Crowdfund Worcestershire's 2022 funding round is now open, with a deadline of 28th September. Along with pledges from your community and the county council, projects in Wychavon and Malvern Hills also have the opportunity to get a pledge from Wychavon District Council and Malvern Hills District Council towards their crowdfunding target. Read below to understand how it works and how to get involved.
 

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. CREAE YOUR PROJECT PAGE AND PITCH TO THE FUND(S) BY 28TH SEPTEMBER

Create your project page on Spacehive which will match you to local funds. The funders 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 verified. This involves checking quotes for all the major items and if you have land owner permission for your project. Gather this in advance for speedy verification. Aim to be verified before the fund deadline wherever possible. 

4. ASSESSMENT AND PLEDGING - BY LATE OCTOBER

Once ready to be verified, your project will be scored against the council's fund criteria. If your pitch is successful, you will receive a pledge towards your target before you begin crowdfunding - up to 50% of your target, or a max of £10,000 for the Crowdfund Worcestershire Fund.  Please visit the Funds & Support tab above for more information about each fund. Note, if a project is eligible for more than one fund, it could receive a max pledge of 50% of its campaign target. 

---

Please note, in Malvern Hills, MHDC will assess projects differently: MHDC will not be the first organisation to pledge to your project. MHDC will want to see community support and backing, in the form of smaller pledges from local people, before they consider pledging to your campaign.

MHDC will review all projects and their campaigns typically six weeks after the deadline. Projects will be contacted with the exact assessment date once campaigns begin. If projects are successful with their pitch and can demonstrate significant local support they could receive a pledge shortly after MHDC's assessment during their live crowdfunding campaigns. The Spacehive team is on hand to share lots of advice on how to run a brilliant crowdfunding campaign.

---

5. LAUNCH YOUR CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN 

Following the pitch outcome from the county council, launch and run your crowdfunding campaign asap. Aim to hit your target before Christmas 2022. Start with a ‘soft launch’, asking those close to you to back the project, before reaching out to a wider audience. Be sure to access advice from the Spacehive team.

6. HIT YOUR TARGET AND DELIVER YOUR PROJECT

When planning your campaign dates, factor in a couple of weeks for Spacehive to tot up all your pledges before the funds hit your account. 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 today by sharing your idea! 

----

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

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

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

This website is run on behalf of Worcestershire County Council. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. You can read more about accessibility on the Worcestershire County Council website here. 

#CrowdfundWorcs

Crowdfund Worcestershire 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 county 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 Crowdfund Worcestershire 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 Worcestershire County Council, Malvern Hills District Council and Wychavon District Council should also get in touch so we can help get you started.

#CrowdfundWorcs

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. 66% 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. 
 

---
 

Want inspiration? Take a look at all the successful projects on Spacehive in Worcestershire here. Through Crowdfund Worcestershire, 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.