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Cheshire West Crowd launch

Cheshire West and Chester Council hosted an online launch event in June 2021, attended by over 125 individuals from local community groups, partner organisations and local businesses. The Cheshire West Crowd platform was promoted.

  • An online workshop was held to bring together a cohort of potential project creators, educating and inspiring them to generate innovative project ideas that equip community groups with the skills needed to run their own successful crowdfunding campaigns. Spacehive facilitates the workshop in partnership with the Council and guest speakers, who are local ambassadors, to ensure that the opportunity, funding criteria, and project case study examples are recent and inspirational.
  • In addition to support from our crowdfunding provider, the Council’s Communities Team provide project creators with additional guidance as they set up and run their campaign. This is achieved through phone calls, meetings, and in-person library sessions, providing opportunities for groups to discuss their project ideas and receive local guidance to progress their crowdfunding campaigns with confidence.
  • As Crowdfunding campaigns begin to launch on the Spacehive platform, this is an optimal time for community building among the cohort of projects in crowdfunding and fostering a sense of community and support among participants in the funding round.

Key Learning:

  • Councils should be prepared to also support project creators to understand their requirements and help them shape their crowdfunding campaigns
  • Understand local funders and signpost project creators to them

 

Cheshire West Crowd – Our internal assessment process

Key Learning

  • Agreeing on a maximum pledge and allowing for fee fluctuations.
  • Pre-campaign pledges (reduce fees)
  • Managing in-kind pledges
  • End of round accounts report and meeting
  • Agree on an annual funding pot, ideally authorised at the budget council, with a clear rationale of how the money will be spent.

Cheshire West Crowd – Internal Fund Management Process

Key Learning:

  • Dragons Den style online pitch from project creator complex
  • Condense number of funds/panels
  • Gaining views from key services
  • Elected Members on assessment panel