The Local Crowd (Crowdfunding)

Crowdfunding is the practice of sourcing small contributions from a large number of people to provide funding for a particular project or campaign, usually via the Internet and social media connections.

Individuals or groups create fundraising campaigns that contain a specific funding goal and timeline to fund a current project. Supporters can contribute to the campaign both financially and through in-kind contributions. All are encouraged to share the campaign with their own community and social network.

The Local Crowd Upper Valley is about us – our region, our community – and the goals we’ve created around economic development, prosperity, and resilience. There’s also an educational and technical assistance component offered to campaign organizers that isn’t included in most other platforms.

No, all donations will be accepted regardless of amount.

All major credit cards are accepted for secure online donations.

Everyone! Any person can contribute to any campaign regardless where they live, inside or outside of the Upper Valley.

Browse campaigns and find one you’d like to contribute to. Click on that campaign and follow the directions to make your donation online.

You can also contribute by sharing the campaign with your friends and family or by offering a Sponsored Reward. Sponsored Rewards allow individuals to share a talent or service that will show up on the campaign’s page as a reward option for campaign supporters. A great place for entrepreneurs to market their business’s service or product.

If a campaign is for a for-profit business, your contribution is not tax deductible. If it’s for a nonprofit, your contribution (minus the cost of any reward) may be tax deductible. Please contact us to find out if a campaign is for a nonprofit and if they are providing donation receipts for tax purposes.

Immediately upon donation.

Yes, your name (not an amount) will be displayed unless you choose “Keep my pledge anonymous” option when completing your donation.

The following credit card processing fees apply to all online donations and the administrative fee applies to all contributions (both online and offline):

CREDIT CARD FEE: 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction is assessed by the credit card company at the time of donation.

PLATFORM FEE: The crowdfunding platform charges an administrative fee of 5%, which is an industry average. A portion of this is generally returned to the campaign creator as an incentive for reaching or exceeding their goal. The remainder is used to pay costs associated with hosting, administering and promoting the platform and for providing direct assistance to campaign creators.

Yes! There is a button on the donation page that you will see after a contribution is given that allows donors to share their contribution with their own social networks right from the page. You can also share the campaign’s URL directly on social media or use the share button from the campaign page.

Your contribution will go only to the campaign(s) you designated. Each campaign has a separate account.

You can check back on the campaign page to watch funding progress. You can also sign up for updates or follow the campaign’s social media pages for updates. You will receive an email when the campaign fundraising time has expired regardless of the campaign’s success.

Each of the campaign teams has identified a set of baseline tasks and goals in addition to a set of “stretch goals.” Should a campaign be fortunate enough to exceed its funding goal, the additional funds will be utilized to help the team reach the additional campaign goals as identified in their campaign pages.

Funds are transferred to the campaign creator once the contributions are processed. The campaign teams will be able to access these funds through a special account set up when they create their campaign.

No. We believe that campaigns should be able to keep the funds that are raised, even if the total funding goal was not reached. We expect each campaign team to make some progress in achieving their goals, even if they are not fully funded. Campaigns are required to report to their supporters on the exact use of funds received.