As part of Be Bold Crowdfunding, there will be two funding rounds a year, one in the Spring and one in the Autumn. 

The new funding round will launch on Thursday 2nd March! Visit the News & Events tab to register for the upcoming events.

Not sure where to start? Fill out the expression of interest form as a first step and we can support you from there. 

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Follow the below process to get involved.

1.    EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

Complete our expression of interest form at your earliest convenience to inform us of your project and knowledge of crowdfunding. A member of the team will be in touch to provide you with the necessary information and support you may need to help get your project started.  

2.    PROJECT PAGE AND PITCH

Create your online project page which will match you to the NCIL fund. Here Birmingham Council will ask you some additional questions about your project and how it meets the criteria. You must have completed your project page and have pitched to the fund by the deadline of Wednesday 26th April. Project creators are advised to contact their local councillor to secure their support for the project when you submit a pitch!

3.    VERIFICATION

The project costs and necessary permissions will be checked and verified. This involves checking quotes for all the major items and if you have land-owner permission for your project.

4.    CROWDFUNDING

Start by getting lots of small pledges from the community to show local support for your project. This will help unlock bigger pledges.

5.    PLEDGE

Birmingham Council will review all project campaigns and successful projects which fit the criteria of the fund will receive a pledge roughly six weeks after the deadline. The council can pledge up to 50% of your project costs (up to 75% in exceptional circumstances), up to a maximum amount which differs from ward to ward.

6. HIT YOUR TARGET AND DELIVER YOUR PROJECT

Please note that the council will select projects to pledge to based on how well the projects align to the criteria of the fund and based on the amount of CIL funding available in that ward.

The council will not be the first organisation to pledge to projects and will want to see community support and backing, in the form of smaller pledges from local people, before they pledge to campaigns. 

​​​​​​Fund overview

As part of this crowdfunding programme, as well as attracting pledges from local people and organisations with an interest in your project, Birmingham City Council (BCC) also have a funding pot of £1.18 million available in 11 wards to support campaigns through the local element of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Funding.

CIL is a charge which is levied by local authorities on new development in an area and the amount available differs from ward to ward based on the development taking place there. 

This will be the first time that BCC embarks upon administering local element Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Funding in this innovative way, which we hope will transform our approach to administering and enhancing area-based funding.

Funding available

Successful campaigns can receive a BCC pledge of up to 50% of your project costs (up to 75% in exceptional circumstances) from the council, up to a maximum amount which differs from ward to ward (see the list below). This funding can be used for revenue or capital costs. 

Fund criteria

Having a positive impact on locally determined priorities is essential (click here for a view of the locally determined prioritized for your area and your local ward councillors who you may wish to discuss your project idea with  - areas of focus include the environment, young people, physical and mental wellbeing etc )

Participating wards are seeking proposals from local groups and organisations that provide clear benefits to their voluntary, community, social enterprise, faith groups and the residents they serve.

Who can apply

• This funding is available to any constituted groups including Charities, CICs, CIOs and social enterprises (where there are governance arrangements in place and they can demonstrate community interest delivery).
• Individuals and non-constituted groups currently cannot apply.
• Both revenue and capital costs can be included.
• All projects must have a wider social benefit and cannot be for -profit projects.
• Schools and religious organisations can apply once the project will benefit the wider community and not just the immediate students or congregation. 
• Projects cannot have a political affiliation  

Which wards have funding available

Funding is available to projects happening in the wards listed below. Funding is targeted at ward-based constituted organisations with a community interest, situated within participating wards. 

Whilst organisations from outside of the participating wards, seeking to deliver projects with in a particular ward can apply, the beneficiaries of the project must be residents of the below wards. 

If you are not sure what ward your project is based in, please use the below Ward look up tool.

https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/wardlookup

Why isn’t my area included/Why can’t I apply for funding?

CIL is governed by a series of regulations and unfortunately, we are only able to charge a CIL for certain types of development in certain areas (this is detailed in our CIL charging schedule available here) 

This means we can only include those wards where CIL has been generated from relevant developments, and we can’t pass this money onto other areas. We aren’t able to include new wards for the Spacehive programme but we hope this will change in future as our CIL changes.

How are pledges made

Birmingham Council will review all project campaigns roughly six weeks after the start of the campaigns and successful projects which fit the criteria of the fund will receive a pledge onto their crowdfunding campaign.

The council will select projects to pledge to based on how well the projects align to the criteria of the fund and based on the amount of CIL funding available in that ward.

The council will not be the first organisation to pledge to projects and will want to see community support and backing, in the form of smaller pledges from local people, before they pledge to campaigns. 

The council pledge will be release to the project, along with all the rest of the pledges from the crowdfunding campaign, after the campaign reaches its target.

Need support or advice?

Visit the Spacehive Help Desk to get immediate answers to your questions. You will also find lots of articles and resources sharing best practice tips on how to run a crowdfunding campaign. 

If you have a specific question about the Be Bold Crowdfunding programme, you can email:

• Spacehive on Support@Spacehive.com 
• Birmingham City Council (Neighbourhood Development and Support Unit) on NDSU@birmingham.gov.uk 
  In the subject line of the email put 'Be Bold Crowdfunding' so we can support you. 

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Frequently Asked Questions:

Why isn’t my area included/Why can’t I apply for funding?

CIL is governed by a series of regulations and unfortunately, we are only able to charge a CIL for certain types of development in certain areas (this is detailed in our CIL charging schedule available here - https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/info/20181/planning_obligations/62/community_infrastructure_levy_cil)

This means we can only include those wards where CIL has been generated from relevant developments, and we can’t pass this money onto other areas. We aren’t able to include new wards for the Spacehive programme but we hope this will change in future as our CIL changes.

How does the all-or-nothing crowdfunding model work?

You need to hit your target in order to receive the funds you raise. Otherwise you will not receive any.

Spacehive operates an all-or-nothing model, which means that if you don’t hit your target, backers are refunded and you receive no funds. This can seem daunting at first, however we believe that it is to the advantage of project creators.

• It helps you raise more money as backers know you have to hit your target. On platforms where this isn't mandated, there's no urgency and it's common to raise less than the target amount. 

• It’s less risk for everyone. If you need £5,000, it’s not much good having £1,000 and crowd of people expecting you to complete a £5,000 project.

• It encourages people to back you. They know their money will only go towards the project as described on your page, not a half-funded version of it.

• It works. 85% of Spacehive campaigns where the local authority have pledged are successful, which is much higher than the crowdfunding industry standard.

Once the initial funding target has been reached, projects can continue to raise additional funds to make the project even bigger and better. If the project has overfunding enabled, details of how the extra funds will be spent are explained on the project page and backers can choose whether to keep pledging towards those cost items too. Find out more about overfunding here.

What are the fees? Is there a charge?

Anyone can set up a project page for free, and start crowdfunding. We add a 5% + VAT success fee to campaigns which is only payable if you reach your funding target.

Anyone can start using Spacehive and create a project for free. To ensure the continuing development and maintenance of our technology platform, the process of verifying projects, and the support that we provide, we apply a success fee to projects which hit their target with us. 

When you input your project costs, our system will still calculate this fee and it will appear as a cost item in your budget.

For example, if your project costs £100, we will add 5% +VAT to your target, which works out as £106. 

It is important to note that there are transaction fees for accepting electronic pledges which again we calculate for you once you've input your project costs. These are set by Stripe, the external payment provider that you will connect with when you create your project with us. Read our dedicated article on these to find out more. 

What advice do other project creators have for running a successful campaign?

Project creators who have been successful are a rich source of knowledge. Most advise being prepared to sell your idea, having a clear plan to deliver it, going the extra mile to woo big funders, and having a crowd before you crowdfund.

We went out and canvassed project creators who have run successful campaigns, asking them a simple question: what tips would you give to someone who wants to crowdfund a community project on Spacehive? Read their answers here.