you’d like to learn more about a crowdsourcing company, or hear an interview with someone in the field, let me know!

Back the Instagram Coffee Table Book

The Instagram Coffee Table Book project captures a mind-set, piques a curiosity to look at things in a new way, appreciate oddities and revel in uniqueness and personal experiences as expressed by its vast sea of users…

Virtual Volunteer Efforts

Virtual crops and other virtual goods from Zynga are just one way to help those people who must face the recent earthquake in Japan.

A related article from tonight:

Posted (on ABC Action News): 11:12 PM
Last Updated: 28 minutes ago

By: Kristal Roberts

In the wake of the disastrous earthquake and tsunami that has pummeled Japan, relief teams from all across the world are stepping in to provide relief to the tsunami victims.

The Red Cross, the U.S. Navy, faith based agencies and countless organizations are contributing to search and rescue missions as well as food and shelter efforts, but there are plenty of ways for individuals to get involved and lend a helping hand.

Mashable.com has compiled a list of seven legitimate ways that people can donate and help these relief efforts.

Text a donation
When Haiti’s earthquake struck in early 2010, the Red Cross was able to raise over $20 million by people donating through text, and they are using the same strategy a second time around.

To donate to the American Red Cross for “Japan Earthquake Relief”, text ‘REDCROSS’ to 90999. Each text puts $10 towards the relief efforts.

Buy virtual crops to provide real help
Buying virtual digital crops can help children affected by the earthquake. Zynga, the world’s largest social gaming company, has joined forces with Save the Children’s Japan Earthquake Tsunami Emergency Fund to get its users to donate money through the purchase of virtual goods in CityVille, FrontierVille, FarmVille and its other games.

All of the money from the sweet potatoes purchases in CityVille, radishes in FarmVille or kobe cows in FrontierVille will go towards Save the Children’s efforts to provide relief in the Pacific.

“Like” The following Facebook Page
Perhaps one of the easiest ways to donate is to hit the “Like” button for the “Dog Bless You” Facebook page.
Explore.org is donating $1 for every like that they get, up to $100,000.

For the complete list of ways to help, click here .