Global crowdfunding platform Pozible announced the beta launch of their subscription crowdfunding model.
I’m pretty excited about the subscription model as it appears to address the challenge of ongoing support that projects may need. Wary of continually going back to their networks to ask for more money, crowdfunders may find this option a way for their supporters to offer daily/weekly/monthly/annual financial backing. What is also pleasing to see is that Subscription crowdfunding can be offered alongside the standard one-off crowdfunding rewards. For the right crowdfunding project I could definitely be encouraged to support monthly for a year, and feel happier in the wallet versus a larger one-off charge. The subscription will continue until the supporter opts out – so this can last for as long or short a period as they choose.
What sort of projects could use subscription crowdfunding?
According to Pozible, there are lots of crowdfunding projects that could use the benefit of subscriptions. From their website:
- Membership organisations like co-working spaces & workshops, galleries, clubs and societies including alumni of universities, and schools, sporting clubs and associations.
- Publications including online and traditional journals, magazines, blogs and ongoing sponsorship.
- Consulting, coaching, mentoring, training courses, coaching and mentoring rolled out in stages.
- Food and beverage orders, i.e. small goods, craft beers, boutique coffee roasts, curated parcels, rental services.
- NFP or charity organisation providing ongoing services and support.
- Lifestyle apps and web tools, games, freemium tech offers (open source software & SaaS).
- Regular events including workshops, meet-ups and networking.
To find out more about Pozible’s subscription crowdfunding (in beta) you can view the information here or read their FAQ’s.
Oh and you may want to check out Pozible’s just-launched App Aid! Matched funding from Vodaphone Foundation, bringing together five charities and five app developers to develop apps for good. Check out the nice bonus that Vodaphone Foundation will give the charity app that the most backers.
Pozible has also announced that their self-hosted (or white label) crowdfunding solution is merely days away.
Other platforms offering subscription crowdfunding include:
Charitysub: This platform operates on a simple premise – donate $5 each month to one of three charities chosen by the site. Each month they feature a cause and three charities that focus on that cause area. Payment provider fees are deducted from the $5. After the funds are supplied to the charities, those who subscribed can log into their dashboard to find out how their support has assisted the organisation.
Giving Circles: Working on the basis of the crowd – or group of friends – pooling their donations to a common cause. A creation of The One Percent Foundation, users can either set up a circle or join a circle. The idea is that users donate 1 per cent of their income (self-declared) every month – small enough to barely notice yet combined together enough to make things happen. Users can choose to donate towards operations otherwise all funds pooled together are passed along to the cause. I didn’t find any mention of transaction costs on their website, but would assume these would need to be deducted.
Patreon: This platform has been around for a while and has created a bit of buzz over the pledge method of crowdfunding. With Patreon you pledge to support each time new content is created – so there will not be a regular schedule of financial support. While not technically subscription, it does offer an ongoing financial support. With the ability to set a maximum amount charged and the ability to cancel anytime there is a lot of flexibility. Once the creator accumulates pledges, Patreon charge three per cent administration costs and five per cent is passed along as charges from their payment provider Stripe. Creators receive payment monthly (when funds received are over $100) so if it works well it can create some ongoing income, beneficial to any creator! Receiving $2 million in venture patronage in August 2013 we can expect to see this one grow.
Subbable: Launched in August 2013 Subbable have a nice feature. Subscribe (in their example) for $5 per month for ten months and you can redeem a $50 perk. Nice one! They take five per cent of revenue raised and their payment provider Amazon takes around another five per cent. Supporters can subscribe monthly (setting their own level of support from $0 up), give a one off $ support, or take up the various rewards offered. By the way – love your contact page Subbable!
TubeStart: Aimed at online video creators, TubeStart offers subscription crowdfunding, and fixed and flexible campaigns. With flexible funding, until the goal is reached TubeStart charge a ten per cent platform fee and when (if) you reach goal then five per cent of that is refunded. For fixed (or all or nothing) as well as subscription funding the fees from TubeStart are five per cent plus Paypal transactions of around 2-3 per cent. The creator sets up perks and financial levels. Creators need a verified Paypal account to use tubestart. Their site indicates they intend to launch Pledge Funding soon – allowing supporters to pledge a set amount every time new video content is created – more like the Patreon model detailed above.
There is also for subscription crowdfunding on The Private Capital Market for accredited investors.
Do you think subscription crowdfunding would work for your project? Are there any other platforms using subscription crowdfunding that you know of? Let me know in the comments!
Interested in finding out more about crowdfunding? To read more details about crowdfunding including an extensive ‘How-to’ section, purchase a printed copy of Crowdfund it! directly from the publisher. You can also purchase an ebook from the publisher Editia or through ReadCloud bookseller partners, Amazon, Kobo, iBookstore, Booku, and Tomely.Author: Anna Maguire, November 2013