Cape Breton Crowdfunders
Cape Breton Crowdfunders is an informal network of people interested in helping crowdfunding campaigns on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Our members individually choose to invest tens of dollars, or thousands of dollars, into one or more local businesses or nonprofit projects. Collectively, we expect to be able to invest hundreds of thousands or more to support local entrepreneurship and nonprofit initiatives. We believe crowdfunding is a direct and effective way for the people in our community to rally together to financially support a local business or project.
Join us!
Membership is free. There are no requirements, commitments, qualifications, or meetings. Joining us simply means that you are interested in supporting local Cape Breton crowdfunding campaigns by sharing them with your social networks and/or maybe investing a few or more dollars . By becoming a member, you will be informed of local crowdfunding opportunities and you can privately decide if you want to do something to help or nothing at all (no one will directly ask you to do anything).
To join us, simply LIKE the Cape Breton Crowdfunders Facebook page | And, consider becoming a member of goCapeBreton.com (not required) |
> How to get your crowdfunding campaign in front of Crowdfunder members
> Crowdfunding campaigns that have been promoted
About Crowdfunders
Crowdfunders was founded and is managed by MediaSpark and goCapeBreton.com as a nonprofit initiative to contribute to the success of the Cape Breton community. MediaSpark also founded and manages goCapeBreton.com as another public service to the community. Crowdfunders does not charge any fees to members or those seeking financing. The operation of Crowdfunders is financially supported by MediaSpark and our sponsors.
Listen to our CBC Radio interview
Read below to learn about crowdfunding and why Crowdfunders is important to our community.
If you are seeking funding , see below on how you can get promoted (there is NO cost).
If you want to sign up to be a member of Crowdfunders , here is a summary of what you need to know:
- It's free.
- There are no restrictions on who can be a member or where you are located.
- We will inform you of local crowdfunding campaigns on this website, on Facebook, and by email.
- You do not have to have a lot of money. Most crowdfunding campaigns ask for investments as little as a few dollars ($10, $25, etc).
- You can independently decide if you want to invest in any of the campaigns. You may decide to invest in none, some, or all. It's completely up to you.
- It's private. Crowdfunders does not track investments made by anyone. When you sign up, your Facebook name will be visible on the Crowdfunders Facebook page, just like it is on any other Facebook page that you choose to LIKE.
- If you decide to invest, you deal directly with the organization you are funding. Crowdfunders does not act as a middleman, broker, or any other type of intermediary. We simply make you aware of local crowdfunding campaigns, that's it. We do not take or hold anyone's money.
- Signing up simply means LIKING the Crowdfunders Facebook page so we can keep you informed.
- The full details are available below.
To join us, LIKE the Cape Breton Crowdfunders Facebook page
About Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is the process of raising money to fund what is typically a project or business venture through many donors using a website. Use of crowdfunding as a financing option has become very popular and continues to gain momentum as an alternative or complement to traditional venture capital, angel, bank, love money, and other forms of financing.
Both the US and Canadian governments are in the process of modifying securities legislation to ease up restrictions on crowdfunding, including allowing for equity-based financing.
It is not inconceivable to believe that crowdfunding may become the primary form of financing for small businesses and nonprofits in the future, and the sooner we leverage this potential for the good of our community the better.
Popular crowdfunding sites include Kickstarter.com, Indiegogo.com, and Kiva.org
Millions of Dollars of New Money
While it is quite easy for the average person to gamble their life savings at a casino or on the lottery, it is not easy for that same person to invest in a business, particularly if it is a private, local business or project. Crowdfunding changes all of this by making it very easy to invest in a business or nonprofit, whether local or at a distance. The term “invest” may mean gifting of money or the prepurchase of product, which is the current structure for crowdfunding. In the future, it may mean debt or equity financing. (Debt financing is quite popular already through microfinance organizations, such as Kiva.org).
Making it easy to invest small amounts of money in a project means that millions of dollars of new money can be put to work on facilitating entrepreneurship and business growth in a community, as well as support nonprofit initiatives. This is disposable income that might normally be kept dormant in bank accounts, or spent on living expenses and entertainment. Or, it might be larger amounts of money that is normally invested in mutual funds, public stock markets, bonds, and other securities that generally leave a community, returning minimal economic value to the local community.
The Hyperlocal Phenomena
The Internet is a global phenomena that created amazing global connections and communications. This globalization will continue, but at the same time there is a desire for more hyperlocal connections and communications. People live their lives locally and the majority want more meaningful connections with the people they are geographically close to. Geography is what defines communities, both socially and economically.
The Problems with Conventional Financing and Crowdfunding
Despite the success of crowdfunding websites, many projects fail to reach their funding goals. Setting aside common issues, like poor ideas, incomplete business plans, or poor communications, there are three key reasons crowdfunding initiatives may fail:
- Campaigns get lost when competing against thousands of other campaigns around the world.
- “Smaller” ideas and local projects cannot catch wide enough attention.
- Proponents do not have large enough social networks to promote their campaigns.
The good news is that all three of these obstacles can be overcome at the hyperlocal level.
The Solution
The solution to the above problems requires two components:
- Hyperlocal focus.
People are motivated to invest in local projects. While local is a disadvantage globally, it is a key competitive advantage locally. If local people are aware of local investment opportunities, they are more likely to help. - Due Diligence
Most crowdfunding campaigns do not have formal due diligence conducted. Individual investors are expected to conduct their own due diligence, which is usually very light given the small amounts of money being invested. If due diligence is conducted by a trusted local organization or individual(s), the business is much more likely to get financed by a larger number of people.
Crowdfunders
Crowdfunders is implementing the solution above as follows:
- We maintain a list of people, located anywhere in the world, who want to be made aware of crowdfunding opportunities in Cape Breton.
- Members do not have to commit to invest anything in any project. A member may choose to invest as little as a few dollars in a project (if the project allows for small investments, which most crowdfunding campaigns do).
- Startups, businesses, and nonprofits can request that we inform our Crowdfunder members of their crowdfunding campaigns.
- There is NO cost for anyone to participate in any way. There are no commitments to be made, and no work to be done. Just add yourself to the list.
- Our members are called Angels (based on the common financial term of Angel investor). Some of our members self-identify themselves as Archangels. These are members who may consider investing larger amounts of money in a single project (thousands of dollars instead of tens or hundreds of dollars). Archangels are financial organizations or individuals with more money to invest. If you choose to identify yourself as an Archangel, we will be able to direct more opportunities your way, and you may see opportunities sooner in the funding cycle.
- We encourage our members to express support for projects they believe in. For example, if you believe in a project or are already investing in it, consider providing a brief testimonial that can be included with the fundraising campaign (you would do this directly with the organization seeking funding, not through Crowdfunders). This helps build credibility for local projects and can help overcome the due diligence challenge.
- Crowdfunders does not conduct due dligence on a project. It is up to members to individually do their own analysis.
- Crowdfunders does not act as a middleman, broker, or any other type of intermediary. We do not take your money. We simply make our members aware of local crowdfunding campaigns and members individually decide if, when, how much, and how to invest in the project. Investments are made direclty with those seeking the funding, and not through Crowdfunders.
Crowdfunder members are working together for the good of the community by directing more funds and attention to worthy projects.
To join us, LIKE the Cape Breton Crowdfunders Facebook page
Cape Breton Crowdfunders was launched in the summer of 2014 and was moved to goCapeBreton.com in January 2016.
How do get your crowdfunding campaign in front of Crowdfunder members
Start by posting a summary and link to your crowdfunding campaign website on goCapeBreton .com > Business > Local Investing & Funding > Crowdfunding Campaigns
If you also want us to promote your crowdfunding campaign to Crowdfunders members and beyond , then it must meet the following criteria and you must submit a brief application form (only takes a few minutes):
- Must be a startup, business, or nonprofit project located on Cape Breton Island, NS, Canada.
- Cannot be a charitable cause. (This may change in the future, but we are not currently including such initiatives.)
- Your project must have sufficient information available ONLINE for our members to evaluate the opportunity and be able to make a contribution. Projects that use a crowdfunding service, such as Kickstarter.com or Indiegogo.com are more likely to be approved.
- There must be a limited window of time set for the fundraising (i.e., fundraising cannot go on indefinitely).
- You must make sure that your fundraising campaign adheres to the Nova Scotia Securities regulations. http://nssc.novascotia.ca
- There is absolutely no cost to participate.
- Crowdfunders does not act as a middleman, broker, intermediary, nor do we conduct due diligence for your project. Our role is only to inform our members of local projects.
- Increase your chances of success by researching tips for crowdfunding.
Submit this form to request approval
Crowdfunding campaigns that have been promoted
Listed below are the crowdfunding campaigns that we have made Crowdfunders members aware of. We encourage you to share these campaigns with your own social networks, even if you choose not to invest.
We also encourage members to express public support for projects they believe in. For example, if you believe in a project or are already investing in it, consider providing a brief testimonial that can be included with the fundraising campaign (you would do this directly with the organization seeking funding, not through Crowdfunders). This helps build credibility for local projects and can help overcome the due diligence challenge.
DISCLAIMER
- You should not assume that Crowdfunders has endorsed a crowdfunding campaign or its proponents, even if it is listed on this website.
- Our objective is only to create awareness of local crowdfunding campaigns.
- We have not conducted any due diligence on the campaigns listed here.
- You should conduct your own assessment prior to making any investment.
- We can only promote campaigns that adhere to the Nova Scotia Securities regulations.
GoVenture Card Game by MediaSpark
Get Adler: Whispers
Whispers is the new expansion for Get Adler! Deduction Card Game which was previously funded on Kickstarter.
"Get Adler!" Deduction Card Game
Caper Games is raising funds to produce 1,000 games to start and have the interest of one distributor already. $15 gets you one of the first games.
"It's Business Time for Leah" 
Help Cape Breton blogger Leah Noble take a six-month program to launch her business. The campaign is called, "It's Business Time for Leah."
Visit Campaign Website
I Kare Yoga Wear 
A new business in Baddeck by Karen Welton. Karen is designing a line of yoga clothes for breast cancer survivors.
Watch VIDEO (CTV News)
Visit Campaign Website
