Crowdfunding: A new mix of innovation, public support, entrepreneurism, politics & energy

Gary Topp, Development Director for Bristol Green Capital Partnership CIC, writes in this guest blog about the Better Bristol campaign and this approach to fundraising…

Roll for the Soul: community-focused bike cafe in Bristol

The more that we thought about these issues the more important it was to look at a city scale crowdfunding platform to support the sector. Over the last few months we have been working with Crowdfunder UK – the fastest growing crowdfunding platform in the world- to develop and launch the “Better Bristol’ campaign.

The Better Bristol campaign is now online and you can register your interest by filling in the online form.

Want to know more about the campaign and how you can benefit from it? Read our news post on the Better Bristol Campaign.

“Bristol is a city of projects, ideas and activities. They just keep happening as motivated people and engaging organisations generate new thoughts and new connections. It’s part of the city’s DNA.

Over the past year the Partnership has been working with, and talking to, partners about how it can best support the continual stream of good ideas generated in the city in this new and more difficult environment. As you will know this is as much a challenge for the Partnership itself, as it is for many projects it seeks to support and collaborate with.Any project and idea needs resources and a set of ‘capacities’ to succeed – people, space, materials, permissions, etc. And whilst many things are often achieved on the basis of energy, commitment and determination … sometimes ‘cash’ is required. As we know in recent years, cash has been harder to find as the old models of investment, public sector support and grants from trusts and foundations has become more challenging. Sometimes we call this ‘austerity’.

In the new funding landscape the biggest new ‘player’ in these changed circumstances has been the global uptake of crowdfunding. Crowdfunding is a new mix of innovation, politics, public support, entrepreneurism and energy. It is open to all for success or otherwise. We all know the global stories.

The Partnership is about city scale interventions and it is about the increasing importance of cities as the appropriate ‘unit’ to address the climate challenge. At city scale projects and ideas can have real impact. They can be both locally empowering and part of a global movement of positive action and change. Right now cities matter more than ever before.

This exciting relationship brings together the world’s biggest city scale Partnership, the expertise of Crowdfunder and an ambition to generate and support £1million of grassroots projects. This is a different kind of approach to funding – we all have to support the work that we care about. This can happen at individual giving level (a few pounds ….) or it can be a great way for business and grant-funders to match their resources directly with those projects that the ‘crowd’ endorse. It’s a perfect match. Let’s help Bristol become even better.”
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This blog has been reposted with kind permission from the Bristol Green Capital Partnership. View the original blog post.

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Cabot Institute for the Environment blog

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