Need some cash for your project? Crowd-funding might be the answer. According to The Wall Street Journal, the sites—which facilitate “crowd-funding”—have taken off in the past few years.
Crowd-funding emerged about a decade ago as a way for artists, filmmakers and musicians to raise donations from a community of online supporters. The idea has since spread to small businesses, who sought other sources of financing in the past couple of years as traditional credit dried up.
San Francisco-based IndieGoGo Inc. launched in 2008, takes 4% of total funds raised—plus an additional 3% for third-party payment processors—but doesn’t charge for posting a pitch. If the fund-raising target isn’t met, the site takes 9% and fundraisers keep the amount raised.
