RocketHub
RocketHub sets themselves apart by offering two distinct services, FuelPad and LaunchPad. In the FuelPad section of the site users can seek crowd funding for their projects. In the LaunchPad section creative folks can throw their hat in the ring for a chance to win an incredible opportunity.
Bring Your Ideas to Life: 5 Sites To Make it Happen
How it works:
The FuelPad works a bit like Kickstarter. However, rather than employing an “all or nothing” model RocketHub lets you keep all of the money you raise regardless of your goal. The LaunchPad section features auditions for great opportunities. Creative people can submit their case for why they should be chosen for a specific opportunity. A panel of judges review each submission, fans vote on their favorite submissions, and a winner is chosen. Past opportunities include spending a week making music at the Gibson Music Retreat and working with famous publicist Arien Rozelle.
Success Story:
While most people use RocketHub to fuel a creative project, the creative team behind the web series Extra Credits asked their fans to help pay for surgery for one of their teammates. Their original goal was $15,000 but they raised nearly 7 times that amount. Thanks to the overflow the Extra Credits team now plans to support indie game developers.
IndieGoGoUnlike some other crowd funding sites, pretty much anything goes on IndieGoGo. You’ll find everything from creative projects to people who need help paying for medical treatment. Since the site was started in 2008 it has helped raise millions of dollars across 60,000 campaigns.
How it works:
Anyone can start a campaign, whether it’s for a cause, a business or a project. Each project has a goal and a deadline, but the creator can keep the funds even if their goal isn’t met. Different contribution amounts often can come with different perks, like hand written thank you cards or a product.
Success Story:
The creators of the eMAKER Huxley 3D printer raised $158,685, exceeding their goal by almost $130,000. Thanks to their success on IndieGoGo, they were able to develop innovative open source 3D printers and make them available to the mass market at a reasonable price.
Did we miss any great sites that help you get an idea off the ground? Tell us in the comments.
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Cool Material, is a hobby-turned-profession for online publisher, Tim Jacobsen. After starting a top 300 Internet retailer and holding a couple of SVP positions, his passion for social media, online marketing, and entrepreneurship drove him to branch out on his own. Started in 2008, the men’s lifestyle blog covers everything from entertainment and technology, to art and style. Cool Material reaches out to over 600,000 readers each month, but the site’s hip, of-the-moment content and honest reviews continues to grow that number daily. Outside of his Internet world, Tim enjoys bicycling, poker, and traveling with his family.
Cool Material is a hobby-turned-profession for online publisher, Tim Jacobsen. After starting a top 300 Internet retailer and holding a couple of SVP positions, his passion for social media, online marketing, and entrepreneurship drove him to branch out on his own. Started in 2008, the men's lifestyle blog covers everything from entertainment and technology, to art and style. Cool Material reaches out to over 600,000 readers each month, but the site’s hip, of-the-moment content and honest reviews continues to grow that number daily. Outside of his Internet world, Tim enjoys bicycling, poker, and traveling with his family.
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