Note that the objectives of the fund have changed for 2023, before applying please check that your project meets these new criteria. 

There are multiple funds available through the Crowdfund Kent programme, including funds from NHS Kent and Medway (only for projects based in areas of the county covered by KCC) and Folkestone and Hythe District Council.

Eligibility criteria is available in the sections below and on the individual funding pages linked above. 

Crowdfund Kent operates two funding rounds a year in the Spring and in the Autumn. The Spring funding round is now open with free online workshops happening on Tuesday 28th February at 3PM and Tuesday 14th March at 1PM.

The deadline to get involved in the Spring round is Wednesday 19th April. By then you must have your project costs and permissions in place and be ready to launch your project. 

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1.    EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

Complete our expression of interest form at your earliest convenience to inform us of your project idea 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 Crowdfund Kent fund. Here Kent County Council will ask you some additional questions about your project. 

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

Kent County Council will review all project campaigns in early November and successful projects can expect to receive a pledge shortly afterwards.

6. HIT YOUR TARGET AND DELIVER YOUR PROJECT

Please note that the county council will not be the first organisation to pledge to your project and will want to see community support and backing, in the form of smaller pledges from local people, before they pledge to your campaign. 

The Crowdfund Kent programme objectives have now been updated to better respond to the current needs within our communities; We are looking to support projects that meet at least ONE of the following objectives.

Objective 1: Supporting community initiatives within our most disadvantaged communities, particularly coastal communities

Specifically, this may include:

• Projects to support people living with financial difficulty due to cost-of-living pressures or those in poverty that seek to improve their health and wellbeing, and/or support them to help alleviate financial hardship
• Projects to support children and young people living in our most disadvantaged communities to ensure they have the best start in life
• Projects to reduce health inequalities through community-based initiatives
• Projects that support community-based initiatives aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of the local community

 Objective 2: Supporting community initiatives aimed at tackling social isolation and improving health and wellbeing in rural communities.

 Specifically, this may include:

• Projects to deliver innovative ways to support people in their local area seeking to reduce social isolation, reduce the impact of cost-of-living pressures and improve health and wellbeing
• Projects aimed at addressing the specific challenges of access to support and services within rural communities
• Projects to support people to proactively manage their own health and wellbeing and enable them to live fulfilled lives

To be eligible for this fund your project must be of benefit to the wider community.

Your group must be constituted in some way, have a group bank account (requiring two signatures) and be a not-for-profit organisation designed to deliver benefit to the community (and not designed to create a profit/dividend for shareholders).

CICs (Community Interest Companies and CIO (Community Interest Organisations) are deemed eligible as their activities generate revenue which in turn fund activities that deliver community benefit.

District and parish councils cannot directly apply for funding but can officially partner with a local community group who would apply for the funding. The district and parish council can offer support and can be involved in the delivery of the project, but the community group must lead on the project.

If you are unsure if your organisation is eligible pledge email support@spacehive.com or crowdfundkent@kent.gov.uk

Projects based in Medway are not eligible for funding through Crowdfund Kent, for alternative funding see the NHS Kent and Medway Page.

What we can fund

• Projects must benefit Kent (KCC area) residents and be delivered by Kent led organisations.
• Projects should demonstrate creativity / innovation.
• Projects must contribute to improving places, spaces, or residents’ quality of lives.
• We can only match-fund projects that are being delivered by constituted organisations including community groups, CiC’s or registered charities.

What can't we fund:

• Individuals are not eligible for this fund.
• Projects supporting private interests / profit making organisations.
• Projects excluding any particular groups in society or those with protected characteristics.
• Proposals from political groups.
• Projects that are part of a campaign or promote particular religions/faiths/political ideologies not considered to be inclusive
• We are not able to match fund Statutory provision, Local Authority teams or Council projects.
• District and parish councils cannot directly apply for funding but can officially partner with a local community group who would apply for the funding. The district and parish council can offer support and can be involved in the delivery of the project, but the community group must lead on the project.
• Schools including independent schools are not eligible for funding.
• We cannot fund large scale capital projects, the purchasing of property and buildings, or the building of extensions to existing premises.  We may consider small adaptations, where there is a tangible community benefit from the proposed improvements, and they meet the objectives of the fund. KCC reserves the right to review all project costs and make decisions on a case-by-case basis. 

The CrowdFund Kent - KCC Fund has been designed to specifically provide funding of up to £10,000, or a maximum of 50% of an organisation’s crowdfunding target. Only projects based in the Kent (KCC area) are eligible to apply for this funding.

The Crowdfund Kent - NHS  Fund will provide funding of up to £10,000 or a maximum of 50% of an organisation’s crowdfunding target. Only projects based in the Kent (KCC area) are eligible to apply for this funding. Projects from Medway are not eligible for this fund, for alternative funding available see the NHS Kent and Medway page.

The Folkestone and Hythe District Council Fund will provide funding of up to £5000 or a maximum of 50% of an organisation’s crowdfunding target. Only projects based in the Folkestone and Hythe area are eligible to apply for this funding.

Where multiple Kent County Council funds (or funds from programme partners Folkestone & Hythe District Council and/or NHS Kent and Medway) have been used to support the same campaign, the combined value of the funds cannot be higher than 65% of the total campaign target. The maximum combined pledge amount across the KCC and NHS funds is £15,000. Projects in Folkestone and Hythe may receive up to £20,000.

In order to get a pledge, groups need to show broad community support for their projects by attracting pledges and comments onto their campaign page.

Groups who have successfully crowdfunded projects through Crowdfund Kent are able to pitch for funding again. However please note that projects that support the ongoing delivery of activities that were previously crowdfunded are not likely to receive a pledge from Kent County Council. New projects must be distinct and standalone to stand a chance of receiving a pledge from Kent County Council e.g., equipment or activities relating to a separate part of the overall project and not covered in your initial campaign.

Crowdfund Kent gives residents with project ideas the ability to attract funding from their communities, the council, local businesses and foundations - all through one portal.

The programme brings people across the district together through locally led ideas that our communities want to help make happen. You can pledge as little as £2 towards a project you want to bring to life. 

Crowdfunding also offers businesses a different and exciting way to support local projects, by pledging to a project you can deliver your corporate social responsibilities, contribute to the social value of your organisation and better engage with your community. Businesses can pledge to any project in the same way an individual would do.

Check out projects fundraising now as part of Crowdfund Kent here. To keep updated on new projects, upcoming events and funding opportunities, please contact info@spacehive.com or click the yellow 'Follow' star at the top right of the page.

While this is a Kent County Council (KCC) programme, and funding decisions will be made solely by KCC, your local Council will also providing support at a local level for groups who have questions about permissions and licences, local networks they can tap into etc.

Please use the below list to find your nominated district council lead for Crowdfund Kent and make contact directly with them. We are adding to this list over time as lead contacts are provided.

• Dartford Borough Council - Belinda Taylor, Belinda.taylor@dartford.gov.uk and Stephen Jefferson, Stephen.jefferson@dartford.gov.uk
• Dover District Council - Rebecca Dyer, rebecca.dyer@dover.gov.uk
• Canterbury City Council - Alison Small, Alison.Small@canterbury.gov.uk
• Folkestone & Hythe District Council - Alex Sansom, alexandra.sansom@folkestone-hythe.gov.uk
• Sevenoaks District Council - Jenny Godfrey, communities@sevenoaks.gov.uk
• Swale Borough Council – Swale Community Development Team,  communitydevelopment@swale.gov.uk
• Thanet District Council - Elle Sutton, elle.sutton@thanet.gov.uk
• Tunbridge Wells Borough Council - Ian Hirst, ian.hirst@tunbridgewells.gov.uk

We have included some of the most common questions below. If your question is not included here, please visit the Spacehive help centre at https://help.spacehive.com/ or email Spacehive on support@spacehive.com. 

If you have a specific question about the Crowdfund Kent programme, you can email Kent County Council on crowdfundkent@kent.gov.uk

Are there fees?

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. 

How do people pledge to my project?

People can pledge by visiting your project page on Spacehive.com and clicking the “Back this project” button. They will then authorise a payment to you using Stripe. If your project is not successful all pledges will be refunded to backers. For more information click here - How-do-I-pledge-to-a-campaign-

If people give me cash does this count towards my target?

Only funds raised online count towards your target as we have no visibility of any other funds collected. Ask your supporters to donate online via your Spacehive page rather than sending the money directly to the organisation’s bank account. If this is not possible you can pledge cash to your campaign using the following steps - Can-I-pledge-to-a-campaign-with-a-cheque-or-cash-

When will we get the money we raise?

Spacehive operates an all-or-nothing model, which means that if you don’t hit your target, none of the pledges are collected. Once you hit your target funds will take up to 2 weeks to arrive in your bank account.

How can I show money or items I’ve already received before crowdfunding?

If you’ve already begun fundraising for your project before coming to Spacehive, you can show any funds raised or items received as pledges on your project page, provided that they are for the same project. Showing that you have already raised funds will help get your campaign off to a good start, as it demonstrates that there’s support for the project and this will encourage others to get behind you.

You can add funds already raised in the costs section of your project page, along with in-kind contributions, and attribute them to a backer who will then show up on your backer list.

In-kind cost items will show as both a cost to the project and a donation – as it’s a good already received – whereas funds raised will show as a pledge towards the project.

We have a table to help explain the difference between costs, pre-campaign fundraising, and in-kind contributions.

Anything raised and added to the project before the campaign begins is not subject to Spacehive’s 5% success fee.

To ensure transparency, once you’ve begun fundraising you cannot swap out cost items for additional in-kind donations. You must raise the full target amount that you agreed upon and which Locality verified at the start of the campaign, and all donations must be processed via Spacehive.

This means that if you raise funds outside of Spacehive during the campaign (e.g. cash collected at an event), and want these reflected on your Spacehive page, you will need to find a way to have these funds pledged via the platform. For more information, please see our dedicated FAQ on adding funds raised offline once a campaign has started.

Link to full report - Crowdfund-Kent-Year-One-Evaluation-Report.pdf

This report provides an overview of the Crowd Fund Kent programme at the end of year 1, including the projects backed and financial investment. The evaluation focuses primarily on those projects from Round 1, which have been successfully delivered and completed as it is those that have undertaken a full end of project evaluation.  

Overview of the Crowdfund Kent Programme 

In March 2021, Kent County Council launched “Crowdfund Kent”, a crowdfunding initiative first considered in 2019 and the progress of which was accelerated due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Crowdfund Kent is run by Kent County Council and hosted by Spacehive, a funding platform for ideas for the local community and has the highest fundraising success rate of any crowdfunding platform in the UK. It was agreed that the programme would run as a pilot for two years with project progress and outcomes evaluated throughout the process.

The Crowdfund Kent fund totals £500,000 and now forms part of our wider support offer to the sector as outlined in the KCC Civil Society Strategy which recognises the role of civil society in Kent and the crucial role the social sector plays in achieving strong and resilient communities across our county. It also sets out how we will support the sector through our funding of infrastructure support.

The fund aims to empower local ideas and innovation, to respond to local challenges and to bring the community together to improve their area. It aims to also build on the community resilience and outreach that was evident during 2020 and throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

As Crowdfund Kent reaches the end of its first year it has shown the community drive and innovation that exists in the County and the power of this to provide lasting and meaningful improvements to Kent residents and the local area.

It has also attracted much attention nationally, with a number of local authorities having seen the success of the programme and looking to set up similar programmes, within their local area.  

Link to full report - Crowdfund-Kent-Year-One-Evaluation-Report.pdf