Note: I received a free copy of Crowdfunding for Social Good to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.

Crowdfunding for Social Good

Remember the days of yore when you had to go door-to-door or stand outside a shopping center to raise funds for your favorite cause? Well, thanks to the internet, those days are mostly gone. Sure, it’s still a good idea to get out there and interact with the real world to raise money.  Now, though, you can also use the internet and reach even more people all over the world. Crowdfunding has become huge in recent years, thanks to organizations like Kickstarter. With new crowdfunding sites popping up every day, it’s now one of the most popular ways to raise money for everything from financing your new invention to helping restore a hurricane-battered town to its former glory.

Crowdfunding for Social GoodIn Crowdfunding for Social Good, Devin D. Thorpe explains how to use the platform to raise money to finance your mark on the world. We all have causes that we’re passionate about. We’d all like to help those causes as much as possible. Unfortunately, not all of us have the monetary resources to hand over a nice big check to our favorite organization. This is where crowdfunding comes in.

Say you want to raise money to help your neighbor after a fire devastates her home. You can (and should) work within your community to get donations, but sometimes that will only get you so far. Crowdfunding online can help you reach much further than your local influence. It can mean the difference between just replacing her lost clothes and rebuilding her home entirely.

The thing with crowdfunding, though, is that just about everyone is doing it now. If you want your campaign to stand out, you need help. Devin’s Crowdfunding for Social Good is like a blueprint for creating a fundraising campaign that really stands out in the crowd.

Crowdfunding for Social Good: Let Devin Help You Make Your Mark on the World

First of all, I want to say how much I love Devin’s writing style. Throughout this book, and his previous book 925 Ideas to Help You Save Money, Get Out of Debt and Retire A Millionaire So You Can Leave Your Mark on the World, Devin talks to you, not at you. Crowdfunding for Social Good is very conversational and easy to read.

Devin starts by defining crowdfunding and social entrepreneurs, before launching into an explanation of how the two are entwined. After presenting a beautiful case study, he launches into the “how” part of the book. From choosing your cause to giving it the right face, Devin lays the groundwork to help make your crowdfunding project more successful. I love that he’s realistic. He’s not telling you “follow my blueprint and you’ll make millions!” He’s telling you that it will be hard work and it may only pay off with a couple thousand dollars. He reiterates throughout the book that the average crowdfunding campaign raises between $3,500 and $35,000. Yes, that’s a big range, but it’s still a realistic view.

Throughout the 100-ish pages of the book, you’ll learn how to assess your goals, find the weaknesses and strengths in your plan and execute your crowdfunding campaign so you can raise funds for your cause. He even breaks down the different types of fundraising, including equity funding, which isn’t yet legal in the US but on the table to become legal soon.

If you want to learn how to raise money for your favorite cause, Crowdfunding for Social Good is a must-read book!

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Twitter: @devindthorpe
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