Australian Simon Rowe was profoundly affected by the sight of a homeless man trying to sleep on a hard concrete floor. The more he researched, the more he realised the benefits of sleep for a person’s physical and mental health.
The chef and entrepreneur looked into how to create a cost-effective, safe night shelter for rough sleepers and their pets – and the idea of the sleepbus was born. He’s smashed his crowdfunding target of A$20,000 (£10,400) and opens his first bus this month.
There are 22 pods with TVs, communal toilets and space for luggage and it costs about A$27 a night per person to run the bus – less than it costs charities and the government, Rowe believes. He wants to build more than 300 buses in Australia and is keen to help others build sleep buses around the world. “We put the campaign on Go Fund Me because it’s one of the only sites with no upper funding limit and it let’s you keep whatever you raise, even if it’s below target,” he says. “We’ve raised A$100,000 so far, with 40% coming from the UK.”
Although Rowe believes some charities have perhaps felt threatened by his idea, others – as well as governments – have been in contact about working with him.
Fundraisers know that there’s no guaranteed formula for inspiring people to raise big sums of money. But Jess Ratty, spokeswoman for the Crowdfunder website, says the platform is seeing more charities look to this means of fundraising as a way to reach new audiences and networks. She points to CoppaFeel! and its Boobettes initiative, which last October saw supporters – women under 35 who’ve been affected by breast cancer – raise more than £16,000 for the charity. With slick retro branding and promotion, the Boobettes did talks and presentations in locations such as schools and Girl Guides groups. They raised money through Crowdfunder and raised awareness of breast checking. “We are a small charity with nine paid staff,” says co-founder Maren Hallenga, “so every £10 is vital.”
Crowdfunds can take on a life of their own. Film-maker Finlay O’Hara, 18, was only looking for £50 through The Worldwide Tribe Facebook page to create a film about the aftermath of the Calais refugee camp, but over one week last August, he raised £18,000 via Kickstarter. “Donations just kept coming, so we eventually directed people to a friend’s Virgin Money page that was collecting for the relief effort. That brought in £155,000.”
There are plenty of creative ideas for charity fundraisers to tap into in the crowdfunding world. Perhaps a charity could send a teenager to make a film or crowdfund for a homeless bus? Hallenga says the Boobettes idea came from listening to the public: “We were always being contacted by women who’d been affected by breast cancer and wanted to help us, so we created the Boobettes.”
Their crowdfunding page shows how their supporters love fundraising for their cause. Here you’ll find the power in the people.
Case study: Bethany Hare
Bethany Hare was just 10 when she started fundraising for her local children’s hospice, putting on performances and running events. She gave the first £30,000 to the local hospice and has raised a further £70,000 for her own charity, Bethany’s Smile, set up to help children with chronic, life threatening and terminal illnesses. The charity has no paid employees.
“I learned about fundraising when I was doing a show for my performing arts school, raising money for Martin House Children’s Hospice,” says Hare. “I read a book written by children and siblings who’ve stayed there – I was enthralled. Then I discovered the hospice cost £11,000 a day to run, and only 12% came from government. I wanted to help.”
The 16-year-old is hoping to raise at least £300,000 to build Smile Cottage, where families can go for holidays. “It will be equipped with hoists, moveable sinks, lifts and ramps. It will be somewhere they can go to build happy memories when they are told their child has a very short life expectancy,” Hare says.
“Sometimes I have worked hard to organise events and been disappointed in the interest shown, but other times the response from friends and the public has been amazing.”
Hare regularly encourages her peers and others to fundraise. “A lot of my friends at school say that they would love to do it but wouldn’t know where to start, so I try to help them.”
Blazing a trail: Top 5 crowdfunds of 2015
Code.org: coding training for every schoolchild
Raised more than $5m to give an hour of code to every child at every school worldwide.
Save the Nightshelter
Cardiff Nightshelter overfunded, with £23,000, to keep its homeless shelter open when local authority funding was pulled.
Portpatrick harbour restoration
More than £100,000 was raised to save and secure Portpatrick harbour, Scotland.
Refugee food truck
Beirut catering business Soufra, based in a refugee camp, crowdfunded $60,000 to buy its own food truck.
Brighton Permaculture Trust’s Fruit Factory
Raised £12,000 to harvest and process 40-plus tonnes of fruit wasted each year.
