The Growing Great Places crowdfunding programme will be running an Autumn 2020 funding round in with a deadline of the 16th Sept to get involved. Along with pledges from your local community, there is an opportunity to get up to £5,000 from the council towards your crowdfunding campaign. 

If possible, attended one of two online workshops happening on the 15th and 23rd of July to find out more and the get the support you need for your project. Click here for free registration. 

Read below to understand how it 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.

We will be running free webinars at the end of June/early July which we encourage you to attend. Further information will be shared shortly. Please fill out the Expression of Interest Form  so that we know you are interested and can invite you. 

2.    PROJECT PAGE AND PITCH

Create your project page on Spacehive which will match you to the Growing Great Places fund. Here Kirklees Council will ask you some additional questions about your project. Follow this handy step-by-step guide when setting up your project. 

You must pitch to the Growing Great Places fund by the 16th of Sept 2020!

3.    VERIFICATION

The project costs and necessary permissions will be checked by independent verifiers, Locality. 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 between Sept and Dec 2020. 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

Kirkless Council will review all project campaigns and successful projects can expect to receive a pledge from the council in mid May.

6. HIT YOUR TARGET AND DELIVER YOUR PROJECT

Projects crowdfunding as part of this programme can receive a pledge of up to 50% of their target up to £5,000.

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 smaller pledges from local people, before they pledge to your campaign. 

We are interested in hearing about projects which bring people together to get involved in making your community better. Tell us how your project will involve and include a wide range of local people and will also tap into local energy, skills, assets and creativity.

We are interested in supporting projects that can show how they will contribute to one, or preferably more than one, of the shared outcomes in the Kirklees Council Corporate plan.

Our shared outcomes are:

• Best Start - children have the best start in life.
• Well - people are as well as possible for as long as possible.
• Independent - people live independently and have control over their lives.
• Aspire and Achieve - people have aspiration to achieve their ambitions through education, training, employment and lifelong learning.
• Sustainable economy - we have sustainable economic growth and provides good employment for and with communities and businesses.
• Safe and Cohesive - people live in cohesive communities, feel safe and are protected from harm.
• Clean and green - people experience a high quality, clean, sustainable and green environment.

For more detail on our outcomes please look at our Corporate Plan 2018-20: kirklees.gov.uk

Kirklees Council is unlikely to pledge towards projects that:

• Help only one individual or a very limited number of people.
• Have in the current financial year, already received a grant of funding from the Council for the same costs of the project as the funding from the Growing Great Places pledge funding will support/pay for.
• Are annually recurring and have been funded previously through the Growing Great Places Programme.  
• Other funding/grants from the Council for different items/project costs to those that the pledge will fund,   would be viewed as match or complementary funding.
• Do not promote community cohesion.
• Are to be managed by a group or individual that received a previous grant that was not managed satisfactorily.
• Are raising funds for works or equipment already committed, bought or completed.
• Solely or predominantly benefit people who live outside the Kirklees Council authority boundary.
• Overtly or exclusively promote a Political agenda.
• Overtly or exclusively promote a religious agenda.
• Interfere with Council business or would be a reputational risk.
• Have unauthorised or significant financial implications for the council including increased maintenance or resource costs

The community response to the Covid-19 crisis has been incredible. We’re proud to be working alongside our citizens and local organisations who are doing so much to support each other and to protect the most vulnerable people in our local places.

Both Kirklees Council and our partners at Spacehive are keen to do more to help the groups and individuals who are stepping up to help others at this difficult time. Kirklees Council are being more flexible about how much we can pledge to Growing Great Places projects that have the backing of local people. This is so that we can do more to help those groups who are actively crowdfunding right now. 

In order to support groups and organisations who are providing vital support in our communities and helping those who are most vulnerable, Spacehive have also made some changes to help mutual aid groups and others to raise the funds they need, fast. 

Changes to the programme:

• Growing Great Places usually has funding rounds with specific deadlines when you can get involved. Our next deadline will be in early September. Projects that are about making our local places even better as part of the community response to Covid-19 can now come forward at any time. 

• Organisations who are responding to, or impacted by the Covid-19 crisis can raise funds via Spacehive for running costs for a key community asset. If your project isn’t quite right for Growing Great Places, you can still use the Spacehive website to run your crowdfunding campaign.

Ready to start crowdfunding? Here’s the link you’ll need to start your journey…START CROWDFUNDING 

People have already been coming to Spacehive with some great ideas that you might take inspiration from:

• Supporting mutual aid groups in local communities

• Buying equipment and software to move community organisations online

• funding home learning packs for vulnerable or less well-off children

• Providing essential running costs to support a much-loved community asset

• Creating virtual festivals and get-togethers to reduce loneliness 

Need some more advice on your project idea before you create your project page? Please tell us about your idea and we'll get back to you with guidance on how to get it ready for crowdfunding: SHARE YOUR IDEA 

For any additional questions, please contact Spacehive on support@spacehive.com or the Active Citizens and Places team, who are part of the Democracy Service at Kirklees Council: growinggreatplaces@kirklees.gov.uk

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 info@spacehive.com or the council on GrowingGreatPlaces@kirklees.gov.uk

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 either GoCardless or PayPal. The money they pledge will only be charged after you hit your target. After they are charged the authorisation / Direct Debit mandate is cancelled. Backers are only charged once.

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! 

Are there fees?

Yes - there are usually 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.

There are also transaction fees of 0.5% for payments made via GoCardless and 3.4% for PayPal. These are estimated at the beginning of your campaign and automatically added onto your total project costs. As pledges are made using one or other of the payment methods, the transaction fees associated with your target will be adjusted.