Crowdfunding’s new spin
Crowdfunding has taken off like a hit single. Platforms like Kickstarter allow entrepreneurs to raise funds while letting regular people around the world contribute to ideas they believe in. But if you’re “short on money but long on time,” that doesn’t mean you don’t have anything of value to give to an innovative endeavor.
Put your new shoes on and check out CrowdRaising.com to donate time and skills, instead of funds.
Networking while making friends
The startup bills themselves as “crowdfunding’s younger, cooler cousin,” and they’re dedicated to getting early stage projects off the ground in a new way.
Their website points out that these fledgling innovators often have trouble building a community around their projects, finding reliable beta-testers and user feedback, incentivizing returning users, and finding new talent to bring on board.
Earning relational equity
In response, the platform offers a straightforward solution.
With CrowdRaising.com, you can pick a goal and plan it from beginning to end.
You can also run a campaign and draw from the CrowdRaising community for help, offer creative rewards, cash, or even equity in return, and “build long term relationships with your early adopters.”
Walkin’ the walk
The coolest part?
The company is using their own platform to get themselves off the ground.
They’re looking for contributors to brainstorm a gamification element for their platform, discuss the rules for work-quality, beta-test the (crowdsourced!) project management system, complete surveys, and generally spread the word.
Compensation is still a thing
Remember, this is a donation of time, not money, and CrowdRaising.com has a variety of goodies to compensate you for your effort.
If you contribute one hour of your time to their development, you’ll receive “Emotional Support,” which is better than it sounds, I promise.
The company will connect with you on LinkedIn and follow you on Twitter, promote a project of your choice across their network, and put your name and face on their website. Free internet fame is tough to turn down.
A few tiers
Three hours of your time earns you an “entrepreneurialism treatment.”
That means you pledge ten more hours of your time to your favorite entrepreneur, and they get half off the going rate (currently unlisted) for their CrowdRaising.com campaign.
Six hours will get you a cardboard VR viewer to ‘stimulate your imagination,’ complete with instructions for finding “virtual reality puppies.” Well okay.
Entrepreneurs listen up
If you’re an entrepreneur looking to start a campaign, pledge 40 hours of help to CrowdRaising.com and they’ll help you out for free – and they’ll also play a game of Escape the Room with you and five friends, because why not.
Potentially revolutionary
If this platform takes off the way crowdfunding has, it could change the way we think about companies – what does it mean if your product was built and tested by 100 different volunteers, instead of a core group of entrepreneurs?
[clickToTweet tweet=”CrowdRaising could be great for early-career innovators looking for experience and/or talent.” quote=”Regardless, this method of innovation-boosting could be great for early-career innovators looking for experience, and for early-stage entrepreneurs looking for talent.”]
And for people looking for “virtual reality puppies.” I’m sure you’re out there somewhere.
