Crowdfunding is not Charity, it’s Community

As we work towards building a year-round location, I wanted to discuss one of the questions asked regarding our crowdfunding campaign.

Why are you crowdfunding money for a business?

  1. Crowdfunding is not always charity. Many people have heard of Go Fund Me, a platform that allows people to ask for donations to support someone in need. This is a method of charity for helping those in need. While some may only be familiar with Go Fund Me, it is not the only method of crowdfunding. Platforms like KickStarter and Indie Go Go are platforms where businesses or products are supported by their community by pre-selling their products. Our campaign is modelled after these platforms. We are not asking you to make a donation for us to expand our business. We are asking you to purchase products that you will get to use and enjoy. Have you ever purchased a gift card from a business? That was crowdfunding. You spend money today that you do not redeem at a business until a future date.
  1. Crowdfunding is community. Crowdfunding, for charity or business, is focused on people coming together to support one another. We believe that community should be the focus of every business. Crowdfunding allows a community to be part of a story bigger than themselves. People are able to financially support a person, a product, or a business that they believe in. Together people decide if the project succeeds or fails, by spending or not spending their money. This is exactly how every day business works. If you want a business to succeed, you spend money on their product or service. If you want a business to fail, you choose not to spend your money on their product or service. Daily your purchasing decisions have the ability to impact the success or failure of businesses.
  1. Change is here. Reality is, the impact of technology has created new opportunities for businesses to grow. We hear a lot about the way technology hurts us, but that is not always the case. Technology has also done a lot to help us. Crowdfunding gives access to opportunities in a way that has not been available to people in the past. It enables people to find support from their community in a wide variety of ways. Like anything, some will see these changes as the enemy, while others will embrace them and look for the opportunity in these changes.

Thank you to those who spur us on as we build our business. From those who have shown support with their words to those who are acting with their wallets. Thank you for being part of our story.