As part of Camden Future High Streets Crowdfund, Camden council have a fund of £360,000 available to support crowdfunding campaigns which align to the Camden Future High Streets fund criteria.  The funding is awarded during specific times of the year (called funding rounds), roughly in the Spring and in Autumn. 

The next funding round is now open with free online workshops happening on the 8th of February and the 10th of March. The deadline to get involved in this round is the 20th of April 2022. By then you must have your project costs and permission in place and be ready to crowdfund. 

Click here to register for the free workshops.

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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 Camden Future High Streets fund. Here Camden 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 the 20th of April 2022. 

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

Camden 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.

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 will not be able to support all projects. 

Also, 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. 

Funding available

Camden Council have a £360,000 fund to support the re-imagining of our high streets and their recovery towards a sustainable future.

Through Crowdfund Camden, the council can pledge up to £35,000 per crowdfunding campaign (covering a maximum of up to 50% of your target - stretching to 75% in exceptional circumstances). 

The funding is awarded during particular times of the year, roughly in the spring and in autumn, which we call the spring and autumn funding rounds. As part of the funding rounds, there are specific dates you must have created your project by. 

Types of projects 

Camden council wants to support projects which enhance and reimagine our high streets as sustainable places for the whole community to enjoy.

Camden’s high streets play a crucial role in community life. They are the places where residents, workers and visitors shop, work, socialise, and access culture and services. They provide a range of jobs and employment opportunities and have an important role in supporting the health and well-being of our communities. However, Camden’s high streets, along with those up and down the country, have been facing a range of challenges, trends and changing consumer habits which have been compounded by the extraordinary impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Camden Council is supporting local high streets through the pandemic and into a robust recovery and re-imagined future. As part of this the Council has developed the Camden Future High Streets: Re-Imagining High Streets prospectus which sets out the vision for the future of high streets in the borough, including four key objectives:

• Community & Economy- High Streets at the heart of community life and local economies with more jobs and training opportunities, increased innovation, entrepreneurialism and a greater role for local partnerships, collectives and community activity.
• Diverse Uses- High streets with more diverse uses and less vacant space with increased leisure, workspace community space and culture; and appropriate activity day, evening and night.
• Sustainable & Accessible- High streets that are sustainable with better air quality, more greening and accessible to everyone in the community within 15 minutes travel from their home.
• Inviting Public Realm- High Streets that are inviting and enjoyable places to spend time with more space for people to meet, sit and socialise; more green and less dominated by polluting vehicles.

In order to receive a pledge from the council, projects need to demonstrate how they support the vision and objectives set out in the high streets prospectus.

The Council are not looking for ‘business as usual’ projects, they are looking for projects that support the re-imagining of local high streets and provide clear benefits local businesses and the residents they serve.

Projects must generate additional social value and also have environmental sustainability as a core principle. In addition, projects with the following will be looked upon favourably:

• Projects that are ready to deliver on the ground.
• Innovative projects that try out something new, that could be a pilot for more permanent interventions.
• Projects that include community and business participation.
• Projects that include local partnerships, cross-sector partnerships or that generate new local high street partnerships.
• Projects that come with structures, expertise and project management included to drive delivery independently of Council support.
• Projects that are scalable, so that if successful they could rollout into larger projects or other high streets/ locations.
• Projects with the potential to unlock further funding and opportunities.

The Council will be looking to support a good spread of projects in high streets across the borough. 

Examples of positive projects could include:

• Re-use/activation of vacant spaces to deliver social value, ensuring our high streets are more inclusive and reflective of our diverse communities
• Enhancing the public realm, creating more inclusive, greener and healthier spaces that bring people together
• Improving access to healthy food, and quality job and training opportunities
• Using digital to deliver innovation and experimentation

Who can apply?

This fund is available to local groups, individuals and organisations who crowdfund on the Spacehive platform as part of the Camden Future High Streets Crowdfund programme.

Private organisations can get involved but must demonstrate how their project has broad community benefit. The crowdfund campaign cannot be purely for the financial gain of a particular business. 

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 Crowdfund Camden programme, you can email Spacehive on Support@Spacehive.com or Camden Council on CrowdfundCamden@Camden.gov.uk. 

Frequently Asked Questions:

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. 66% of Spacehive campaigns 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% 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 5% 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. This will be your crowdfunding target. 

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.