Crowdfunding

Figure 1. Crowdfunding brings together finances from many sources.

Source: Wix (n.d.).

What is Crowdfunding?

Crowdfunding is funding from a group of people. I'd like to say as I started with the research, that dozens of platforms presented themselves as suitable candidates. However, glancing at the images on each page reveals whether or not a community garden idea is welcome. Some funding sites are for the United States. Other crowdfunding sites are global. Most sites tend to be specific on what you can campaign about. It took less than 5 minutes to settle on a couple that fit the profile for a community garden. These are:

• Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/

• GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/en-au

Each site has their own terms and conditions. Though I didn't get to the paywall area, one must bear in mind that crowdfunding platforms are crowdfunded through crowdfunding campaigns. This means some of the raised money is shared with the site. It could either be as a percentage or a subscription. I didn't get far enough into them as I felt setting up an account is premature.

To run a successful crowdfunding campaign, it is vital that a social media whiz and several people with large networks involve themselves. A single person with a small or nonexistent social media network has no chance of getting anywhere with this sort of campaign. Starting a crowdfunding campaign without visibility won't work. One will end up stuck on the back pages where randoms do not visit.

Annotated Written Appendix for Crowdfunding

Wix. n.d. Figure 1. Crowdfunding brings together finances from many sources.

Images improve SEO. I've used this stock illustration from Wix to save on storage space.