Along with pledges from your local community, there is an opportunity to get a pledge from Cheshire West & Chester Council towards your crowdfunding target. Read below to discover how to take part: 
 

1. EXPRESS YOUR INTEREST / ATTEND A WORKSHOP

Complete our short Project Idea Form as soon as possible to inform us of your project idea and knowledge of crowdfunding. The Spacehive 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. CREATE YOUR PROJECT PAGE AND PITCH TO COUNCIL FUNDS

Create your project page on Spacehive which will match you to council funds. Start your pitch(s), where the council will ask you 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 - create your project to find out more! 

3. SUBMIT YOUR IDEA FOR VERIFICATION

Your project costs and necessary permissions will be checked by our verifiers. This involves checking quotes for all the major items and if you have land owner permission for your project. Be sure to gather this in advance for speedy verification. 

4. BEGIN YOUR CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN 

Once verified, start your crowdfunding campaign by getting lots of small pledges from the community to show local support for your project ahead of assessment. This will help you to unlock bigger pledges.

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 (minimum 20 backers and/or 20% of your campaign target) before they consider pledging to your campaign. The Spacehive team is on hand to share lots of advice on how to run a brilliant crowdfunding campaign.

5. ASSESSMENT AND PLEDGING 

The council will inform all participating projects when they will be assessed one month after the deadline. The council will review all projects giving consideration to the campaign's community backing so far. If your project pitch is successful you could receive a pledge towards your crowdfunding campaign, up to a maximum of 50% of your target, (or up to 75% if successful pitching to multiple funds) shortly after assessment. Please note each fund will have a maximum pledge amount that can be awarded to one project - click the Funds & Support tab to learn more. 

6. DELIVER YOUR PROJECT

You're welcome to crowdfund on Spacehive at any time, but if you want to be in with a chance of a pledge from the council, ensure your campaign runs beyond the assessment period. The team can advise you on how long to set your campaign dates for, so get in touch by sharing your idea today!

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

Through Cheshire West Crowd, local projects have extra support from the Spacehive team to get ready to run a brilliant crowdfunding campaign. Get started by sharing your idea via this short form. 

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

For any additional questions, please contact Spacehive on support@spacehive.com.

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 the project is in response to COVID-19 and 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.

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

You need to hit your target in order to receive the funds you raise. Otherwise you will not receive any.

Spacehive operates an all-or-nothing model, which means that if you don’t hit your target, backers are refunded and you receive no funds. This can seem daunting at first, however we believe that it is to the advantage of project creators.

• 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.

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 set up a project page for free, and start crowdfunding. We add a 5% success fee to campaigns which is only payable if you reach your funding target.

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. 

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 support@spacehive.com.

Cheshire West Crowd 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. 

Check out projects fundraising now as part of Cheshire West Crowd 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.

Companies, foundations and public bodies interested in supporting projects alongside the council should also get in touch so we can help get you started. Read the "How can local businesses get involved?" section below for more information. 

#Cheshirewestcrowd

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 new 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 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 our page and can support projects that meet your CSR objectives.  

If you are interested in championing the Cheshire West Crowd initiative, we would be delighted to chat with you about the available funding options. Please get in touch by emailing: jane.makin@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk