Crowdfunding

Charles Best got the idea to start Donors Choose as a history teacher at a Bronx high school. He was funding school supplies for the kids with his own money. So he thought of a website where he and his colleagues can post projects that are in need of funding, onto a website where donors can have easy access to help out. DonorsChoose.org is a great way to help students across the U.S. learn through fun and interactive in-class projects. The way it works is, a public school teacher will post on donorschoose.org the materials and support that is needed for a classroom project. Then, Donors Choose gives you the ability to hand pick which project to help fund. You log onto the website and find the project that inspires you the most. Once you find the project you wish you help, select any amount over $1 or more to give a tax deductible donation to that exact classroom. After your donation, you will receive feedback from the classroom on the project. All donors get to see photos of the projects in the classroom, a hand written thank you from the teacher and students, and a cost report showing you how each dollar was spent for the project. Donors Choose is free to access for teachers all across the nation. They have helped fund over 440,000 projects, helped over 11,000,000 students, and raised over $232,100,000 dollars. Donors Choose has also teamed up with Arianna Huffington of The Huffington Post. If you purchase a copy of her new book Thrive before March 25, 2014, and email your receipt to Thrive@randomhouse.com, you will receive a $26 gift card to help fund a project of your choice on [...]

Do you have a great business idea or a new unique product ready to be launched?  Have you exhausted all the traditional channels, such as family, friends, personal loans, to raise the necessary capital to launch the idea or product?  Are you weary about selling a equity interest in your business to an unknown third party in return for the capital you are looking to raise?  You may want to consider one or two of the new crowdfunding platforms.  For some entrepreneurs and new business owners, crowdfunding or micro-finance may not be the way to go.  But, as we have seen first hand, several of our client entrepreneurs, start-ups and small businesses are pursuing this innovative financing route and are acquiring significant funding from these community crowdfunding platforms.