It was a little past nine and I was late. I rushed towards Taman Rimba Kiara for the Parks for People event organized by Transition TTDI. It was drizzling.
When I reached the parks, the stage was surrounded by the crowd for Zumba. The NGOs that attended the event was stationed at their respective booth, fighting for their cause. I headed over to Powershift Malaysia's booth and found out that the event was delayed because of the rain. The MYD members who are here for the training roam around, signing the petition to protect Taman Rimba Kiara.
After the rain (kinda) stopped, we walked over to the small pavilion beside the pond. Annie and Tienot, our speaker for the day, were already there. Both of them were from Paris, and they are currently on a research trip around the Asia-Pacific region. They were here to share some insights about crowdfunding with us. After they shared their insights, we did a group activity - planning a crowdfunding pitch. I am going to summarize what I've learned during the session here.
Crowdfunding ≠ Donation
This key learning was a shift in paradigm for me because I used to assume that crowdfunding is getting people to donate to you with an exchange of product/service. However, they clarified that donation = giving without asking for a return while crowdfunding does. The better meaning of crowdfunding would be participation in a project.
What does that mean?
It means that when someone crowdfunded for you, you are actually giving them the power to participate in projects they believe in like making a potato salad or environmental projects (especially in the current US political climate). Crowdfunding is not about the money, but about the experience.
Annie and Tienot mentioned that crowdfunding follows the theory of communication circles. Your project should be fully supported by your family and close friends (which are your first circle). With their support (be it monetary or social sharing), your project could continue to spread towards friends of friends (second circle). Then, hopefully, continue on to the rest of the world (third circle).
How to start?
1. Obviously, you would need to have a project with you.
2. Ask around to know how people feel about the project, ask for feedbacks, ask them when/how they would be willing to support, what would they like to fund particularly for this campaign, etc. Since the people who crowdfunded for you wants to be a part of the project, their inputs are vital for the development of the projects
3. Setting your crowdfunding goals - know how much you need for what. It would be better if you could develop level based goals.
4. Share your stories in a peer-to-peer mode. You need to remember you are talking to people, not companies.
Most importantly, act locally and think globally.
After the session concluded with the mandatory "C" sign photoshoot, we had lunch and continue one with the PIE meeting with the other Powershift Malaysia programs. The Peer Integration Exchange session was arranged in a fish bowl sitting.
PIE started with updates from each track and continued on with detailed discussion. The fish bowl sitting was really very useful in streamlining the meeting and allowing more people to participate without compromising the quality of the meeting.
We finished up around 2.30 pm and cleaned up. A fruitful day indeed!
p.s. MYD events welcome everyone to join! Check out the Powershift Malaysia Facebook page for more awesome events!
After the session concluded with the mandatory "C" sign photoshoot, we had lunch and continue one with the PIE meeting with the other Powershift Malaysia programs. The Peer Integration Exchange session was arranged in a fish bowl sitting.
PIE started with updates from each track and continued on with detailed discussion. The fish bowl sitting was really very useful in streamlining the meeting and allowing more people to participate without compromising the quality of the meeting.
We finished up around 2.30 pm and cleaned up. A fruitful day indeed!
p.s. MYD events welcome everyone to join! Check out the Powershift Malaysia Facebook page for more awesome events!
