1. EXPRESS YOUR INTEREST / ATTEND THE WORKSHOP 

Spacehive will help you develop your project idea so that you are set up for success and ready to crowdfund. Tell us about your idea here: www.spacehive.com/create and the Spacehive team will guide you on how to begin your campaign.

2. CREATE YOUR PROJECT AND PITCH FOR COUNCIL FUNDS BY 24 JULY 2024

Create your project page and Spacehive will match you to council funds. Start your pitch(es), where the council asks some additional questions about your project. Depending on the nature of your project, you may also be matched with other funds available in your area. Be sure to declare any pre-campaign funding at this stage so they don’t incur Spacehive fees. It is advantageous for you to complete these steps as early as possible to enable you to attract plenty of community backing ahead of the Council funding assessment.
 

3. SUBMIT YOUR IDEA FOR VERIFICATION BY 24 JULY 2024

Spacehive’s verification team will check your project information.  Where appropriate, please be sure to gather and share the following as soon as possible (ideally in advance of the deadline) to ensure speedy verification:

• project costs with quotes

• planning, landowner, highway or any other necessary permissions

• relevant council service permissions

• governance evidence including bank statement and relevant policies.
   

4. RUN YOUR CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN 

Once verified, start your crowdfunding campaign by getting lots of pledges from the community to show local support for your project ahead of assessment. This will help you to unlock bigger pledges. A typical crowdfunding campaign runs for 6-12 weeks. 

Please note that the 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 pledges from local people. A minimum of 20 backers must be secured for your project to be submitted for assessment. Spacehive and the Council are on hand to share lots of information on how to run a brilliant crowdfunding campaign. 

5. ASSESSMENT AND PLEDGING 

Cheshire West and Chester Council’s funding assessment weeks:

• Assessment 1: w/c 9 September 2024

• Assessment 2: w/c 7 October 2024

Your project must reach a minimum of 20 backers to be submitted for assessment.  Gold standard projects could receive up to a maximum of £20,000 / 75 % of their funding target should they demonstrate community support from 50+ backers and align with the majority of these six co-produced missions for the borough:

• Starting well

• Tackling hardship and poverty

• Resilient people living their best lives

• Opportunity in a fair local economy

• Neighbourhood pride

• Greener communities

Potential project creators should note, to date, most eligible projects received 50% of their funding target (in the region of £5,000 to £10,000) from Cheshire West and Chester Council.   Therefore, it’s recommended to reach out to other potential funders early i.e. businesses, charitable foundations.  

Each fund has a maximum pledge amount that can be awarded to one project – please view fund information to learn more. 


6. HIT YOUR TARGET AND DELIVER YOUR PROJECT 

Your project supporters love to hear how you’re getting on.  Use the tool on your project page to post regular updates and/or photographs.  For tips and tricks to help you hit your funding target click here.

To learn more about crowdfunding on Spacehive, visit the Help Centre. 

For any additional questions, please contact Spacehive on [email protected].

7. COMPLETION OF YOUR ONLINE IMPACT REPORT

As part of your pitch for funding, you agreed to complete an online impact report once your project is delivered.  This is then shared with backers to your campaign and the Council.  When you’re ready, you can find a step-by-step guide to impact reporting here. 

Impact reporting is a mandatory requirement following the completion of your project as evidence that project outcomes have been met and promises have been delivered.

Should you have any questions about this process, Spacehive’s Project Success Team is happy to help – simply email: [email protected] for assistance.

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Want inspiration? Take a look at all the successful projects on Spacehive here.

To learn more about crowdfunding on Spacehive, visit the Help Centre. 

For any additional questions, please contact Spacehive on [email protected].

Cheshire West and Chester Council will not directly or indirectly support the use of crowdfunding to:

Fund or part fund statutory Council services apart from in exceptional circumstances

Support raising of investment for private, profit making businesses unless the businesses are properly structured Community Interest Partnerships or Cooperatives (unless in exceptional circumstances to be considered on a case by case basis)

Support projects that do not meet the objectives in our Borough plan.

Support projects taking place outside Cheshire West and Chester.

For feedback on eligibility and for support to get your idea ready for crowdfunding, email: [email protected]

Cheshire West Crowd enables local projects to attract funding from their communities, the Council, local businesses and foundations - all through one portal. It brings people across the borough together to support locally led ideas that our communities want to help make happen. You can pledge as little as £2 towards a project - together the ambition is to turn ideas into reality. 

Check out the projects tab to view those fundraising and in need of your support here. For updates on new projects, please contact [email protected] or click the yellow 'Follow' star at the top right of the page.

It would be great to hear from companies, foundations and public bodies interested in supporting projects alongside the Council.  Email: [email protected]  for more information.

#Cheshirewestcrowd

This is an exciting opportunity to fund inspirational projects in your local community! 

Created by Cheshire West and Chester Council in partnership with Spacehive, the Cheshire West Crowd empowers people to create projects that will make a positive difference in their community. 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 local projects and connect with their communities alongside the Council and other backers. 

We understand it has been a challenging time for many businesses. For those that can, we ask you to consider joining the Cheshire West Crowd which offers a creative and collaborative way to boost Cheshire West and Chester.  

Pledging to projects could be a low-resource route to: 

• deliver your corporate social responsibilities 

• demonstrate Social Value impact 

• deepen employee engagement and boost volunteering 

• develop positive PR through campaign success stories. 
 

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 the Cheshire West Crowd and can support projects that meet your CSR objectives.  

We would be delighted to chat to you about available funding options. Please email: [email protected] 

Is my project eligible for Spacehive?

Projects need to be locally-rooted, tangible, and serve a community purpose.

If you have an idea for a project that can help your local area, then Spacehive is the place to raise funds for it.

It may be something simple and creative such as a street mural, or more ambitious such as repurposing a disused building for community use. 

It could also be for temporary projects, for example if you are looking to purchase equipment to improve local digital services, set up local food production schemes, or fund emergency response packages for mutual aid groups. 

What's important is that your project is tangible. People who will back your campaign will want to see where their money has gone. 

While it's impossible to cater to all, your project should have local benefit and not just be for a select few to enjoy. Obviously, the more people your project appeals to, the more chance you stand of running a successful crowdfunding campaign.

Projects must be in the UK and can be led by any type of organisation or individual. Please note, being eligible to crowdfund on Spacehive does not necessarily mean your project is eligible for funds available on Spacehive - please check eligibility of the funds you're interested in pitching to. 

Looking for inspiration? Our project archive will give you a flavour of the types of projects that crowdfund with us.

Spacehive has two different funding models that you can select at the start of your campaign: 

• 1. ‘Keep What You Raise’: You receive any money raised by the closing date of your campaign even if you do not hit your target. This is suitable for projects that can deliver something even if the target isn't met, like a community garden with scalable options. If you choose this model and don't hit your target, post an update on your project page explaining how you will use the funds. 

Please note if you receive a pledge from a Partner, such as a local authority, then you must hit your funding target in order to receive it. Partner funding is tied to the specific outcomes of the project so if you don’t hit your target, the Partner pledge will be removed and you will receive the remaining amount.

• 2. ‘All Or Nothing’: You must hit your fundraising target by the closing date to receive the funds. If you don't hit your target, backers receive a refund. This is best for ideas that can only be delivered with the full amount of the fundraising target, like building a bridge.

How does the all-or-nothing crowdfunding model work? 

• 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. 85% of Spacehive campaigns are successful, which is much higher than the crowdfunding industry standard.

Overfunding

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 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 success fee to projects* which hit their target with us. 

When you input your project costs, our system will calculate this fee and it will appear as a cost item in your budget.

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 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. 
 

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To learn more about crowdfunding on Spacehive, visit the Help Centre. 

For any additional questions, please contact Spacehive on [email protected]