Crowdfunding Manual -- Launching the Project!

[Joe Brewer]

Hello Everyone,

Suresh and I are excited to embark on this journey with you to create
a Crowdfunding Manual for Social Movements. We have started outlining
the key ideas we'll want to cover in the manual so we can get the
writing process started.

To make this project more open and collaborative, we have invited you
to engage with us and help make it a resource you can use in your
efforts to catalyze deep changes in our political and economic
systems. I'd like to briefly clarify the scope and timeline so you'll
have a better sense of what to expect.

Our goal is to write, revise, and publish the manual in two months
time. We will keep to this time line by hosting discussions on
specific topics in this forum to help clarify sections as we go along,
with the bulk of writing done by Suresh and me to keep the project
moving forward quickly.

The manual will answer the following questions:

1. What is crowdsourcing and how is it a game changer for social
movements?
2. What is crowdfunding and how is it different from traditional
fundraising?
3. What are all the different crowdfunding models? When should each
be used?
4. How do social movements work? What is the role of finance in
successful paradigm shifts for a society?
5. What are the limitations of existing funding models for promoting
social innovation?
6. How does a user create and run a successful crowdfunding campaign?
7. What is the nature of engagement and collaboration in crowd-based
approaches?

Our goal is to create a highly useful handbook that will be made
freely available (using Creative Commons) to everyone. We can build
on and expand this over time as a community.

Thank you for joining us. We promise to make this fun, educational,
and as impactful a process as possible.

Best,

Joe