Blog
Around the world with PleaseFund.Us
London BRC's crowdfunding project (registered in Reno, Nevada) with PleaseFund.Us is one of the latest US projects to seek funding on the site. As Kickstarter arrived in the United Kingdom for the first time two months ago, Americans are similarly turning to PleaseFund.Us in search of a large range of crowdfunding categories and a larger international crowdfunding base.
Welcoming in the Winter
The cold snap in the air, the constant loop of Christmas adverts on television, the continual urge to curl up next to a fire - without warning, winter is thoroughly upon us. Tomorrow, it's only twenty - five days until Christmas. And what better way could you celebrate the beginning of advent than with some seasonal crowdfunding projects?
How PleaseFund.Us Is Changing
We have had a rollercoaster of a year, we have helped hundreds of projects raise thousands of pounds, and we are extremely excited by some of the upcoming changes to PleaseFund.Us.
So, here are just a few highlights....
Old meets New
Crowdfunding will work. Whether you’re an established banker, a twenty year-old art student, the owner of a waning theatre in a small northern village, the owner of a thriving theatre in central London, or an underappreciated watch maker, crowdfunding will benefit you.
Been There, Done That & Given Away the T-Shirt:
At PleaseFund.Us, we try to provide as much support and advice to our community as possible. We’ve looked at the importance of getting your campaign off to a good start; having a range pledge rewards; making a good video; and the need for continuous promoting. We’ve even looked at some of the PleaseFund.Us success statistics. Sadly though, nothing is guaranteed when it comes to crowdfunding. There are no rules. We also realise that there’s only so much we say that people will listen to.
This is why we thought we’d try and get some answers from the people who have had first hand experience with crowdfunding success. We thought you’d be more re-assured hearing it from the project owners themselves, and it was about time we hear some hints and tips from the horses mouth.
PleaseFund.Us – A UK Kickstarter
Today's hottest form of high-tech investment is exploding in popularity, and yet crowdfunding is a very unfamiliar term here in the UK. ‘Rent-a-crowd’ is often the initial, and mistaken response I get when explaining the concept to friends. Kickstarter on the other hand is a term that people are slightly more familiar with.
How Crowdfunding Can Work For You
An introduction to crowdfunding
Crowdfunding has become an increasingly more popular way for small companies and creative artists to gain early backing using the internet and social media. In the UK we have seen a wave of crowdfunding sites emerge that have goals as diverse as funding community driven projects to equity investment platforms. PleaseFund.Us has always been proud to be a creative projects platform, meaning that anyone with a new idea can upload their idea and work with the PleaseFund.Us team to get it into shape so that it can raise the money needed through crowdfunding.
5 (and a bit) Facebook Crowdfunding Tips
Last summer witnessed Facebook reach over a billion registered users and it’s a tool that should not be ignored when it comes to crowdfunding your idea.
Facebook is an easy way to connect with large amounts of people and ultimately promote your project; it’s also a great way of keeping people up to date with your progress and how your project is getting on. If you're not using Facebook for your project yet, you’re missing out on one of the largest and fastest ways to directly interact with potential fans and backers.
Crowdfunding Videos We Love
Working at PleaseFund.Us, we get to see some amazing crowdfunding videos, here are just a few recent ones that have really caught our imagination. The projects range from Mission: Explore Food's awesome new adventure packed book, to Alakazam your spontaneous flight search Iphone app.
Overcrowded Crowdfunding
Everyone wants their project to be successfully funded, which is why many people try and increase their chances and upload their project to numerous platforms (spread their bets ‘n’ all)- good idea huh? Well guess again. You’d think it would be a great idea: The more platforms that your project is uploaded to the better. Well…you’d be wrong, and here’s why…
5 Newest PleaseFundUs Crowdfunding Projects
With so many projects coming onto the platform every month, we have done a quick summary of the five newest and best crowdfunding projects to have gone live this month. With pledge rewards ranging from discounted dance classes all the way through to a surf holiday in Morocco, you can't fail to be enticed and inspired.
Upcoming changes to PleaseFundUs
We have had an incredible start to our crowdfunding life. Every month we are getting more and more projects coming online trying to crowd fund their way to glory. Thankfully, we seem to be getting nearly 40% of these projects funded. Every project is unique and offers a wonderful insight into the amazing creativity out there at the moment. We have had projects ranging from sports technology web streaming all the way through to a Milan fashion show project.
Drum Roll Please…......
We are pleased to announce the two winners of the PleaseFund.Us Creatives Grants. The decision was made after consulting our panel of industry experts ranging from governmental grant giving bodies through to fashion leaders. In deciding the winners our panel looked at what makes a good crowdfunding campaign and whether the applicants (projects trying to raise funding through the PleaseFund.Us website) had shown creativity, brilliance, passion and the dedication required to win over the crowd. Read on to find out which lucky projects are benefiting from over £1,500 of grants.....
Fashion, Creativity and Crowdfunding
“Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.”
I never thought I’d ever quote Coco Chanel, but the vanity of the world allows for an influx of creativity, which is why crowdfunding and fashion go hand in hand. Just as a designer should thrive off creating a unique and individual item or accessory, the same should be true of a crowdfunding project owner.
New Projects/Contenders for the PFU £1500 Grant
We have 3 new projects this November, all of which are hungry for the PleaseFund.Us Creatives Fund: £1000 to the lucky winner and £500 to the runner-up.
There isn’t long left until the winner is announced (Nov 25th), so if you’ve got a project at the ready, hurry up and get uploading. Apart from the projects that are already on the site, here are 3 new competitors for the prize money.
Don’t Play With Matches
It’s time to sweep away the cobwebs, put back your book of spells and return the garlic to the kitchen… because things are hotting up in the crowdfunding world. With bonfire night soon upon us, there are projects out there that will get you hot under the collar (and in more ways than one!).
Interview with Olivia Cole: Her experience of crowdfunding.
Olivia Cole was campaigning to save The Travel Bookshop in Notting Hill; an independent bookshop that couldn’t afford the astronomical rent increase, and was therefore being sold off to become part of a wider bookshop chain.We asked her to talk to us about her experience of crowdfunding.
Promoting My Project
So… you’ve made your video, you’ve got some good pledge rewards and you’ve uploaded your project to a crowdfunding website…now what?! Sit back, put your feet up and watch the mon£y roll in?- I think not! Your campaign has only just begun. A project doesn’t just fund itself.
Our Five Favourite Projects For iPhone
An iPhone is a pretty cool accessory on its own; however there have been plenty of crowdfunding projects across the globe designing gadgets to enhance them further. Here we have our pick of some of the best crowdfunding projects we’ve seen for the iPhone. All five of them surpassed their targets and are currently well on their way!
Project Round-Up
Yeee haw! It's round-up time. Summer’s over...... I don’t think so - (Not quite yet anyway)! The temperature is rising and we’ve got perhaps one last sun-fulfilled weekend before the autumn month of October sets in. (I’m grinning at the thought of it!). But that’s not the only thing that is making us hot under the collar! There are projects out there that are raising our temperatures and making us smile in all sorts of ways.
Where Do The Most Creative Ideas Come From?
Though there are some ideas that can come to us like a bolt out of the blue, that is not to say that there is nothing you can do to help yourself along the way. And the truth is, the people who these brilliant ideas come to are often very prepared to receive them, whether they realise it or not. With just a few simple tips you’ll be well on your way to a more creative you, hopefully brimming with bright ideas!
Crowdfunding: Where it started - and where it is going….
Crowdfunding has emerged as a result of the evolution of microfinance, and has gained significant traction thanks to the World Wide Web. Microfinance is a term for lending money to low-income individuals, whereby microloans can be an effective tool, proven to improve people’s lives, stimulate economic growth, and have a lasting and positive effect in communities.
10 Crowdfunding Tips: An Easy Way To Raise Money
As the saying goes, ideas are cheap, but the execution is expensive. This is exactly why crowdfunding has become such a hit; it enables people with brilliant ideas to showcase them in a risk free way, gain the support of the general public, and carry them out!
Crowdfunding tips for filmmakers
Whether you’re making a music video, a documentary or even a feature film, one thing that most filmmakers have in common is the need for funds. Sometimes money is needed for an excursion (especially for documentaries), other times it is needed for equipment. Regardless of the reason, here are some simple tips that will allow you to say ‘that’s a wrap folks!’
What makes a good pledge
If you want your project to get fully funded (which I’m hoping you do), then having good pledges is a key factor in determining whether or not your project gets all the ‘wonga’ it needs. So before you make any rash decisions and rush into uploading your project, be sure to follow these guidelines when determining what rewards you are going to offer your potential backers.
We Love This Project
Had you ever thought that you could make sounds just by passing electric current through the air? Go a couple of steps further and add some fluorescent colouring and suddenly you have something that can not only make the odd zapping noise, it can begin to make a tune with a flash light effect - way cooler!
5 WAYS TO FUND YOUR START-UP
Money, money, money! It's what is needed to get your business up and running. So here are 5 ways on how to get the funding you need.
First Week At PleaseFund.Us!
Talking to people about crowdfunding since I have been working for PleaseFund.Us and explaining how it works I always get the same question fired back at me; why would people be interested in backing a cause and getting nothing back in return, particularly if they do not know the person it is helping, and it isn’t for charity?
My first week crowdfunding - and the lessons learnt
PleaseFund.Us is not a charity. Simples.
Whilst it’s important to support our friends and family who raise money for good causes, I for one am slightly fed up with being inundated with ‘JustGiving’ requests. I’m fed up with the guilt. It’s guilt that comes with neglecting numerous donation requests, and that overrides my initial good karma from the first £50 that JustGiving debited from my account. Regardless of how good the cause, I simply can’t keep up with the amount of people asking me for money.
Beans, Recession and Crowdfunding
Tired with the City life, constantly surrounded by talk of the "double-dip recession", broke unable even to buy a card for their mother's birthday, and with daily intakes of cheese-on-toast at new all time highs, James Bailey and Tarkan Ahmet decided that the only thing to do, was to 'go it alone'. Armed with a box of highlighters and a MacBook, they went about turning their idea of crowdfunding into reality....6 months on, 223 tins of baked beans down and www.PleaseFund.Us is live.