Citizinvestor
Citizinvestor is an American-based civic crowdfunding website that describes itself as a "crowdfunding and civic engagement platform for local government projects."
Overview
Citizinvestor is an online crowdfunding platform specifically focused on raising money for public projects and community infrastructure, started by entrepreneurs in Tampa, Florida.[1] It was inspired by a case in Davis Islands where the community wanted a swimming pool repaired, but the city did not have the finances to do so; citizens successfully raised the funds with events and going door-to-door and this became the model for Citizinvestor.[1] The founders hope to "spark a rise of micro philanthropists".[1] The platform allows citizens to promote independent projects through a petition process and also works with city officials to crowdfund civic projects that were planned but abandoned due to budget constraints.[1]
- Founded by Jordan Raynor, Tony DeSisto and Erik Rapprich
- Donations are 100% tax deductible
- Donors are not charged if their project does not reach its funding target
- Projects can only be submitted by government entities, usually municipal governments
- People can start petitions for new projects
- Unlike Kickstarter, no perks/rewards/swag are offered
- Initial focus is on micro projects: between $10,000 and $20,000.
- Charges a 5% fee plus 3% for WePay's payment processing
References
- 1 2 3 4 Morelli, Keith (23 September 2012). "Kayak commute dream is a citizen-investor idea". Tampa Tribune. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
- McLaughlin, Brendan - Crowd funding website finds a way to improve neighborhoods when the city has no money abc Action News. 13 Sept 2012
- Morisy, Michael - Crowdfunding sites target civic projects. The Boston Globe. 12 Nov 2012
- Neubauer, Miranda - Three Kickstarter-Inspired, Civically Minded Crowdfunding Sites TechPresident. 31 July 2012
- Drell, Lauren - Crowdfunding Startups Let You Be Your City’s Urban Planner Mashable. 10 Oct 2012
- Rosen, Kenneth - Citizinvestor Helps Grab The Ears of Local Governments Mashable. 18 Sept 2012
- Mathis, Joel - With "Citizinvestors," Philly Will Try to Crowdfund its Way to a Better Future. The Philly Post. 14 Sept 2012
- Neubauer, Miranda - In Philadelphia, an Experiment in Funding Civic Projects. TechPresident. 13 Sept 2012
- Root, Anton - Citizinvestor Launches in Philadelphia. CrowdSourcing 17 Sep 2012
- Brooks, James - Citizinvestor brings crowdfunding to civic project in Mass. Boston Business Journal. 7 Nov 2012
- Feel-Good Friday Announcement: CITIZINVESTOR! Philadelphia Planeto. 14 Sept 2012
- Schwagler, Nathan - Citizinvestor: Crowdfunding Local Projects, Tampa 83 Degrees. 11 Sept 2012
- Schiller, Ben - Citizinvestor: Crowdfunding For Community Projects