Filanthropy: Join the Crowd

The newest trend in philanthropy is called Crowdfunding. It marries a mission (non profit, political or for profit) with a "crowd" of supporters from the same neighborhood or supporters from all over the world. The crowd uses some type of online or social media platform to learn about the mission and subsequently offer financial support.  The key is how compelling is the story, how well can it be promoted, and can it be a proven mission worthy of support over the long haul? While crowdfunding may help generate support for one-off efforts or focused project-based endeavors, the brains behind the mission should remember not to put all it's fundraising eggs in one basket. Use of other more traditional forms of fundraising vehicles may be the perfect addition to crowdfunding or vice versa. What will be the next new thing in our industry? Hmmmm....