About me
Sign up for the CrowdfundUK E-Newsletter
Crowdfunduk
About CrowdfundUK
CrowdfundUK is Anne Strachan FRSA, a trainer and fundraiser for over 20 years. I run innovative training and support for the third sector, creative and business on alternative finance, social investment and crowdfunding.
Since November 2013 I have been working for Manchester City Council to support the third sector in developing and running crowdfunding campaigns.
I am an Associate Partner with BAFI (Business Angels Finance International LLP) to help startups and SMEs raise structured debt or equity finance through crowdfunding. I was an approved coach with GrowthAccelerator, in the Access to Finance area, which helped high growth business achieve their potential. I worked with high growth businesses including social enterprises across the UK.
In 2015-16 I am involved in a major pilot programme with Natural England to run a series of crowdfunding campaigns for projects in local nature reserves.
I have run run highly praised training for over 2000 people on crowdfunding across the UK in partnership with:
- Local CVS or authorities in Bolton, Bradford, Chelmsford, Cheshire East, Cumbria, Havering, Knowsley, Lancaster, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Rochdale, Sheffield, Wansbeck and Wigan
- Third and creative sector support organisations: Creative Industries Trafford, Funding Information North East, Greater Manchester Centre for Voluntary Organisations (GMCVO), Institute of Fundraising NW, Natural England, North East Arts Forum, Rivernorth Charity Consulting and Training (Edinburgh), Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action, School for Social Entrepreneurs (London and NW), Voluntary Sector Training Essex, UK Fundraising, Unltd and Yorkshire Coast Festival Association.
- Business and social enterprise support: Access to Finance NW, Blue Orchid, the British Council, Bubble Entrepreneurs Network, Business Growth Hub, Camden Council Micro-Enterprise Support Programme, Greater Manchester Black and Ethnic Minority Network, Institute of Directors, Liverpool Vision, Manchester Digital, Manchester Social Media Surgeries, Monkfeet Training, North West Business Angels, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Shared Future (Lancaster), Social Enterprise Support Solutions (Blackpool), University Enterprise Support Units (Aston University, Bangor, Birmingham, Liverpool John Moores, Manchester Business School, Manchester Metropolitan University and Northampton), Women Supporting Social Entrepreneurs and Women Outside the Box.
In addition to the workshops I support organisations and startups plan and run campaigns. This includes team in-house sessions (a tailored version of the workshop), developing an effective pitch and engaging their social networks in communicating the campaign.
The emphasis in all my training and support that crowdfunding is a tool not only to raise funds but also build community or a support base.
Some comments from workshop participants
“A crowd pleasing course about crowdfunding”
“Anne was very knowledgeable and an excellent communicator””.
“I liked the discussion and practical activities”.
“An exciting introduction to a dynamic fundraising method – highly recommend”
“I learned more learned more about funding and social media than in any previous workshop”
“Thanks for such a brilliant workshop. You had high energy and were excited about crowdfunding - the rest of us became so too.”
“Thank you so much for the workshop - you were brilliant and really inspiring!”
Please look at http://www.eboroil.com - I have been ill and out of circulation since 2008 - would crowd funding be a way to start again - have environmentally friendly technology for producing diesel distillate from tar sands and a potential project in Peru.
Pat
Yes Pat you could look seriously at crowdfunding for equity or to co-finance other funds. In particular your idea to develop cleantech innovations. I have sent you an email.
Best wishes
Anne
Hey there,
I am currently trying to carry out research into CrowdFunding for a dissertation project. Is there any way of contacting you to ask for a few pointers or some advice?
Many thanks,
James,
In the oil industry, I have found that with good ideas the industry will back you. Ideas I have failed to finance have had a failing in the perception of the market.
We’ve just sent you a tweet. Hope you’ve seen it. We have launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, which is in its final few days.
Although we have had amazing feedback from potential investors, PR companies, journalists, bloggers, etc, it has been a challenge to connect with backers in the UK. Having compared stories with other Kickstarter creators worldwide, we are concluding that our problem might be a uniquely “British” problem and that we are, as a nation, different from our US counterparts.
Once our Kickstarter campaign, I would be keen to share my experiences of crowdfunding in Britain to the British but, for now, if you like our Kickstarter project, I would be so grateful for your help in promoting our campaign in its final few days. Thanks for your time.
Looking forward to working with you in the days and months ahead.
Hello Anne,
I really wanted to write a book about unethical marketing, because I have seen lots of it, but the crisis here in Portugal is crazy and I would have to stop working 12 hours a day to write it, therefore - crowdfunding.
Can you give me a mention or a tweet or more importantly tips?
I’m a strategist, not a designer and even though I outsourced a bit for this project to try to convey an idea I still feel its graphically inferior and that I need to work double time promoting it.
Campaign: http://igg.me/at/undermarketing/x/2656036
Good morning,
I am Tony Vitti, jazz singer broadcasted live on prime time in front of more than 2 million people on French TV.
I have recently landed in New York City, and I am currently running a new crowfunding campaign to bring back jazz music in the first Musical Webseries.
If Frank Sinatra, Dean martin, Bobby Darin, Tony Bennett, Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis JR. or more recently Michael Bublé talk to you… We would be glad to have your help !
Here is the link to our project : http://igg.me/at/MNWTV/x/5292254
Wishing you “Nothing But The Best”,
Tony Vitti
http://www.tonyvitti.com
How are you? I’m currently researching on crowdfunding prior to launching my Indiegogo campaign. I found your blog and read up on some of the tips you had. Thank you, they’re great. I was wondering however, do you ever share projects if you have interest in them?
Greetings from California. Hopefully we can make contact.
-samantha,green
Hi Samantha - thanks for your message.
Yes I do share campaigns if they resonate with me.
Tell me more.
Best wishes
Anne
Hi Anne,
I must say, thank goodness for sites like crowdfunduk.org! As a new crowdfunding participant, I have been quite overwhelmed, but more importantly amazed by this entire process! I am a middle school teacher and co-founder of Chummies, LLC, a friendship bracelet business for our youth that promotes inclusion and anti-bullying. I read that you are a social entrepreneur and have worked extensively with schools, so I thought you would be an amazing contact.
I know you are extremely busy, so I completely understand if you don’t have time to give individual feedback. We are preparing to launch our KickStarter page and are trying to educate ourselves on the best way to get the word out about our campaign. A good portion of our social media audience is young kids due to the nature of our product. So, we really need to focus on reaching the crowdfunding group. Any suggestions or feedback would be greatly appreciated! Again, thanks for such an amazing website!
Link to our preview page:
Sincerely,
Kelly Casaccio
[email protected]
Hi Kelly - sounds like a great project. I’ll email you.
Best wishes
Anne
Hello Anne!
thanks for your work helping on managing our campaings!
My name is Marco Di Stefano, I live in Bruxelles, and I am writing you beause I am developing a music campaign on the indiegogo site.
It is called “The first touch” and it talks about my love story and all the music I wrote inspired by this love. Actually this love is also the reason why I started to compose music.
If you have some time you might give a look at the video, is only 2 minutes, and if you like the music and the story and want to write an article about it do not hesitate to contact me for further information.
You can find the project at this link
http://igg.me/at/the-first-touch/x/5184566
Best regards
And thanks again for your work
Marco Di Stefano
Good Morning,
Just launched our Smart HeadBand on Indiegogo, would be most grateful if you could take a look, any feedback would be most appreciated
Richard, Team Bluefingers,Manchester UK
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/710600/emal/5673091
Hi! Thanks for doing this - these resources are really helpful. Of course I’d love if you could take a look at my project🙂
Elevator pitch: Musician/producer/poet who was once the world’s 10th ranked slam poet, received double lung transplant July 2013, now back and wanting to inspire - want the world to know you can come back from such a thing and thrive. Hence the title of the project: Strong Happy Healthy Free
Thanks for looking and thanks again for doing this site🙂
Hi Anne,
I wish I had found your blog a few months ago, my campaign on Kickstarter would have been just so much better prepared…
2 weeks ago I launched a Kickstarter campaign for tabtag, reusable, glowing stickers for MacBooks. Please view tabtag.com and the Kickstarter campaign on
Apart form our collection we produce individually designed or branded custom tabtags.
If you like tabtag as much as we do, perhaps you’ll consider sharing tabtag with your audience?
Thank you for your support!
Best regards,
Volker Lobmayr
tabtag.com
I’ve been part of the Kickstarter project Kids Place which was released three days ago.
It is an Android platform which transforms tablets into kids tablets, offering the best parental control software + a unique kids store with only pre-approved(by psychologists) kids apps which help with learning(math,biology,science,music,languages…)
We would be really grateful if you take a look at our project and give us some feedback.
Andreja Popovik,
eferio.com
I am the developer of a new Apple accessory named PowerDrive.This is the ultimate USB drive for iOS. It has a much faster speed and better performance than the competitors.
We are running the KickStarter campaign now via https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/229973091/powerdrive-the-ultimate-usb-drive-for-ios-with-pow.
This product is totally developed and produced by ourself,not by any outsourced parties.We are proud of it.This makes us the ability to make any further product with the Lightning drive technology.
PRESS RELEASE 15/08/2014
This is the future of cinema, and it starts with KICKSTARTER.
As you are aware, illegal downloads, file sharing and all types of intellectual property theft within the film industry are serious problems with no end in sight. The government plans to block piracy
sites, but this is just part of the solution. Neither polite persuasion nor the threat of legal action is putting a stop to illegal film consumption.
We believe that in today’s market place there is one simple rule: supply the demand. At this point I would like to introduce you to DemandFlicks.
The movie industry cannot currently supply demand, because its business model has not moved into the 21st century. There is also the perception that satisfying consumer demand will somehow
jeopardise an already ailing industry. We have come up with a formula called ‘crowd funded rentals’ which we believe will achieve this; supplying movies on demand and encouraging the
masses to change their behaviour by making them feel part of something.
We are seeking your support to get this project out of the development phase, in order to be ready for the 2015 UK government anti-piracy movement.
On 1st August we launched a crowd funding campaign to raise awareness and funds. Please take a look on KICKSTARTER (search: demandflicks) to find out more. The campaign ends on the 29th
September.
Now is the time to demand a change to the way you watch your movies, and save the movie industry at the same time. We believe people will pay if they can get the flicks they want, enjoy them how they want, and at a price they deem fair.
We hope you will agree, and we look forward to hearing from you in the very near future.
Yours sincerely,
Martin Colton & the DemandFlicks team
Find out more:
http://www.demandflicks.com
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/martincolton/demandflicks
http://www.facebook.com/demandflicks
http://www.twitter.com/demandflicks
Contact:
[email protected]
07872 519 822
Hi Anne,
Thank you for the information on your site, I’ve found it very clear and insightful. I’ve recently launched a Kickstarter campaign and thought perhaps given your interest in creative projects, there could be a chance you may take a look at it. With a creative background of nearly 20 years designing characters and adventures in the games industry for the big players, came Story Box, an IOS and Android story reader/creator app for kids. We believe it stands out from other similar apps as it is 3D and its cooperative elements. If you have a few minutes it would be great if you could take a look and let us know (and the world) what you think:
Thanks!😉
I’ve seen a new crowdfunding campaign that might be interesting.
Bleep – smart charging cable that backs up your data while charging.
http://igg.me/at/bleep
Hi Anne,
I am a dutch college student who is working on a revolutionary system for the news industry. I think this will become a critical part of the way the news is being brought to you. Our system will connect eyewitnesses directly to the media, so they can bring the real news story quicker and more accurate then ever before.
We are running a indiegogo campaign now, if you would like to check it out the link is:
http://igg.me/at/nwzz4u/x/8411039
I would really appreciate if you mention our campaign and help us get more attention. If you have any questions about it, i would love to get in touch with you.
Kind regards,
Tim van der Hoorn
I would like to introduce myself, I am Ryan McCarthy Founder of http://www.coachanyway.com based in the UK.
“CoachAnyWay is a online sports coaching portal, giving you the opportunity to learn any sport, coached in a variety of ways”
Problem:
Access to free sports coaching content and saving time searching the web to find right type of coaching content and resources.
Solution:
An all in one sports coaching portal/service, helping users find a variety of coaching content and resources for them to use as they progress.
Access to appropriate and suitable facilities is often the major cause for people not engaging in sport related activities. Our product has removed the constriction of access. Users are be able to learn regardless of weather, income or location. What’s more the website actively promotes and encourages social activity, by integrating instantly recognisable features such as comment boards and networking tools. However, at the heart of our product’s appeal is the opportunity for users to learn.
Our company is planning on raising a £100k seed investment round to create a new website with more sports and more videos for the public to access!
I am looking to have some sort of exposure in helping raising this investment through crowd funding site https://www.investingzone.com/pitch/203/coachyourway-ltd
Kind regards
Ryan McCarthy
Hi Anne,
I just started a crowd funding campaign for my film “Hamlet’s Mouse-trap”. I have been working on this film for many years including making a short prequel which was shown at the Cannes Film Festival in France. I am contacting you in hopes that you might be willing to cover it. Below is the link for the campaign. Please feel free to contact me for a press release. I’m more than happy to answer any questions. Thank you for taking the time.
Hamlet’s Mouse-trap Crowd Funding Video from Darrien Murphy on Vimeo.
Hi Anne,
Just been given your website details and name by Duncan Hodgson in Blackpool. Think I have heard you speak a little at one of the media events he has organised?
I am working with a colleague from Netherlands and we have been exploring a joint project together to offer Art accreditation to young people in South Africa. We want to try crowd funding for this but struggling to identify the best one to go for with us being from two different countries and wanting to work in euros. Could you offer any support or advice?
Many thanks in advance.
Hi - interesting idea and there are plenty of platforms that will host a project in euros. The first question is whether you have a viable crowdfunding idea and engaged social networks. I’ve sent you an email.
Best wishes
Anne
To whom it may concern,
My name is Marshall Hoybook, and I recently posted my dream business on kickstarter.com. Over 10 years as a music educator and performer and an unmatched compassion for at-risk families make me the prime candidate to successfully establish this percussion studio for underprivileged students.
At any given time, my studio will have between 60 and 100 students, a quarter of whom will receive free lessons due to economic hardships.
Through individual instruction, group lessons, concerts, and performances-students from low income families will get to experience music education like never before.
Gifted musicians often never achieve great success because they are held back by financial constraints. Your contribution to my kickstarter can get us one step closer to helping students realize their potential!
Please check out my kickstarter and share the link with others.
— Sincerely, Marshall Hoybook
Hi Anne
it is refreshing that there is someone out there trying to make a difference i am also wondering if you could take a look at our project on indigogo and to spread the word for us.
Please keep up the good work.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/eco-resort-in-the-philippines/x/10482388
Hi Anne,
At the age of 20 I have just recently launched an Innovative fashion brand who can fully customise luxury leather wallets. We are the first people who can make this at a viable price.
Could you offer any support or advice as to how I would go about propelling my project into the 10k+ regions.
Thanks,
Charlie
Hello Anne. Came across your site while researching for a campaign we would like to launch soon. As there arent many consultants in the UK we would love to have a quick chat with regards our project. Please advise.
Kind regards
Hi Dennis - thanks for connecting. I’ve sent you an email.
Hello, I’m launching my Indiegogo campaign, https://www.indiegogo.com/project/preview/a924e5e4, in a few days for Lockr app - a new spin on passing notes. There’s this satisfaction in getting these notes. Satisfaction in writing it, folding it, unfolding it, and finally reading it. This doesn’t happen anymore. I wanted to put an app out there that puts a new spin on passing notes. So that today’s generation can have this experience on their phone and my generation can have a nostalgic experience. I hope you can check out the Indiegogo preview page.
facebook.com/lockrapp
https://youtu.be/Rh-729MBJpw - explainer video of the Lockr app
Thank you
-issa
Hi Anne,
We are from The Happy World Company. A young and passionate team. Helping people understand the reason we live the way we do and feel the way we do. Wanted to tell you that we really enjoy your blog. We find it very helpful and interesting, which is very suitable for young people to read like us. Thank you for creating those awesome articles!!
Our founder Nerea Carrion’s project has recently launched at Kickstarter. We are all very excited about it. Was wondering if you would like to have a look at it and make a comment. Sure you get plenty of emails but trust me you are going to like this one!
It is all about smiling! Yes smiling all over the world starting in London to connect more with people. Smile is an international language, everybody understands it!
We are much appreciated and look forward to speaking to you soon!
Kindest regards
Thanks for the tips Anne! We’re doing pretty well with our Kickstarter (almost 300% funded) but we don’t really have any external press going. We have a couple bloggers that have agreed to write about us but nothing has been created yet. We’re also going to be on Israeli TV in a couple weeks, but we really need to find a way to get some more exposure soon. Much of our traffic has been from Kickstarter’s search itself and we’re beginning to slide off the “popularity” because it’s hard to keep up with the “backers per day” required to stay there. Do you have any specific advice you could give us for how to get some of the larger media to give us some coverage? I feel our product is very popular (we’re converting around 5%) and would be relevant to readers if we could just get the coverage. Thanks for any advice you can give!
Click here to support Roy’s Tuition fee Campaign
http://www.gofundme.com/roytuition
Hello Anne,
my name is Jakob Golombek and I am a founder of a small independent startup called “gamefabrik” from Cologne, Germany.
We actually launched our campaign on Kickstarter and it would be a pleasure if you could help us supporting this campaign.
Maybe you have time to have a look at it here:
Kindest regards,
Jakob
how can i get in contact with crowdfundUK
Hi - you can contact me through email James [email protected]
Hi,
We came across your website online and were hoping to get some help either by featuring or getting your advice on how to make further improve our kickstarter campaign. We are a 100% Organic Cotton and Fair Trade premium men’s apparel brand that’s very affordable. We want to kickstart a revolution in bringing this mainstream. Please visit our campaign when you get a chance.
Your feedback and support will be really valuable.
Thanks,
Vedant Bubna
Hi, we visited your website and we found it very interesting for a link exchange. As we have about 20 crowdfunding websites we wish to add on your site one link pointing to ours. In exchange we will give you a link back to your site from one of our network websites. Please contact me so we can discuss about our cooperation Best regards Stefan Riskin Marketing Manager at Bubblefunding.com Best regards Stefan Riskin Marketing Manager at Bubblefunding.com
Hello! I launched a campaign on GoFundMe to raise funds to launch an interesting project. Please, if you have a free minute, take a look at my project and help me in its implementation. Thank you:)😉
Page of the company: https://www.gofundme.com/2j6h67gs