How Does Crowdfunding Work?

Crowdfunding is another great financing option for small businesses. With Crowdfunding, you use the collection of finance from backers—the “crowd”—to fund an initiative. Crowdfunding models involve a variety of participants including the people or organizations that propose the ideas and/or projects to be funded, and the crowd of people who support the proposals. Crowdfunding is then supported by an organization (the “platform”) that brings together the project initiator and the crowd. Crowdfunding allows good ideas that do not fit the pattern required by conventional financiers to break through and attract cash through the wisdom of the crowd. If it does achieve “traction” in this way, not only can the enterprise secure seed funding to begin its project, but it may also secure evidence of backing from potential customers and benefit from word of mouth promotion in order to reach the fundraising goal.