What is crowdfunding and what differentiates Patronicity from the typical crowdfunding platform?
Our founders saw the opportunity crowdfunding offered as a catalyst for placemaking and community development in their city.
Since crowdfunding began in 2007, it has exploded generating $17.2 billion annually in North America alone. Crowdfunding continues to grow rapidly and has forever changed the way fundraising is done.
Prior to crowdfunding, the average person would never have been a patron of the arts or invested in community development directly. But now, it is common for individuals to support artists, creatives, inventors, and more through crowdfunding. It has created a revolution of micro-patronage.
Patronicity was founded in 2013 in Detroit, Michigan. Our founders saw the opportunity crowdfunding offered as a catalyst for placemaking and community development in their city. Crowdfunding democratized access to capital, empowered communities to champion their own sustainable development, and allowed residents to support projects that mattered most to them.
Our name comes from the idea that everyday individuals could become “Patrons of their City,” supporting the growth and development of their communities. And since 2013, we have worked with thousands of communities across the United States to raise funds for place-based projects.
Crowdfunding Defined
Crowdfunding is the process of gathering a community to provide financial support for a project within a set period of time. Our crowdfunding platform specializes in community-based projects that empower communities to transform and invest in themselves. Communities identify local projects and are supported through community buy-in at the grassroots level. We believe in crowdfunding because it’s accessible, decentralized, a great storytelling tool, and facilitates community engagement.
We believe in crowdfunding because:
- It’s accessible. Anyone can easily create a crowdfunding campaign to champion their cause, initiative, or idea. These changemakers can be individuals, entrepreneurs, student groups, organizations, or even a municipality!
- It’s decentralized. Through organic and grassroots support, crowdfunding provides the freedom to not be solely dependent on a bank, a grant, or a few investors to make an idea happen. Instead, the risk is shared across a community, lessening the financial pressure.
- It’s a great storytelling tool. Crowdfunding is about publicity and is an incredible tool to generate positive stories, narratives, and new ideas. With enough sharing and repetition, you can inspire communities!
- It facilitates community engagement. The crowd serves as a strong vetting mechanism. The crowd will typically support the ideas or projects they value most. Naturally, the best ideas will rise to the top.
Our vision is to use crowdfunding to:
- Revolutionize placemaking by democratizing the funding and implementation process.
- Transform communities by harnessing the power of crowdfunding and matching grant funds.
- Empower changemakers to create sustainable, healthy, and equitable communities.
The Patronicity Difference
- High-Rate of Success. In 2021, our crowdfunding campaigns saw a 91% success rate, far outperforming the average crowdfunding campaign success rate of 22.4%, according to Fundera. We receive a high rate of campaign success year-over-year, proving our method and models are effective.
- Free to Launch. It’s free to launch your campaign!
- One-On-One Project Coaching. Projects receive advice and feedback from experienced Project Coaches from beginning to end. In addition, our crowdfunding platform provides educational resources and best practices every step of the way.
- Two Models — One Price. We offer All-Or-Nothing and Partial Funding Models at a 5% flat fee on all funds raised. An additional 2.6% +$0.30/txn credit card processing fee is applied for online donations, but donors have the option to cover all of the fees! The average campaign sees 2.5–4.5% fees because of the generosity of their donors. Your success is our success.
- On-and Offline Donations. Offline donations can be added to your LIVE campaign. Large and small donations from cash, checks, and pledges can be added to your success tracker.
- Grow Your Network and Volunteer Base. Use our new Volunteer feature to grow your volunteer base around a community-based project that speaks to them. Once your campaign is complete, download your patron and volunteer lists to continue your success beyond your project.
- Security and Trust. We use Stripe for credit card processing to ensure your money is safe and secure.
