Crowdfunding is a huge growth area, Nesta said that in 2014 crowdfunding grew by a massive 388%. Crowdfunder is the UK’s largest based crowdfunding platform. Crowdfunder helps community groups, charities and social enterprises raise funds from the community around them, helping people turn their ideas into reality. So far they have helped thousands of projects raise over £4 million.

Crowdfunding is a way of funding a specific project by raising donations from people through an online campaign.

You can crowdfund if you are starting your fundraising from scratch, want to set up a new project or have already received funding from other sources. In fact many organisations chose to use Crowdfunder as match funding to unlock much larger pots of money.

How does it work?

• To start your project you’ll need to decide on the amount you need to raise and explain how you are going to use the money through an online video.
• Once your project page is live you invite your community to back the project with pledges of cash. You can also ask people to donate time and skills towards projects.
• In return for backing your project that person receives a ‘reward’ from you. Rewards are normally a product, service or experience that is produced by the project. When a person backs a project they get a ‘reward’ from the project. Rewards are normally a product, service or experience that is produced by the project. For example Leeds bread co-operative gave a loaf of bread every week for a year in return for a £100 pledge, this allowed them to setup their bakery and raise £8000 from 114 local people.
• Supported by Crowdfunder, you promote your project using a mixture of social media, email, word of mouth and events.
• You need to hit your fundraising target for the money to be released to their project.
• Once you have raised the money, you then distribute their rewards to your backers – and make their great idea happen.

Many projects say they learn entrepreneurial and marketing skills in the process of crowdfunding and promote their project to new people who will help in many ways over the coming years. Start your project here:

http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/workingwith/funding-central/?af=fundingcircle