Crowdfunding Now!

Astronomers Baffled. Does this indicate an unusual occurrence on Earth?

As an adult, I find recent incidents involving African-American  youth difficult to process.  Imagine a young person's plight as  they try to make sense of what they see, what they hear, and, most  importantly, what they feel.  I am sure we all have legitimate questions and concerns about our  place in American society.I know I do. Even at my family's  Thanksgiving gathering, I was moved by the fact that many of my young  cousins, nieces and nephews wanted to discuss the recent negative incidents  in the news. HIA (History In Action) Toys believes that understanding history  equips us with a roadmap to deal with these challenges and  uncertainties. They are devoted to educating African-Americans, and  especially African American youth, about our history.  Their line of  action figures: Benjamin Banneker Action Figure Bessie Coleman Action Figure Matthew Henson Action Figure  provide an entry point for pre-teens to the incredible  story that is the Journey of

National Crowdfunding Services, LLC. December 1, 2014. Volume 4. Number 22. National CROWDFUNDING CROWDFUNDING FOR dc, minority and women businesses This newsletter is being sent to you because you signed up at National Crowdfunding Services,  BlackCrowdfunding.net or MinorityFinance.com DC Crowdfunding ! Shiloh Baptist Church holds a shopping expo every year at the Shiloh Family Center, 1510 9th Street, NW, Washington, DC. This year, we attended with DC Gives More , "an initiative to bring together a diverse and dedicated group of local organizations to raise awareness for #GivingTuesday and to help reach generous fundraising goals for Washington, DC." The Shiloh event was fantastic, and it does not stop here. It will be held o

The 2014 Midterm elections were a sweep for the Republicans. What is the impact on crowdfunding? The breakout of the US Congress post-election is: House of Representatives -186 Democrats, 244 Republicans Senate - 46 Democrats, 53 Republicans (shown below): The Republican majority in the House is significant. In political reality, this means that the Republicans control the government. Legislative priorities identified so far include:   ·         Significant tax reform ·         Health care ·         401K reform ·         Obama care repeal ·         Increase in number of visas granted to the high tech industry ·         Copyright protection Note that crowdfunding is not on this list. Nor is small business.  Conventional wisdom states that Republican control means a pro-business atmosphere. While this should be good for crowdfunding, the disruptive impact that crowdfunding has on large financial institutions may be a barrier. We know that large f

We have created a small, summary application providing information on NCS and the Top 50 Crowdfunding campaigns. Download at:  http://ncsdca.appsme.com or click on the picture below.

The chart above shows an analysis of the Top 50 crowdfunding campaigns (2008 to 2013). 'Top' measured by total dollars raised. The X axis shows the dollar amount of the reward or perk ($1 to $10, $11 to $20, etc.) The Y axis shows the cumulative number of rewards/perks collected across all 50 campaigns, so the chart shows that, for the top 50 crowdfunding campaigns on Indiegogo, 100,000 rewards/perks with a value ranging from $1 dollar to $10 dollars were selected by supporters. To see the exact number of rewards taken at each range, click on the red bars in the chart. For the full report ($129.00) and a description of the crowdfunding tactics that follow from this analysis, see: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=77A2P3AZJ3TA2

Given different financial environments, legal systems and cultural practices, Chinese crowdfunding is a totally different phenomenon. For example, in the United States, after passage of the JOBS ACT, crowdfunding has legal validation and subsequent protection. In this environment, a crowdfunding platform is free to move toward perfection. With equity crowdfunding on the horizon, investment and return is soon to be a factor in crowdfunding. But, in China, the crowdfunding environment is still not sound. Compared to the United States, the development of crowdfunding in China is differentiated by three factors. First, innovative projects are harder to find in China than in the United States. Secondly, people in China seem to lack confidence in crowdfunding. Third, the legal basis for crowdfunding is uncertain. The following article discusses each of the issues in detail. 1. Supply Side: Lack of innovative projects “Innovative ideas (in China), especially in the technology category,

"To raise funds for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream project — Statue of Unity, world’s tallest statue at 182 metres — the state government has roped in the multinational IT consultant Accenture to build an IT platform for crowdfunding to raise funds for a project through the Internet. Accenture has been granted a tender of Rs 3 crore which was floated by the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited (SSNNL), the state government agency executing the project. Official sources said that Accenture was the only bidder for the tender which submitted a bid of Rs 2.5 crore. Accenture has also paid the security deposit of 10 per cent of its bid to the SSNNL. The state government has already granted the tender for the construction and maintenance of the statue to engineering giant Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T). The government had floated a tender of Rs 2,063 crore for the project against which L&T emerged as the lowest bidder which offered its services at the cost of Rs 2

As one article notes, "The Texas  State Securities Board, led by Commissioner John Morgan, is scheduled to meet August 27, 2014 to pass the new (crowdfunding) rules slated to go into effect the first of September." Another article states that "Texas as is now the 13th state to create its own equity crowdfunding rules and by-pass the JOBS Act. The U. S. SEC has not released or finalized the federal rules and some states see the billion dollar opportunity equity crowdfunding presents and they have decided to take the bull by the horn and jumpstart small business and economic development in their state. Section 3(a)(11) of the 33 Act exempts from registration any security that is part of an offering sold only to persons residing within a single state if the company is also doing business in that state. So, as long as a company complies with the federal intrastate exemption, it only needs to be concerned with the state’s crowdfunding rules when conducting a crowdfundin

National Black MBA Association, Inc. - Washington DC Chapter Saturday, August 23, 2014 from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM (EDT) Silver Spring, MD To register:  http://www.eventbrite.com/e/nbmbaa-dc-2014-entrepreneur-expo-tickets-11747798983?aff=eorg

T he D.C. Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the District of Columbia-Only Securities Offerings Exemption  on  August 8, 2014. Comments are due Sept. 6, 2014. "The proposed rulemaking would establish a localized exemption from the District’s full securities registration requirements in order to simplify and encourage investing in D.C.-based small businesses. To qualify for the exemption, the business must be organized under D.C. law, have its principal place of business in the District and the securities in the offering must be offered only to D.C. residents. The proposed method of funding (up to $2 million) will be available only to D.C.-based businesses..." All persons desiring to file comments on the proposed rulemaking should submit written comments via e-mail to  disb.dconlyregs@dc.gov . or by mail to the Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking, 810 First Street, NE, Suite 701, Washington, DC

National Crowdfunding Services, LLC (NCS) today announced the company was selected as Crowdfunding Advisor to the Government of the District of Columbia. Specifically, NCS will provide crowdfunding services to selected grantees of the District's Great Streets Program. Great Streets “is the District's multi-year, multi-agency commercial revitalization initiative to transform emerging corridors into thriving and inviting neighborhood centers. Led by the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) in conjunction with the Office of Planning (OP) and the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), Great Streets has grown into a multi-year, multi-agency program that utilizes public actions and resources to leverage private investment in retail, office space, housing, and cultural facilities across the District.” DC native and Howard University graduate William Michael Cunningham, Managing Partner at National Crowdfunding Services said, “We are honored.

In this short video, I discuss crowdfunding alongside Advisory Board Member Tony Cord. http://levick.com/blog/2014/07/24/william-cunningham-and-tony-cord-equity-crowdfunding

Equity Crowdfunding in the District of Columbia According to recent news reports, "D.C. regulators are drawing up a proposed framework that would allow District startups to take advantage of equity crowdfunding from District investors, following a growing number of states which have passed similar measures in recent months. D.C.'s Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB) is preparing to publish a proposed rule that would give companies within the city “an alternative to existing methods of raising capital,” the agency said in a statement to the Washington Business Journal. That proposal, according to DISB, “is similar to those that are being developed in other states and the SEC’s proposed crowdfunding regulations.” We will describe state-level equity based crowdfunding, discuss specific crowdfunding campaigns and announce a new initiative. https://equitycrowdfundingdc.eventbrite.com

We have been researching this issue for some time now, and I thought I would outline what we have learned so far. This is ever changing, so stay tuned. A. EAS (Early Adapter Syndrome). There is a guy in my office building who is a crowdfunding junkie. Daily, he tells me about the latest gadget he just bought on Indiegogo or Kickstarter. He MUST be the first to own the latest toy. Here's the thing: he has grown quite knowledgeable about both technology and about selecting tech products. His success ratio has grown to near 100% now. He can spot a troubled product or crowdfunding campaign a mile away. Not a bad skill to have, actually. B. Love. People donate to products, causes and events they feel excited about. They LOVE what you, the crowdfunder, is doing. Now, part of the issue is making sure that love comes through. If there is a disconnect, people will not know that they love what you are doing. C. Community. It speaks to the community, whatever community that is. It can

In the crowdfunding world, there has been much talk about potato salad, but not the delectable summertime dish. We're talking about a Kickstarter campaign that, so far, has raised over $46,000 with a $10 goal. Upon first hearing of this, one would assume there is some catch, that maybe the goal had something to do with a great social concern that potato salad could help fix, maybe hunger among six year olds.... Nope. Zack Danger Brown simply wants to make potato salad. I'm sure not even he thought that his campaign would garner so much support and notoriety. The campaign has spawned several copy-cats and off-shoots: "Potato Salad" by Philip "Call me Fredo" Morganelli and "Macaroni Salad - Yum!". The overwhelming success of this campaign should serve as a wake up for several reasons. Firstly, the goal was overly simplistic. There was no elaborate reasoning or even a video. Secondly, there was no product to promote or great social benefit. S

Starting a nonprofit crowdfunding campaign is neither easy nor simple despite the positive social motivation of the typical campaigner. The reason for this is that the process of creating a nonprofit is complicated, due to the benefits they receive from the government. One of the most useful assistance the U.S. government provides is support to social benefit organizations via an exemption or tax deduction for contributions. Since normal successful crowdfunding campaigns usually spend around 30% of their revenue paying taxes (or they should anyway), this tax advantage will generate huge financial benefit for those who are not subject to taxes. However receiving this huge benefit requires official approval from the US government. Crowdunding is a new method of raising money and IRS has not yet announced guidelines regarding tax procedures for campaigns. Campaigns created through crowdfunding platforms are usually subject to taxes, except for those organizations who have tax exempt

In the period between May 13 - May 18 of this year, a low-pressure storm system called Cyclone Tamara dumped 3 months worth of rainwater on communities in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia. The water broke through the dams and levees, washing away everything in it's path. 2,000 mudslides completely destroyed entire villages and the towns of Maglaj, Krupanj, Obrenovac, Doboj, and Gunja virtually disappeared under the flood waters. The human suffering has been staggering: over 70 people lost their lives, 900,000 had to be evacuated, and over 85,000 are still living in temporary shelters across the Balkans. A group of concerned global citizens have come together to form "Blues for the Balkans" to show solidarity with the Balkan people and to raise awareness about the Balkan floods. Luke Winslow King saw pictures about the floods on Facebook and offered support. Others supporting this effort include Dukem Ethiopian Restaurant in Washington DC, Kameron Vollin-Reed a

The chart below shows the top 10 most funded video game crowdfunding campaigns from Kickstarter and Indiegogo. "Rank"   i s based on the dollar amount raised. The table was complied using data from our crowdfunding research reports: The Top 50 Crowdfunding Campaigns and the  Top Crowdfunding Campaigns for Computer Games As we saw from our analysis of the Top 50 most funded crowdfunding campaigns on Kickstarter and Indiegogo 34% of the top campaigns were video game related. The most notable gaming campaign is Star Citizen which raised $2,134,374 on Kickstarter. The developers of the Star Citizen video game went on to create a crowdfunding platform specifically for their game. With amazing graphics and a detailed storyline they managed to raise over $47 million, making this the most funded crowdfunding campaign of all time! This is great news for video game developers. It shows the potential that crowdfunding holds for that industry. So, what should independent g