We know that local communities and groups have some of the best ideas as to what will work and bring benefit to their local area. Crowdfunding is a great way to make these vital connections, help ensure these ideas become a reality and get people behind your project to secure that vital funding to make it happen. 

Ideas we are particularly interested in funding:

• Accessibility Projects and Improvements - Making community spaces more accessible
• Turning waste space into community areas
• Improvements to Community Buildings/ resident facilities in shared space
• Improvements to wildlife on green spaces
• Community Art projects, Murals/ public art or Sculpture
• Community Safety Projects
• Energy Efficiency initiatives
• Non-physical play (e.g. painted games on courtyards)
• Physical equipment in community spaces
• Planting improvements - Wildflowers and trees
• Recycling projects
• Sustainable services for those with more specific needs

Crowdfund Crawley gives you the opportunity to ask neighbours, friends, family and the local community to back your project with a pledge.

If you can demonstrate community backing for your project through your campaign you might also receive a pledge of up to 75% of the total project target, capped at £5,000 from Crawley Borough Council's Neighbourhood Improvement Fund.

If you have an idea for a project but don't know where to start, fill out this Expression of Interest Form and Spacehive will be in touch. 

Below is a brief overview of the crowdfunding process:

• Create a project page on Spacehive outlining what your project is all about, for a step by step guide, click HERE
• If you are a local group or organisation, your project will be automatically matched to the Neighbourhood Improvement Fund on Spacehive – so you can then pitch to the fund. Read our Funding Guide 
• Your project may also be matched to funding from other sources, we encourage projects to pitch to multiple funds, just take a look at their eligibility criteria to make sure your project is a good fit and check to see if there are any decision dates to be aware of. 
•  Locality, a third party that Spacehive work with, will then verify your project – check the costs and permissions
• Once all checks are complete you will be advised when your project is ready to start crowdfunding
• Begin by trying to get lots of small pledges from the community to demonstrate community need and support for your idea
• The size of the pledge will depend on the size of the project, how it delivers against fund criteria, the impact it will have, and the buy in from the community. The maximum pledge size will be £5,000

You can also visit Spacehive's help centre here.