We have published a number of articles
on crowdfunding, some showing the potentials and successes and others
the pitfalls and the scams. Even The World Bank has promoted
Crowdfunding – see
http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/world-bank-group-promotes-crowdfunding-for-caribbean-entrepreneurs/

Law360 have published a story today
(11) “Crowdfunding democratizes justice for some” see
https://www.law360.com/access-to-justice/articles/1135132/crowdfunding-democratizes-justice-for-some?nl_pk=3dff67ed-0e27-47ea-8f8b-9a83ecddf692&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=access-to-justice

They summarise it saying: “The poor,
the desperate and the popular have turned to crowdfunding for help
paying for bail or legal bills. The former two categories tend to
have far less success than the latter, experts say.”

The article starts:

“Deborah Nichols pled her case on
the Internet.

“She asked strangers for $75,000 to
bail out her son Sakai French, who is being held in adult jail in Las
Vegas awaiting his murder trial. Arrested last year at the age of 16,
he is accused of shooting and killing another teen during a fight at
a high school.

“Nichols took to a website called
Funded Justice, where she told Sakai’s story and posted photos of
him: Sakai playing with a dog. Sakai at the beach. Sakai flashing a
braces-lined smile in a jail visitation room.

'“No matter what’s against him he
still keeps his joy,” the mother of three wrote. “Son don’t let
them take your beautiful smile away …”

“Nichols is among a flood of people
turning to crowdfunding platforms to pay for criminal defense or when
facing deep-pocketed adversaries in civil and family litigation.
There, they ask strangers online to chip in with small donations to
help them pay often devastatingly high bail or legal bills.

Nichols has not received a single
dollar since the campaign went live two months ago.”

What exactly is Crowdfunding?

The best explanation I can find is from
the website fundable.com:

“Crowdfunding is a method of raising
capital through the collective effort of friends, family, customers,
and individual investors. This approach taps into the collective
efforts of a large pool of individuals—primarily online via social
media and crowdfunding platforms—and leverages their networks for
greater reach and exposure.

“Crowdfunding is essentially the
opposite of the mainstream approach to business finance.
Traditionally, if you want to raise capital to start a business or
launch a new product, you would need to pack up your business plan,
market research, and prototypes, and then shop your idea around to a
limited pool or wealthy individuals or institutions. These funding
sources included banks, angel investors, and venture capital firms,
really limiting your options to a few key players. You can think of
this fundraising approach as a funnel, with you and your pitch at the
wide end and your audience of investors at the closed end. Fail to
point that funnel at the right investor or firm at the right time,
and that’s your time and money lost.

“Crowdfunding platforms, on the other
hand, turns that funnel on-end. By giving you, the entrepreneur, a
single platform to build, showcase, and share your pitch resources,
this approach dramatically streamlines the traditional model.
Traditionally, you’d spend months sifting through your personal
network, vetting potential investors, and spending your own time and
money to get in front of them. With crowdfunding, it’s much easier
for you to get your opportunity in front of more interested parties
and give them more ways to help grow your business, from investing
thousands in exchange for equity to contributing $20 in exchange for
a first-run product or other reward.”

However, you must beware as
Fundable.com is a Crowdfunding platform.

On the premierline.co.uk website they
have a simple table showing the Advantages and Disadvantages of
Crowdfunding.

Having above I have already shown the
advantages so here are some of the disadvantages according to
premierline.

“Crowdfundable projects are visible,
finite and understandable. If your project isn’t all three, it’s
unlikely to succeed.” Anne Strachan, Crowdfund UK

If the target amount isn’t reached,
potential investors get their money back and the business goes away
empty handed

Failed projects risk damage to the
reputation of the business and people who have pledged money to them

Such a public display of an idea risks
others copying it

Getting the rewards or returns wrong
can mean giving away too much of the business to investors

“A company that has a limited
network, no digital or social media presence, or a very complicated
product will find it harder to crowdfund.” Jude Cook, ShareIn

For the whole article go to:
https://www.premierline.co.uk/knowledge-centre/what-are-the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-crowdfunding.html

If any reader wants to comment on this
and/or has real time experience of Crowdfunding I will be pleased to
hear from you.

You can crowd my website with all your
comments.