Crowdfunding / Crowdsourcing Platforms Urbanism

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Platforms

Crowdfunding

Spacehive

Spacehive is the world's first funding platform for civic projects. They make it easy for lots of people, companies and councils to fund civic projects that make places better - like new playgrounds or spruced up parks, new community centres, free public WiFi networks, rooftop gardens, street festivals, or a giant water slide in the middle of the high street. Anything that brings a benefit to a space that's accessible to the public - either permanently or temporarily. Spacehive is all about bringing civic spaces to life with ambitious, imaginative projects, made possible with the direct support of people like you.

„We’re leading transformation in the way that our towns and cities are shaped from a top-down delivery to a genuinely people-powered approach.“

We're a team of 6 based in central London. We spend most of our time working with communities to develop an amazing mix of projects, looking around for new ideas, and reaching out to people who might like to get involved. We love what we're doing, and who we're doing it with.

AMBITIONS

• Local people to share brilliant project ideas - like creating relaxing green spaces, shiny new sports facilities, or giving the high street a makeover.
• Design professionals to pitch project ideas direct to the community.
• Public bodies ready to try a smarter way of funding capital neighbourhood improvements that puts communities in the driving seat.
• Businesses and brands looking for a powerful way of investing in communities that leaves a tangible legacy.

GUIDELINES

• Everything on Spacehive must be a project
• A project is something with a clear end, like building a playground, planting a tree, or putting on a festival. A project will eventually be completed, and something tangible will be produced as a result
• Projects must be civic
• Projects must have a civic value, meaning the benefit should be felt in the places we share, rather than our private homes and offices. Projects can be permanent (like a new playground) or temporary (like an event) and they can include revenue as well as capital costs
• It doesn't matter who you are
• Creating projects is open to any organisation or person over the age of 18 and based in the UK. If you're an organisation it doesn't matter what your legal structure is - for example whether you're a charity or a for-profit business
• Are those the only guidelines?
• Those are the main three, but below is a list of specific uses of Spacehive that are not allowed. What is not allowed? Spacehive cannot be used to raise money for causes, whether it's a charity run for Oxfam or a fundraiser for the work of a local conservation group. Projects cannot offer equity or financial incentives (share of profits, ownership, the repayment of loans or cash-value equivalents). No offensive projects (e.g. murals with racist content) or projects that promote political or religious ideologies. Projects cannot offer rewards that offer entry to raffles, lotteries, or participation in gambling. No projects outside the UK.

Spacehive makes it easy for people, companies and councils to fund things that make our civic environment better - like new playgrounds or spruced up parks. For people with great project ideas, Spacehive allows you to build support direct from your community. For everyone else it's a fast and fun way to transform where you live: just find a project you love and pledge a contribution. Payments are only charged if projects hit their funding targets, so you only pay if the project goes ahead! 

Citizinvestor

Citizinvestor is a crowdfunding and civic engagement platform for local government projects. We empower citizens to invest in their community and create real change. Any government entity or their official partners can post projects to Citizinvestor.com. These are projects that have support from City Hall and citizens, but simply lack the necessary funds to be completed. Once a project is posted to Citizinvestor.com, citizens can donate tax-deductibly to the projects of their choice. Although citizens are asked to enter their credit card information right away, they will not be charged unless the project reaches 100% of its funding goal before the funding deadline. Once a project reaches 100% of its funding goal, the project is built! Citizinvestors can continue to monitor the project’s progress as it goes from funding to fruition.

AMBITIONS

Love where you live. No one likes the guy who hates his hometown. Every city is broken, we know that. But we believe we are called to love where we live. Be audacious. Dream bigger. Have a healthy disrespect for the status quo. Never fear failure. Be disciplined. Vision without discipline is false hope. We love lists and focus, because we know that’s what makes us most free to do the best work. Be self-aware. We know what we’re good at and what we suck at and we love that quality in others. Transparency. Not lying is not enough. True transparency is in the best interest of everyone from customers, to employees, to partners. Live generously. We believe that generosity makes us better citizens. One who lives generously seeks to put others above themselves, freely giving their time, energy, and resources. Always be learning. Our love of learning spills into everything we do, from running constant experiments on our products, to A/B testing messaging, to always having a book in our hands. For good, for profit. Profit and social impact are not mutually exclusive. We believe the best way to create real change is by creating new value in the marketplace.

TERMS

• Investors agree to provide their payment information at the time they pledge to a campaign. The payment will be collected at or within twenty four hours

of the project reaching 100% of its stated goal.

• Investors agree to have sufficient funds or credit available at the campaign deadline to ensure that the pledge will be collectible.
• For all campaigns, Citizinvestor gives to the Project Creator each Investor’s User ID and pledge amount. For successful campaigns, Citizinvestor additionally gives to the Project Creator each Investor’s name and email.
• Project Creators may cancel or refund an Investor’s pledge at any time and for any reason.
• Project Creators should not take any action in reliance on having the money pledged until they have the ability to withdraw and spend the money.
• Project Creators cannot remove a project from Citizinvestor once it has been posted without the consent of the Company.
• Because of occasional failures of payments from Investors, Citizinvestor cannot guarantee the full receipt of the amount pledged minus fees.
• Investors and its payments partners will remove their fees before transmitting proceeds of a campaign.
• Citizinvestor reserves the right to cancel a pledge at any time and for any reason.
• Citizinvestor reserves the right to cancel and/or remove projects from any project creator who in Citizinvestor’s sole discretion has violated these terms of use , the privacy policy or any other agreement with Citizinvestor.
• Citizinvestor is not liable for any damages or loss incurred related to any use of the Service. All dealings are solely between Users. Citizinvestor is under no obligation to become involved in disputes between any Users, or between Users and any third party. This includes, but is not limited to, delivery of goods and services, and any other terms, conditions, warranties, or representations associated with campaigns on the Site. Citizinvestor does not oversee the performance or punctuality of projects. The Company does not endorse any User Submissions. You release Citizinvestor, its officers, employees, agents, and successors in rights from claims, damages, and demands of every kind, known or unknown, suspected or unsuspected, disclosed or undisclosed, arising out of or in any way related to such disputes and the Service.

Fees and Payments Joining Citizinvestor is free. However, Citizinvestor charges an 8% fee on all projects that reach 100% of their funding goal. This fee is added to the project cost and does not alter the funds transferred . Funds pledged by Investors are collected by WePay. Citizinvestor is not responsible for the performance of WePay.

Ioby

ioby is a crowd-resourcing platform for citizen-led neighbor-funded projects. Our name is derived from the opposite of NIMBY. Our mission is to strengthen neighborhoods by supporting the leaders in them who want to make positive change, engaging their neighbors, one block at a time. Crowd-resourcing combines the concepts of crowd-funding (the ability to pool small donations made online to a specific cause or project) and resource organizing (a core tenet of community organizing that considers activists and advocates the best supporters to ensure success of a cause or project). Crowd-resourcing gives everyone the ability to organize all kinds of capital--cash, social capital, in kind donations, volunteer time, advocacy--from within the community to serve the community. We believe that crowd-resourcing is a powerful way to build support and ensure success of a project.

WHO WE ARE

ioby is a not-for-profit corporation. We received our 501(c)(3) determination in June 2009. ioby connects vetted, well-planned NYC-based environmental initiatives with the support they need while raising public awareness and building partnerships for new solutions. In our online marketplace, charitable, community-based groups with limited resources can describe their projects, and users can explore the site, find meaningful projects, and make a donation or volunteer. The Sites provide you with access to an online collection of information, materials and services related to ioby and its work, including text, pictures, photographs, audio and video, graphics, logos, marks and images (collectively, "Content"), as well as software used in accessing the Sites, displaying the Content, and utilizing the functionality offered through the Sites ("Software"), all of which are subject to this UA. Unless stated otherwise, any new Content and Software added to the Sites and all revisions, modifications, and enhancements to the Sites, the Content or the Software will be covered by this UA effective upon the date of each such addition.

ELIGIBILITY Use of the Sites is void where prohibited. By using the Sites, you represent and warrant that (1) all information you submit to the Sites is truthful and accurate; (2) you are 18 years of age or older or have received parental consent and supervision when using the Sites; and (3) your use of the Sites does not violate any applicable law or regulation. Your use of the Sites may be terminated without warning if we believe you are in violation of any of these conditions.

Crowdsourcing

Neighborland

Neighborland empowers organizations to collaborate with residents on local issues. We provide real-world design tools and a web-based communication platform. Our goal is to improve the way local organizations, municipal leaders, and residents collaborate to make great ideas happen.

“Our mission is to empower people to take action on local issues. We founded Neighborland on a simple question: ‘How can we help people improve their neighborhoods?’ First, we built tools for residents to sketch their own ideas and share insights with their neighbors. Then we launched Questions, enabling organizers to engage with residents. We recently released Projects to enable citizens, community leaders, and municipal officials to share resources, plan events, and work together to make great ideas happen.” Dan Parham Co-Founder, Neighborland

Solutions to our communities’ most important issues can be complex, and often organizations need residents to engage in a series of actions over time to make ideas a reality. Some issues require money or volunteers, others need petitions, or a visible show of community support. The structure for dialogue on Neighborland helps residents, organizations, and municipalities track campaigns and nudge them towards resolution. As we have evolved from an experiment to a social enterprise, we have developed these core values:

Action matters We are experiential learners – we learn by doing. Small, incremental actions are an important way for residents to express their desires for their neighborhoods. Tactical interventions are not a replacement for traditional advocacy planning. Rather, they can inform the strategy of larger urban planning initiatives that require substantial amounts of time from experts and municipal funding. Not all prototypes succeed. If we want to innovate in our cities, we should embrace civic hacking as part of the urban design process.

Foster collaboration We believe in open and transparent collaboration. Residents, community leaders, and municipal governments each have valuable perspectives on the development of our neighborhoods. Public dialogue about ideas big and small should be accessible, ongoing, and inclusive. Neighborland complements traditional advocacy forums like neighborhood meetings and city council hearings, adding voices and energy to ongoing debates and campaigns. Connecting residents with organizations who are already working on solving a problem is key. There is no us or them.In the wise words of Theodore Roosevelt, “We are the government.”

Social enterprise We exist to make a visible, positive impact on the people, environment, and economic conditions of the communities where we work. Because accessibility and equity are core values of ours, Neighborland will always be free to use for residents. We have been working on several paths to sustainability as an organization. Whatever path we take, we won’t break with our core values. Our purpose is to help communities become, in Douglas Farr’s words from Sustainable Urbanism, more “connected, compact, and complete.” By fostering the capacity for likeminded residents and community leaders to take action on their most important problems, we will help them build healthy, vibrant, and resilient cities.

DIFFERENCE – How to engage the public Before your event, sign up to Neighborland with your organizations’s admin-friendly email, and send us your profile URL. We will set you up as an Organizer on Neighborland which will give you access to all of our input and moderation tools. Describe your Project goals, timeline, and outcome in detail in the “description” field of your question. Swim with the Current Engaging with residents in public space or at your event. For most place-based Projects, you will engage with residents in public space or at community events. For events in public space, we can not overstate the importance of foot traffic. Don’t expect people to come to you. You’ll get much better engagement from a bustling sidewalk, park, city plaza, or farmers market. One of the easiest ways to do this is to partner with existing cultural or civic events that residents love like block parties, arts festivals, and placemaking events.

Sparking Conversation There are three simple ways to collect input in public space with our tools – stickers, posters, or whiteboards. Our stickers work on any surface like glass, plastic, concrete, or wood. They are non-destructive in that they peel off any surface without leaving residue or damaging it. Neighborland is working with stickers like “I Wish This Was” stickers, “I want ____ in my neighborhood”. Often organizations will print key information on the backs of the stickers, like their campaign URL and SMS/Twitter input instructions. Stickers are the most lightweight and mobile of all of the tactics. Organizers can print their own posters or stickers using our DIY design toolkit. Remember to keep stickers within reach for all residents. For example, stickers should not be placed higher than 30” from the street level for residents in wheelchairs and children.

If you don’t have a wall or surface to set up a grid of stickers or printed poster, you can create a surface. Mobile whiteboards work well in plazas, markets, block parties, and street fairs. We recommend that you work with a local sign fabricator to create a mobile, re-usable whiteboard. We can send you a 3D design file with suggested fabrication materials. For a design services and materials fee, we can have a mobile whiteboard fabricated and shipped to you.