Peer Pressure With Crowdfunding

Everyone is doing it. So why don’t you? Celebrities and Politicians do it. Charities too. And now peers are tapping into the Internet to get small amounts of money from lots and lots of supporters. Crowdfunding has become a worthy alternative for traditional investment options. Reaching goals powered by a unique all-or-nothing crowdfunding ecosystem.

Websites like SponsorGoal.com help fund people and groups with goals big or small. Canadian Independent filmmaker Brent Gorcie is reaching to raise more than $100,000 to help finance–and work full time on—Red Gecko, which he hopes will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January. A percentage of any Donations made will go to the American Cancer Society to help support the cause of the film. The film features star musicians and actors Macy Grey, Eric Roberts, and Sean Patrick Flanery.

The term crowdfunding derives from another term: crowdsourcing, i.e., outsourcing to the public jobs typically performed by employees. Want to start a business? Why not have your friends and family help out with ideas (crowdsourcing) and finance the ones that work best (crowdfunding)? That’s what Dwight Judah Ward is doing, in an Artistic-forward campaign of celebrity paintings in hopes to generate revenues for his LA Art Exhibit by reaching out to celebrities and role models to put in his paintings. On his current campaign he features a photo he painted of Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama. Dwight sent his painting to the president and received a hand written letter of appreciation and a request for a second painting.

Likewise, Jennifer Fawson connects with her network looking to achieve Miss USA Ambassador this August in Tampa Florida. It’s a way to bypass the door to door campaigns; social networking can now fill that role. Pageant girls can now have profiles with bios and causes, and as soon as they raise awareness, at the click of a button, they are able to reach their goal and compete in a pageant. In the last 25 years, more than 30,000 pageant contestants have gone door to door or called up friends and family to raise money to compete for their dreams of becoming a beauty queen. Using a crowdfunding platform they are able to get people emotionally invested as part of a team. “Right now things are going well” says Jennifer Fawson who is more than halfway of completing her goal in less than a month. Her goal is to encourage young women to grow into responsible, caring individuals who invest themselves in their communities and present themselves as positive role models.

Crowdsourcing has proven its unique approach to raising funds and awareness can accomplish any goal driven by the people, for the people.