The age of technology has brought along with it many concepts that one could not even imagine in the age before the advent of the internet. One such concept is that of crowdfunding.
Crowdfunding is a concept where through the usage of social media, individuals are persuaded to contribute with a small donation towards any kind of a cause. It could be anything ranging from caring for stray animals to investing in start-ups and small time entrepreneurship to the healthcare of individuals suffering from some chronic disease. This is the social media version of fundraising.
The amount paid by every such philanthropist towards any cause may be very small; in hundreds of INR; however, when one has thousands of such donors, there is some serious cash to reckon with at the end of the day. The platforms that help with crowdfunding charge a nominal amount from the donations received.
Fundraising for Patients Suffering From Chronic Diseases
Whether it is to fight the dreaded disease like cancer, organ transplant, or for a patient suffering from diseases like Aids, or on ventilator due to an accident, or acid attack victims, if there are financial constraints, crowdfunding is easily available to support the expenses incurred for the treatment. There are innumerable crowdfunding organisations in India and among them the more prominent ones are as follows:
Impact Guru
Impact Guru is a donation-based crowdfunding platform. The platform, apart from offering global crowdfunding solutions to people suffering from chronic illness, also helps NGOs, social enterprises and start-ups. Launched by Maneka Gandhi in August 2015, Impact Guru has mobilized ₹329 crore for various NGOs and social enterprises in more than 15 countries.
Milaap
Founded in 2011 by Anoj Viswananthan, Mayukh Choudhury, and Sourabh Sharma, Milaap is India’s leading crowdfunding platform for personal and social causes. This platform has a community of donors and lenders from 120 countries across the globe. Milaap has helped in raising over Rs 90.18 cr supporting 49,310 projects across India including the cause of covering medical bills of the patients with financial restraints.
BitGiving
The team at BitGiving describe themselves as a bunch of Campaigners, Coders and Business Ninjas who are passionate about social causes. This crowdfunding platform again works towards giving help to patients who cannot afford treatment.
Ketto
This crowdfunding platform has helped raise more than a 100 crore in donations from 2,00,000 and more supporters for many segments, including healthcare.
Crowdfunding in India
There are more 600 crowdfunding platforms across the globe and India has also pitched-in in recent years with many such platforms being formed. However, the potential in India has not yet been tapped to the optimum level. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) claims the Indian public lacks adequate investment knowledge or experience and requires strict protection. It has recently sidelined an incomplete aim to create a regulatory framework for investment crowdfunding, and equity crowdfunding in India remains on hold.
Some Rules For Crowdfunding
- Have an engaging story to narrate that will attract people to the cause and donate.
- Before one starts a fund raiser, it is better to make an estimation of the amount of money to be raised for the purpose.
- Involve a network of enthusiastic family and friends who are social media savvy and help you with keeping the ball rolling with shares and forwards, as well as urging everyone to contribute.
- Project the personal funds you have already poured into the cause.
- A video pitch always helps.
- To raise funds through social media one has to stay active on social media sites until the crowdfunding campaign is complete.
