# I’m a philanthropist too (and I’m not rich)

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2010/08/17/im-philanthropist-too-and-im-not-rich/
- Published: 2010-08-17T10:54:41+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

The recent debates on ‘US style philanthropy’ are perhaps naturally revolving around
the big donors and the big cultural institutions (all of whom tend to be London 
based) but what about smaller organisations around the country and the man or woman
in the street? Could crowd-sourced funding and the plethora of sites dedicated to
it be the answer? [Blackbaud’s Index of Online Giving](http://www.blackbaud.com/bb/index/blackbaud-index.aspx),
released on 15 July, highlights that online revenue increased by 23 percent for 
the three months ending May 2010 as compared to the same period in 2009. People 
are giving online and the cultural sector needs to get to them. And the relatively
low entry costs means it’s not just the big organisations that can profit.

Crowd-sourcing isn’t new of course but what has made a difference is the ease with
which the online community via social media can be engaged. [A blog on the Forbes website](http://blogs.forbes.com/csr/2010/07/07/the-democratization-of-corporate-philanthropy)
recently highlighted how companies are using social media to ‘democratise corporate
philanthropy’ by getting customers to decide where the CSR budget is spent. Organisations
who received that support have also built their brand by association.

Online crowd-sourcing linked to micropayment technology can help democratise individual
philanthropy. Rather than trying to find and chase a few rich donors, fundraisers
can engage their audience, their audience’s friends and their audience’s friend’s
friends relatively cheaply. Every member of the audience is a philanthropist who
can make a difference and no matter where you are in the country or the world you
can mobilise that support.

## Advertisement

There are a number of websites, like [JustGiving](http://www.justgiving.com), where
individuals and organisations can go to set up a giving campaign and are well used
by mainstream charities, but it is the newer generation of sites that are more exciting.
They are more exciting because they lend themselves brilliantly to the creative 
output of cultural organisations. Sites like the well documented Kickstarter deepen
the relationship with the supporter by seeing them as partners who get rewards for
their support from free items to a share of any profits. The supporter can be part
of the process. [Kickstarter](http://www.kickstarter.com) is currently US only but
UK-based [Sponsume](http://www.sponsume.com) is [making headlines](http://www.a-n.co.uk/air/article/643190/469392).
Other sites include [Sellaband](https://www.sellaband.com) for music or [CatWalkGenius](http://catwalkgenius.com)
for fashion, but they are just the tip of the iceberg as the [crowdfunding wiki page](http://crowdfunding.pbworks.com)
highlights.

Arts & Business has even got our own crowd sourced initiative, [The Big Arts Give](http://www.artsandbusiness.org.uk/central/philanthropy/the_big_arts_give.aspx)
in partnership with The Big Give. Projects involved in The Big Arts Give will need
to mobilise their supporters to make the most of the initiative and get more cash.

_**⌊Adam Lopardo⌉⌊Adam Lopardo⌉Adam Lopardo** joined the Sponsors Club for Arts &
Business as Director in March 2004. He leads the development of partnerships between
commerce and culture through consultancy, sponsorship, investment, volunteering,
personal development and training. _

_Adam’s role combines his love of the arts and his corporate experience. Starting
in theatre at the age of 12 he went on to run gigs at University before joining 
Solihull Borough Council to learn all aspects of theatre, exhibition and conference
work before settling on marketing as a career. He developed his skills further whilst
working at Ticketmaster in London. He then moved to Manchester where Ticketmaster
created the role of Regional Sales and Marketing Manager for him and went on to 
run Ticketmaster’s newly established Scotland office before taking his current role._

_Adam is a Princes Trust Mentor and he is a board member of New Writing North._

 * **[Oxfam it… Charity names as verbs](https://fundraising.co.uk/2010/10/07/oxfam-it-charity-names-verbs/)**(
   7 October 2010)
 * **[UK giving hasn't risen as proportion of household spending in 20 years](https://fundraising.co.uk/2011/02/15/uk-giving-hasn039t-risen-proportion-household-spending-20-years/)**(
   15 February 2011)
 * **[British Red Cross New Zealand earthquake appeal raises £1 million](https://fundraising.co.uk/2011/03/11/british-red-cross-new-zealand-earthquake-appeal-raises-1m/)**(
   11 March 2011)