As part of the Crowdfund North of Tyne programme, there are two funding rounds a year, in the Spring and in the Autumn.

The next round is now open with free online workshops happening on the 2nd of February and 15th of February. The deadline to get involved in this round is the 23rd of March 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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Read below to understand how the programme works and how to get involved.

1.    EXPRESSION OF INTEREST/ ATTEND A WORKSHOP

Complete our Expression of Interest Form as soon as possible 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 about future events and any support you may need to help get your project started.

2.    PROJECT PAGE AND PITCH -  deadline 23rd of March 2022

Create your project page on Spacehive which will match you the relevant Crowdfund North of Tyne funds including the Crowdfund North of Tyne Community Fund and Mayor Jamie Driscoll's Fund. Here the North of Tyne Combined Authority will ask you some additional questions about your project. Follow this handy step-by-step guide when setting up your project. The deadline for creating your project page on Spacehive, applying to the relevant funds and having your project costs with permissions is the 23rd of March 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

Run your crowdfunding campaign in the Spring. 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

The Combined Authority will review all project campaigns and successful projects can expect to receive a pledge from the council in late May.

6. HIT YOUR TARGET AND DELIVER YOUR PROJECT

Projects which hit their target early can continue to raise money until their original deadline thorugh 'Overfunding'. Pledges will be collected and transferred to the project normally within 10 working days of the campaign ending. 

Please note that the Combined Authority 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 Mayor's £200k fund is designed to be a springboard for a locally-led journey to a Zero Carbon Zero Poverty North of Tyne.

As part of the Combined Authority’s dedication to a Net Zero transition and Mayor Driscoll’s manifesto commitment to work with communities to tackle the climate emergency and food poverty, we want to fund projects that will make a positive impact for local people and the local area. 

This is a £200,000 fund, from the NTCA Mayor’s Capacity Fund. The funds can be spent on revenue and/or capital elements. 

Who can apply for funding?

Charities, constituted community groups and community interest companies (CICs) can potentially recieve a pledge of up to £10-15k or 70-80% total project costs.

Individuals and non-constituted community groups can potentially recieve a pledge of up to £1,000.

Private companies are not eligible for this fund. 

Headline criteria:  

We will fund projects which support local, community-led initiatives, which meet one or more of the following criteria: 

Address the causes or consequences of poverty in your community, including food poverty 

• Improve or create green spaces for the benefit of local communities 

• Help reduce our region’s carbon footprint and promote sustainable practices 

• Promote equity and inclusion by providing activities for people from, for example, different backgrounds, across different ages, or with experience of disability.  

• Support social enterprise and co-operative development for the good of your local community 

Additional Criteria:  

You’ll also need to:  

• Show us that the idea comes from, and is for, your local community   

• Tell us how you’ve considered the needs of everyone in your community – particularly people from different backgrounds, across different ages and with experience of disability. This includes the accessibility needs of residents. 

• Demonstrate the support of your community through pledges, likes, and comments on the campaign page.   

Who can apply for this fund

Charities, constituted community groups and community interest companies (CICs) and pitch for a pledge of up to £5,000 or 30% of target. Individuals and non-constituted community groups can pitch for a pledge of up to £1,000. 

Private companies are not eligible for this fund. 

Headline criteria:

We will fund projects which support communities and places to adapt to Covid by:

• Bring people together in new ways

• Create new green spaces or improve places that matter to you

• Support people’s wellbeing and mental health - especially outdoors

• Inspire creativity and opportunity for all – including promoting lifelong learning

• Supporting social enterprise and co-operative development for the good of your local community

Additional Criteria:

You’ll also need to:

• Show us that the idea comes from, and is for, your local community

• Tell us how you’ve considered the needs of everyone in your community – particularly people from different backgrounds, across different ages and with experience of disability

• Demonstrate the support of your community through pledges, likes, and comments on the campaign page.

We have included some of the most common quesitons 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. 

What is Spacehive?

Spacehive is a crowdfunding platform for ideas that bring local places to life, support and empower communities: everything from sprucing up an allotment, investing in equipment to run a befriending service, to putting on a street party. The council have partnered with Spacehive for this programme because they are experts in civic crowdfunding. 

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 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-

Are there fees?

Yes - there are Spacehive fees of 5% (+1% VAT) on funds raised if, and only if, you hit your target. These fees are automatically added to your campaign target once you enter your costs.

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 external payment providers. Read our dedicated article on these to find out more.