The deadline to get involved in this round of Crowdfund Shropshire has been extended to 15th of May. You must have completed your pitch by this date and be verified. 

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Follow the below steps to get involved. 

Create a project page
Head to spacehive.com/create to get started.

Spacehive will help you develop your project so you are set up for success and ready to crowdfund. If you need some feedback on your idea, tell us about it via this short form and we’ll guide you on how to begin. 

By filling out the form we can also share information with you on our upcoming events. 
 

Share and collect pledges
Once your project is up and running, share news of your project via as many means possible, on and off line to start raising funds and boost local support before your pitch for funding is assessed by Shropshire Council. Spacehive offers helpful tips and resources on how to do this along the way.
 

Access Shropshire Council funds
Spacehive will connect you exclusively with Shropshire Council's UK Shared Prosperity Fund on the platform. Work with Spacehive to develop your pitch on the platform and put yourself in the best possible position to secure a contribution.

Continue securing support from your backers in the form of lots of small pledges to demonstrate local buy-in for your project. That’s what the Council will want to see when they assess your pitch!

Your pitch will be assessed for a pledge at assessments taking place at regular intervals throughout the funding window. If you can demonstrate support from the community and write a good pitch, the council could pledge to your project from one or both of their funds.

You could receive up to 70% of your crowdfunding target, up to a maximum of £20,000, though the Green Spaces and Active Travel Fund (capital elements only), and up to 60% of your target, up to £10k from the Shared Prosperity Community Fund (revenue elements only). 

Hit your target and deliver your project
Once you hit your crowdfunding target, you’ll receive your funds within a few weeks and you can start delivering your project.

The council has two funds which it can use to support projects:

• £150,000 Shared Prosperity Community Fund (non-capital funding with a maximum pledge of £10k) 
• £150,000 Shropshire Green Spaces and Active Travel Fund (capital funding for rural projects with a maximum pledge of £20k) 

Who can apply for funding (applies to both funds)

• Voluntary and community sector groups and organisations are eligible to apply. This includes community groups, charities, CIOs and CICs with a not for profit 'asset lock' clause included in their articles of association.
• Projects carried out in partnership with schools or town and parish councils will be considered but these must involve one or more community groups.
• Please note: We cannot support applications from individuals, businesses or public sector organisations.
• Shropshire Green Spaces and Active Travel Fund is for rural communities only. Unfortunately, projects in the Shrewsbury Town Council area are considered urban and are not eligible to apply.

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1. Shared Prosperity Community Fund

Shared Prosperity Community Fund has £150,000 (non- capital funding) available to pledge to projects over two years, with a maximum of £10,000 available per project (up to 60% of the project costs). 

Please note this fund cannot be used to support the capital elements of your projects.  You can still have capital elements included in your project but the funding raised by the community through the crowdfunding campaign will need to cover the capital costs. 

Shropshire's Shared Prosperity Community Fund, in partnership with Shropshire Infrastructure Partnership, has been made possible due to funding under the Communities and Place theme of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund managed by Shropshire Council. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and  place, supporting local business, and people and skills. 

Project criteria:  

Shropshire Council is interested in funding projects designed to improve our local environment, reduce waste, promote inclusion and overcome inequality, bring people together and reduce isolation, improve health and wellbeing and promote volunteering and skills. 

Although we cannot currently support large capital projects you may have a project that offers support for community spaces and venues, a project that encourages pride in place or involvement in the arts, culture and heritage. These types of projects will align with the Shropshire Plan and deliver healthy people, healthy economy, healthy environment and healthy organisations and partnerships. https://myplan.shropshire.gov.uk/

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2. Green Spaces and Active Travel Fund

The Shropshire Green Spaces and Active Travel Fund, in partnership with Energize Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and Shropshire Wildlife Trust, has £150,000 (capital funding) available to pledge to projects over two years, with a maximum of £20,000 available per project (up to 70% of the project costs).  

The funding is for rural communities only. Unfortunately, projects in the Shrewsbury Town Council area are considered urban and are not eligible to apply.

The fund is for capital projects and cannot support revenue costs.

Project criteria:  

Projects should focus on renovating or repairing facilities with the aim of creating better public space.

We hope to encourage projects designed to improve our local environment, promote inclusion and overcome inequality, providing the spaces where people can come together, improve health and wellbeing and promote volunteering and skills. 

Projects can include parks, community gardens, public green spaces, blue spaces (e.g. towpaths alongside canals, rivers and lakes) etc. Active travel projects on footpaths and cycle ways may also be supported such as improving surfaces, extending pathways, adding information/signage to increase use etc. 

These types of projects will align with the Shropshire Plan and deliver healthy people, healthy economy, healthy environment and healthy organisations and partnerships. https://myplan.shropshire.gov.uk/

 

We have included some of the most commonly asked questions below. If your question is not included here, please visit the Spacehive Help Centre at https://help.spacehive.com/ or email Spacehive on [email protected]. 

What is crowdfunding?

Crowdfunding is a way of raising money for a project or cause from a broader group of people or organisations who all contribute towards the target goal with individual financial contributions.

Anyone can pledge money to a project to help reach a fundraising target; from friends, family members and colleagues, to local businesses, large enterprises, councils and foundations.

At Spacehive we focus on fundraising for civic community projects. Our platform enables individuals or groups to crowdfund for ideas that benefit the local community.

 

What are Spacehive partner funds, and how can I apply?

Spacehive partners with organisations that want to support community projects with exclusive funds available to support local ideas. These funds might come from companies, councils and foundations.

Your project will be matched to funds depending on certain criteria, such as location, and project type. You can make short ‘pitches’ to these funds via the Spacehive website, which involves answering questions about your project. Once your crowdfunding campaign is live, the funds you have pitched to will monitor your progress and then decide whether to pledge alongside the crowd.  Visit our Funds page to see if our partners are offering funds in your area.

 

What are the advantages of crowdfunding on Spacehive?

Spacehive is the only dedicated community fundraising platform in the UK and Ireland. It’s completely free to set up your own fundraising page, so you can get started today.

Nearly 90% of projects reach their fundraising goal on Spacehive, which is more than any other crowdfunding site. So far, over £30 million has been raised to crowdfund local community projects across the UK and Ireland.

Spacehive has a partner network that includes councils, foundations and businesses that help to fund projects that local communities want, enabling them to reach their fundraising goals faster. Typically a project will reach its crowdfunding target within 60 days on Spacehive.

We have a dedicated project success team whose sole focus is to help each project reach its fundraising target. We provide tips and advice to help project creators shape and grow their campaigns, helping them to succeed as quickly as possible.

How do I start a crowdfunding project and raise funds?

It’s easy. Start by creating your project page for free on www.spacehive.com/create. From there you can get your idea verified, pitch to our funding partners, and start your crowdfunding campaign.

 

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.

What are the fees for using Spacehive?

Anyone can join Spacehive and create a project free of charge, and Spacehive is transparent with its fee model. Unlike other crowdfunding platforms there are no hidden extras or automated tipping.  Fees are outlined below:

Spacehive fees are 5% (+VAT) of the project target, which are only applicable in the event of a successfully funded campaign.  When you input your project costs to your project page, our platform will calculate this fee and it will appear as a cost item in your budget so you don’t need to work it out yourself.

Transaction fees are charged by our payment partner Stripe and apply when electronic money payments are received. They are also calculated when you input your project costs (you don’t need to add them in yourself) and will vary depending on the transaction method, but are approximately 2% of the payment value.  Once again, these fees are only payable if the campaign successfully reaches its fundraising target.

As outlined above, 5% (+VAT) success fee and the transaction fees are added to your crowdfunding target at the outset. All fees are covered by your crowdfunding efforts, so after Spacehive and Stripe fees are deducted automatically, you are still left with 100% of the amount you need to deliver your project.

 

What happens if I don’t hit my fundraising target?

85% of projects hit their fundraising target on Spacehive. This success rate is higher than any other crowdfunding platform in the UK and Ireland.

Spacehive has a dedicated team to help your campaign succeed at every step of the way. However, if your project does not meet its fundraising target within the allocated time frame, Spacehive will refund the backers and you will not receive any funds. No admin or transaction fees will be charged for projects that fail to meet their fundraising goals.

How can I help as an individual?
Whether you are a resident of Shropshire or someone with connections to the county, you can view all the project ideas posted on Crowdfund Shropshire and see if there are any projects that are meaningful to you. If there is something you would like to support, you can pledge as little as £2 towards a project you want to bring to life. 

Find all the projects currently fundraising here.

How can local businesses get involved?
Crowdfund Shropshire offers an opportunity to learn more about and fund inspirational projects in your local community that will make a positive difference in the local area.

By running a crowdfunding campaign, projects can attract funds to enable ideas to be brought to life. This platform offers businesses the opportunity to contribute to these local projects and connect with their communities alongside the council and other backers.

We understand that it has been a challenging time for many businesses. For those that can, we ask you to consider joining Shropshire Crowd. Pledging to projects could be an effective way of:

•  creating positive PR through campaign success stories
• delivering your corporate social responsibilities
• demonstrating Social Value
• enabling employee learning, community participation and volunteering

Another option to consider is having your very own Supporter profile page. This requires a commitment to put forward a pot of funding per round - in return you are formally recognised at events, linked to our page and can support projects that meet your CSR objectives.

If you are interested in championing the Crowdfund Shropshire initiative, we would be delighted to chat with you about available funding options. Please get in touch by emailing: [email protected]

I am from a funding body, what do I need to know?
If you represent a funder, you may find Crowdfund Shropshire really helpful, learning about the ambitions of our local communities and the projects they would like to deliver. You may find it beneficial to use this process rather than undertake the work involved in establishing your own grant scheme or commissioning process.

You can choose to support in 2 ways:

• You could donate to individual projects.
• You could run a fund through Crowdfund Shropshire and define your criteria against which projects will come forward (within a ‘funding round’).

To find out more and discuss your needs, please email: [email protected]?