On Point by Andrew Holota
In the last couple of days, close to $3 million has been donated to the creators of the Exploding Kittens card game. In the time it took me to write this column, the total increased by about $100,000.
Welcome to the world of crowdfunding, a red-hot online phenomenon that is revolutionizing the way individuals and organizations gain access to “free” money, for anything from a pizza recipe to cancer treatment ... to a deck of bizarre humour playing cards.
For the uninitiated, the concept might seem more than a bit far-fetched: Come up with an idea that requires funding. Design a simple campaign explaining what it’s about. Place it on an Internet platform. Wait for the money to roll in.
Pretty off the wall, right?
According to Wikipedia, in 2013, the crowdfunding industry generated more than $5 billion worldwide.
That figure was bound to be far surpassed last year.
There are dozens of crowdfunding providers out there, with some of the largest being GoFundMe, Kickstarter and FundRazr.
The latter company, based in Vancouver, has helped raise over $52 million from over 45,000 campaigns in 37 different countries around the world.
Black Press, which owns this newspaper and many others, recently partnered with FundRazr to create BlackPress4Good.com, our own crowdfunding site focused on fundraising for causes in the communities in which we publish newspapers.
This week, I had an interesting chat with a communications person working for a major fundraising initiative who, of course, was looking to get media exposure for an iconic fundraiser.
We talked about the countless worthy causes that are out there, and people’s capacity to absorb and respond generously to yet another story of a family in need, or a sick child requiring special medical treatment.
She acknowledged the difficulty of appealing for funding in this intensely crowded field, especially in the climate of a challenged economy.
Fundraising agencies know full well the key factor of “donor fatigue,” which is when the requests for funding simply overwhelms the pool of contributors.
She observed that organized fundraising is becoming increasingly “fractured,” with the emergence of more and more charitable causes and campaigns, all seeking public attention and support.
And into this heartfelt melee comes the Internet and crowdfunding – representing a light-year leap from local, regional or even global appeals by major agencies such as Red Cross, to any single project or cause that can tap into the worldwide online audience.
There is no question that a tremendous amount of good is being done via online fundraising. Kids are getting medical help. Families are helped through the trauma and loss caused by fires and other catastrophes. Young people get a boost in their post-secondary education endeavours.
Locally, several campaigns are seeing success, including a wildlife rehabilitation centre that has generated thousands to help injured creatures.
The variety of online donating opportunities is utterly vast. And they are all dipping into a pool of available cash – albeit made fantastically larger and more complex by the global digital diaspora.
The crowdfunding phenomenon is heavily fuelled by social media, an environment in which there are few rules, and the ones that do exist can change tomorrow.
And in among all those laudable causes and campaigns and appeals for cash are quirky investment projects, such as a card game featuring exploding kittens, that can go viral in hours, generating millions of dollars for a few guys who are probably right now looking at their computer screens, watching something unfold beyond their wildest dreams.
And ours.
Andrew Holota is the editor of The Abbotsford News.