J. Michael BrowningThe past couple of years have seen crowdfunding make a marginal leap from angel investors and the fat-cat types to socially driven behemoths easily and readily accessible by all.
Here’s a quick breakdown of two sites that may provide a crowdsource solution to funding my project.
RocketHub
While undoubtedly not massive like its counterparts, RocketHub provides an excellent platform for artists and those pursuing larger than life goals to have them reviewed by industry professionals. Another aspect that sets RocketHub apart is its partnership with A&E. The network scans the plans and may provide funding.
RocketHub Specifics
- The layout is quick and straightforward to understand.
- Project durations last anywhere from 35 to 75 days.
- Individuals will receive all generated funds, regardless of the funding goal is met.
- While the services are free to sign up and use, a 4% fee is charged is the funding goal is met, and an 8% fee if the goal is not met.
- The main crowdfunding categories covered by RocketHub are art, science, social, and business.
Indiegogo
Up there with Kickstarter (not listed here), Indiegogo is one of the top crowdfunding communities around today. The services provide a multitude of categories and funding opportunities. Several past projects successfully brought in more than $1M in support.
Indiegogo Specifics
- The layout is graphical, easy to navigate, and understand.
- Project durations last around 40 days.
- Individuals will receive all generated funds, regardless if the funding goal is met.
- While the services are free to sign up and use, a 4% fee is charged is the funding goal is met, and a 9% fee if the goal is not met.
- Indiegogo provides crowdfunding services for more than 20 categories that range from art and entertainment to politics and religion.
Conclusion
So, here is a brief comparison between Indiegogo and RocketHub. While the services may be similar, trying to determine which would best support my summer music festival project has been somewhat challenging.
However, due to the nature of the event and who the target audience is, I would go with RocketHub.
It seems that the audience that frequents RocketHub and the types of categories it explicitly covers would lend itself nicely to my project and hopefully increase the probability of being funded.
If my project is not funded, all is not lost due to the nature of RocketHub’s funding policy. While the adage that ‘something is better than nothing’ doesn’t ring true, in this case, the fees charged for not reaching the projected goal are feasible.