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Summit: Crowdfunding Big Ideas
If we know anything about bicycling advocates, it’s that they’re an innovative bunch. At the National Bike Summit this year we are putting the spotlight on exciting new ideas for advocacy –- our theme is Big Ideas. One of the ways we doing that is by collaborating with our partners at the crowdfunding platform ioby. ioby is a nation-wide, nonprofit crowdfunding platform that helps local leaders raise cash, in-kind donations, and volunteer power from their own communities.
“ioby supports projects that make neighborhoods stronger, healthier and more sustainable, so working with bike advocates is a natural synergy,” says Ethany Uttech of ioby. “And we are excited to connect and share resources with a broader network of bike advocates at the 2015 Summit.”
At the Summit, ioby will share some valuable tips on how to use crowdfunding technology to support your advocacy projects. Over the years, ioby has supported projects ranging from major bike infrastructure improvements to grassroots campaigns highlighting the diversity of the biking community. In their Summit session, they’ll be presenting with the people behind some of the most recent bicycle-related campaigns -– and that could be you!
We are looking for several advocates to go through the crowdfunding process now so that their projects’ funding raising deadline will end around the time of the Summit. If you have a good idea that needs a little boost — in most cases that fundraising target will be less than $5,000 — you can register for a training webinar on Jan. 13 at 12 p.m. EST and fill out a brief application (due Jan. 20). There will be future opportunities to crowdfund on ioby, so for this group, we will be prioritizing groups that have specific projects with a clear funding need and an immediate timeframe. We will chose 3 to 7 projects for this round.
We are looking forward to seeing some amazing ideas at the National Bike Summit –- and if we can help get some of them funded, all the better. Please join us at the Summit to hear about the selected projects and get tips for your own crowdfunding campaigns! Register today.