From D.C. to L.A. - Rites of Ash Crowdfund New EP
The inspiration comes from our evolving ability to create auditory art that both pleases and connects with our fans. Not only do we want to make music that people can dance and groove to, we want them to read into the lyrics and feel the emotional messages we are attempting to send them. We have all been inspired by a varying amount of genres and artists and the product you hear and see is the culmination of our influences. All of us at Rites of Ash were totally uncertain of how this would play out for us. It could have ended up being an empty promotion, but we have been completely successful in achieving our goal. Raising money for a music project isn’t exactly easy! Fans have no idea what our next album will sound like until it is released. We just hope that the fans know we won’t stop until our project is polished and sounds exactly how we want. So far, our fans are loving the RocketHub project and hopefully we will surpass our goal before the deadline, all thanks to them! Despite the goal of the project, you need to make sure that your funders are just as excited and interested in the project as you are. Be detailed and let them know that the money is going to good use to return a great product to the donators and other consumers. Our purpose for going to L.A. and recording this EP is so we can put out a top-notch product that our fans will enjoy for a long time. There are a lot of bands out there that have amazing music, but they struggle to connect with fans because of a high demand for quality recordings. It isn’t cheap! When people hear that we are going to LA, they are excited and are more willing to be supportive. Give your fans and funders a reason to be excited! - Ken Lasson & Rites of Ash
- January 16, 2013
Empowering Women in Morocco, Crowdfunding Culinary Training
Morocco is a beautiful, culturally-rich country, but it has underlying social issues that make life incredibly difficult for many of its citizens. As in most of the rest of the world, those who are at the biggest disadvantage are women. The Amal Women’s Training Center and Moroccan Restaurant is the result of seeing that poverty and marginalization every day and wanting to do something about it, starting from the bottom up with the women themselves. The goal of the Training Center is to give a sort of paid internship to a pilot group of ten to fifteen women, where they will learn basic Moroccan cooking and western baking skills while helping to serve and manage a restaurant. Since many of these women are illiterate they’ll also learn to read and write a little Arabic, and those who can read will have the option of taking beginning French or English classes. The money we’re raising on RocketHub is meant to pay for the kitchen equipment we’ll need to have the restaurant up-to-code and functional, and we’re well on our way to having enough to afford all of it! As Outreach Coordinator for the Center, I started up fundraising by drafting an email which I sent to my family and family friends, and the rest just kind of fell into place when we found RocketHub and became “crowdfunding pioneers.” Having a Moroccan nonprofit posed a lot of difficulties at first, because everyone I emailed was a little wary of donating via wire transfer, and we couldn’t set up a Paypal linked to a Moroccan bank account. Sending out an email with a link that takes them straight to the page where they can learn more about our project and click on the large, highly visible “FUND THIS PROJECT” button made it a lot more accessible. So people have been incredibly supportive—other American students in Morocco sent a version of my letter to their families as well, and many funders have asked if there’s any other way they can give, by donating kitchenware directly, for example. I’d say one of the things that I’ve found is most important with this process so far is keeping contact with supporters and making the process a person-to-person kind of thing. Everyone wants to help out, but people lead busy lives and can’t always keep track of all the charities and organizations they want to donate to. Sending out an email to garner interest before the one with the link helped a lot, I think, because people knew what I was talking about when they got the second email and they were already on board to help out. Thank-you emails are also great, because the responses to those have offered even more help than we would have received if we’d just accepted the original donations and moved on. The only other piece of advice I can think of is not to underestimate how far your network reaches and how much those people will care about what you’re doing. When we chose $5,000 as a goal, we thought that would be a stretch, but we reached it in just a few weeks and have only scratched the surface of our networks of people who’d be happy to donate. There really is a crowd out there waiting to get behind whatever brilliant idea you need to fund, all you need to do is ask. - Rachel Mead and Nora Fitzgerald, Pro-Social Leaders and Global Crowdfunders
- January 14, 2013
Ariel Hyatt Crowdfunds New Resource for Creative Entrepreneurs
Ariel Hyatt is a true thought leader in the digital world: the founder of a successful PR firm; an international speaker and educator and the author of two books on social media and marketing for artists. Her core mission is to educate creative entrepreneurs on how to leverage social media and build their stories, so after moving to NYC, I attended one of her classes. I was blown away. Listening to Ariel inspired me deeply, and I felt the “blinders” come off. Shortly after her class, I started RocketHub with my fellow co-founders in 2009. The rest is history in the making… - Brian Meece, CEO of RocketHub We are really proud to have one of our early mentors using RocketHub with such success. Ariel’s in the final days of her first RocketHub project that will launch three new instructional books on social media, including one aimed directly at music artists. Here’s what she has to say about her crowdfunding experience thus far. Give us some backstory on your RocketHub project: This campaign is basically my attempt to cross things off the top of my bucket list that have been there for a long time. I am an incredibly productive person and have a high output however I’ve always done things by “bootstrapping” them and when you work with primarily independent artists cash flow can be an issue ☺ So, I decided to ask my community to help me help them. What have you learned so far from your crowdfunding experience? I lost my entire apartment in a fire about six years ago. It was an unbelievable experience. The doorman called and told me my house was on fire. I came home and, literally, my whole house was gone: furniture, art, everything gone. I only saved my clothes and a few other things. So when that happened, it was very interesting how people showed up. People that I had considered my best friends in the world barely showed up to help clean my apartment, and came up with excuses why they couldn’t. What was interesting was that people that I didn’t expect to come out, came out, and were incredibly generous. One person, who was a very passing acquaintance through college, showed up at my house with bleach, gloves, and a mask, and helped me scrub all the soot and dirt off all my plates and dishes and forks. I had literally barely spoken to this man in 10 years, and there he was. The same thing happens with crowdfunding. You ask your best friends, your Mom, whatever for money, and then it comes from people you wouldn’t expect. We see you have some very cool Goods you’re offering up to funders. There are many - at the smallest donation level you will receive my brand-new book, which is my best book yet that explains exactly how to build a cohesive and interactive social media presence. I will also be writing a comprehensive guide to crowdfunding for all who want to attempt it in 2013, and at the highest level you can come and spend a weekend with me and my team - where we will completely dive in analyze, and change your relationship to social media and online marketing forever. How does your RocketHub project fit into your core mission of education? It actually fits in perfectly; part of what I have always done is release books and educational course. I would have attempted to write edit and release all of these books as well as record at it and release a social media mastery course either way, by doing this campaign I figured I would hold myself accountable and get it done in a much faster manner that I would have going bit by bit. I’m looking really forward to helping other types of businesses outside of the music industry. We have already started the year with an author and a cartoonist from the New Yorker on her upcoming roster of cyber PR clients. We have worked hard to build the technology to create successful online campaigns and social media strategy in 2013 will be all about branching out. And of course I’ll be up to my usual tricks of traveling, speaking, writing, and doing what I love to do most – help people. - Ariel Hyatt, Social Media Maven, Educator, and Crowdfunding Success
- January 10, 2013
Students Serving Communities, Crowdfunding the Future
The SEEDS Project started as a hurrican relief organization for victims of Katrina. However, there was so little that students could really do in 10 days, so the trip became more of service-learning experience, examining the symptoms of marginalized communities suffering from current or past crises. In 2009, the organization officially became known as SEEDS (Students Enacting and Engaging in a Dialogue on Service). Through this organization, students passionate about serving communities outside of a classroom environment learn firsthand the roots of marginilization by talking to community members, hearing their stories, and reflecting on their experiences with other students. At our University, organizations normally set up a table in the Student Commons to raise money. Often, that makes us feel like we’re begging people as we try to get their attention on their way to class. We’ve done this and we still do, along with other modes of fundraising. However, Rocket Hub is by far the most effective fundraising tool out there. It allows us to get our message out to the masses in a concise, and professional video, while liberating us from tedious, inefficient, and small-scale fundraisers. This gives us the peace of mind and freedom to focus on the planning and execution of our project. Perhaps more impotantly, it also gives us more optimism for the sustainability of this organization through future years. So, we love RocketHub so much that we have been recommending it to other groups on campus as an easy way to get your message out to the masses, while also fundraising in a dignifiable way. The thing we love most about RocketHub is the video feature. The video should be clean, crisp, professional, and genuine, showing the personal investment, and the emotional connection of the project’s members. The video puts “faces” to the project, while personal stories and experiences show potential fuelers that we are not salesmen, rather passionate and driven people who have an inspired vision and goal. A video is worthless, though, if you do not have a plan for distribution. Getting family and friends fired up to support or learn about your cause quickly raises awareness and funds. If your project has alumni, they are also very helpful and willing to support. This is a great starting point, and the funding tends to just take off from there. - The SEEDS Project Leadership Team, Pro-Social Crowdfunding Pioneers
- January 8, 2013
MMGuardian Innovates Mobile Safety
Parents have a huge problem that is only getting worse: they cannot regulate or control their teens’ smartphone habits for safety reasons. Parents needed a solution that gives them the power to control their teens’ phones when they need to, so they have peace of mind but don’t have to constantly monitor every aspect of their teens’ lives. MMGuardian is that solution and, after seeing such a positive response to our free android product, we decided to expand to iOS. We think RocketHub is the perfect place to raise awareness of the MMGuardian project, so parents know that there is a solution out there for them. We are very excited by our support this far! 25 contributors have funded our campaign to 20% of its goal and we have received numerous emails telling us how exciting our solution is for parents and that they want to see MMGuardian available on a wider scale. We think mobile parental control is new to RocketHub as a crowdfunding project but MMGuardian has received a positive response and we are excited that this will help fuel our future progress. Our goal now is to make many more people aware of it, starting with the pioneering site visitors of RocketHub, so that MMGuardian can reach millions of parents in the U.S. and around the globe. For success, don’t be afraid to let people know! If you are doing something that you think will help others, tell them because, chances are, they will want to help too. - Paul Grossinger, Entrepreneur, Crowdfunding Pioneer
- January 2, 2013
From Script to Screen via Crowdfunding
This project had been in development for two years. It all started when I saw a sketch for one of my co workers clothing company that involved an astronaut with his arms around two mermaids. The first thought I had was “this is so outer worldly and unique. This is an astronaut that doesn’t belong” and the idea flourished from there. I later spent an entire afternoon watching my old home movies and I saw this young version of myself, so innocent and full of joy, that I began to feel a bit nostalgic and so I tied it in to the visual treatment I had been giving to my story. It made sense to make this story of an astronaut on earth be about a child longing for his innocence. Before I knew it, the story had evolved to something deeper. It became a story about imagination and the power of children when it comes to coping with grim realities like death, loss, and forgiveness. I was actually able to successfully crowdfund another shortfilm a little over two years ago and I have noticed a huge difference in comparison to the last time. See, two years ago, many of my funders believed it to be a risk to throw money to some film for some guy who was just out to chase his dreams but this time around it seems like more people have been showing their generosity because of the equity and credibility I have worked hard to establish with them throughout these last two years. I had one funder who specifically said to me ” Jeff, normally I don’t give money to these crowdfunding projects because they don’t take off but I know that you will get it done because I’ve seen it first hand.” I can’t even begin to explain to you how humbling and inspiring it felt when I read that message. The key is to have a project that you’re passionate about. Don’t try to crowdfund for a pair of shoes. If it’s something that you believe in greatly then others will believe as well. As human beings, we always want to be a part of something special and being part of a community is something we long for. Make sure you thank every single individual that comes through for you because that graciousness and humility is what will allow you to go far, not just with your crowdfunding, but with the end result of your project and, in a sense, your future. - Jeff Pinilla, Emmy Nominated, Film and Commercial Writer, Director, Photographer, and Producer
- December 28, 2012
Tabitha St. Bernard Crowdfunds Sustainable Fashion
I was inspired to do a project to raise capital for Tabitha juSt because of the community spirit of RocketHub. It really resonated with the path that Tabitha juSt has taken. We have a Board of Advisors. who I consult with for many of my decisions. For me, the continuing success of Tabitha juSt is directly related to the support of our community. We’ve even gotten support from my home country of Trinidad and Tobago, which is so humbling. The response has been amazing! I haven’t seen some of the supporters in over a decade but people are really coming together to make this happen. I’ve also been blogging about my journey with the line so there are close friends and family who have been with me, through every success and every obstacle. It’s been very humbling to see people support the cause. As a sustainable fashion designer and blogger, there is a constant push to do things more eco-consciously and in different ways. Crowdfunding is a fairly new way to raise capital for new businesses and it is developing and growing along with sustainable fashion and design. For crowdfunding success, I would definitely say to approach the project in a very organized fashion. It takes consistent work to make it successful. You might want to map out what work you would do on the project every day. I’ve learnt quite a bit about fundraising by just jumping right in and reaching out to people. Watching other people raise money and seeing their gentle approach has helped me figure out what style works best for me and Tabitha juSt. - Tabitha St. Bernard, Designer, Blogger, and Crowdfunding Maven
- December 20, 2012
Scientists Raise Over a Quarter Million Dollars on RocketHub
Scientists have now raised over a quarter MILLION dollars via crowdfunding on RocketHub. With the closing of the third round of #SciFund on RocketHub, hundreds of researchers from around the world have utilized RocketHub to boost their funding. From turtles to international politics to Alzheimer’s research, many different scientific areas have been represented. Universities and other organizations have supported the initiatives - both financially and through massive publicity. Major press has covered the initiatives and thousands of people have contributed. For some very interesting statistics, check out the #SciFund Challenge Blog. Thank you to all those involved - particularly Jai Ranganathan and Jarrett Byrnes for organizing #SciFund. We look forward to future #SciFund Challenges and to many more scientists crowdfunding on RocketHub. - The RocketHub Team
- December 17, 2012
Christie Lenée Brings the Guitar to Life
In my freshman year of high school I saw John Michael Parris, professor at Blake High School of Performing Arts, perform Andrew York’s guitar piece “Sunburst.” Hearing that composition was a transforming moment in my life. I felt the light of inspiration spark and heard an orchestra of music explode within me. Since then I have spent hours and hours a day practicing and composing music, studying an expansion of musical styles, and touring all over the US to get my music out there. I want more people to feel what I felt that day and be inspired to follow their hearts. To translate this incredible feeling, I’ve often put a lot of focus on my vocal music. Many of the lyrics are about believing in yourself, taking from life experiences, learning, growing, and making your a special mark on the world. Since I’ve focused so much on this message with hope to inspire people, every CD I’ve put out thus far has only included one instrumental song. However, I’ve recently noticed that this message translates thoroughly through my instrumentals as well. In fact, the music and expression of the guitar translates more emotion than any lyrical song in my catalogue. It is something more profound then words could justify. The music is a journey in itself. When I see tears of joys sparkle in the face of an audience it is a pure, fresh feeling all over again. That feeling is inspiration: like cool rain on a summer day, like warmth when you’re falling in love, like speaking something that means the world to you… and feeling yourself heard. I’ve seen the response when performing this music and felt a raise of vibration. Hearing the crowd get intrigued and express their experience is also more than rewarding. It reminds me why I do this in the first place, for it puts me at peace and leads to the most grand symphonies of my dreams. This album is about evolution, changes of seasons, and cycles of the moon. It is the purest essence of emotion without speaking a word- an expansion of light, love, and expression. I’m excited for others to experience the journey. I feel very blessed to have so many fans and friends who support the music. In turn, I’ve put a lot of effort into charity events and coordinating concerts to help benefit others. It is the giving sensation in me which achieves rewards much larger than money could buy. Call me silly, but doing a fundraiser for me is something that I’m not completely comfortable with. Quite frankly, there are bigger things in this world then just one person. However, I recently had a realization that this is not just for me - it’s for the fans and acoustic music lovers of the world. Knowing that allowed me to justify doing a fundraiser. This is about musical expansions, inspiration, and a raise of vibration. I am beyond grateful for everyone who contributes to the cause. For crowdfunding success, work hard to follow your dreams. Nothing comes easy, but if you maintain persistence you will achieve results. When you connect with the power of true intention and live from your heart, magic happens. - Christie Lenée, Guitar Virtuouso, International Crowdfunder
- December 13, 2012
The New RocketHub
We are extremely excited to unveil the new RocketHub! It’s been many months of blood, sweat, and even tears in the process of renewal and evolution. Based on your feedback, from our global community, we’ve implemented hundreds of new features and upgrades. Take a look around and let us know what you think. Here’s to continuing to grow and improve together! Some key new sections: RocketHub’s Crowdfunding Success School Our Movement - The RocketHub Team
- December 10, 2012
