We're honored to share that The Local Crowd (TLC), a rewards-based crowdfunding platform, recently won a Crowdfundie Award at the Global Crowdfunding Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. This award recognizes outstanding contributions to the crowdfunding industry. Locally, The Local Crowd is hosted by Monadnock Buy Local and called The Local Crowd Monadnock. Since we launched in March 2017, four Monadnock Region businesses/organizations/initiatives have collectively raised $34,946 from over 200 individuals. TLC Co-founders Diane Wolverton and Kim Vincent accepted the award at a VIP event at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. “We are super excited to receive this reward — on behalf of all The Local Crowd communities,” Wolverton said. “TLC's host communities, like The Local Crowd Monadnock, have worked very hard to launch this tool. It is very gratifying to see this work recognized.” The Global Crowdfunding Conference, founded by Ruth E. Hedges, is the crowdfunding industry’s flagship event. This convention brings the global crowdfunding community together to learn, share and co-create the future of the industry—an industry that is experiencing explosive growth. In 2016, start-ups, nonprofits and entrepreneurs raised more than $60 billion in capital from crowdfunding. This is a huge jump from just four years ago, when crowdfunding raised $1.7 billion in capital. Hedges commented, “I love what The Local Crowd is doing. It fills a very important niche in the industry.” The Local Crowd platform is specifically designed for rural communities and is currently in 13 states. In conjunction with The Local Crowd Monadnock, TLC provides education, support and hyper-local tools to connect local businesses and organizations with the capital they need. The Local Crowd Monadnock is now accepting crowdfunding proposals for 2018. Details are available at monadnocklocal.org/rfp. Congrats to The Local Crowd and all thirteen TLC Communities!
Exciting news: The Local Crowd (TLC) Monadnock will have one of its campaign videos highlighted at the 6th annual Global Crowdfunding Convention in Las Vegas on October 23 and 24, 2017.
This video exemplifies how TLC Monadnock provides more than just a crowdfunding platform, but leverages the skills, resources and talents of our community to help businesses, organizations and citizens reach their fundraising goals. "With a proper ecosystem of crowdfunding technology, education, and training, startups and growing enterprises can increase their ability to raise the capital they need, scale up, and compete in today's world," said Ruth Hedges, CEO and Founder of the Global Crowdfunding Convention. "When Global Crowdfunding Convention founder Ruth Hedges asked me for campaign videos to showcase the The Local Crowd platform, I immediately thought of TLC Monadnock's Stonewall Farm campaign," said Diane Wolverton, CEO and co-founder of The Local Crowd. "Their video tells a great story -- in just 97 seconds!"
TLC Monadnock's connection to The Local Crowd, a program supported by a USDA Small Business Innovation Research Grant, amplifies the region's assets by providing the technology, coaching and training needed for this local effort to thrive.
Stonewall Farm's crowdfunding video was donated and produced by 710 Main Films based in Keene.
View Stonewall Farm's archived crowdfunding campaign
The Local Crowd (TLC) Monadnock will highlight the opportunity for individuals, organizations and businesses based in Winchester to raise funds using this innovative crowdfunding platform. JOIN US: September 23 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Winchester Pickle Festival
TLC Monadnock will attend the Winchester Pickle Festival with Mark Florenz of Archway Farm. Mark successfully raised over $5,000 through TLC Monadnock's crowdfunding platform. With the funds he purchased a food truck, allowing him to sell his pasture-raised pork and other locally made products at events like the Winchester Pickle Festival. He plans to sell his own hot dogs, sausage, and something pickled (of course!). Please RSVP on Facebook and help us spread the word!
We did it!
Thanks to 59 supporters, we did it! We reached our crowdfunding goal -- so we're bringing Placemaker to the Monadnock Region!
What's next?
Down to the final days
Thank you for all the shares on social media -- we really feel the local love for Placemaker! We just need $470 to meet our crowdfunding goal, so one more shout out is very appreciated.
We spoke with Placemaker and if we make our goal it looks like we can launch the program this November -- just in time for this year's Shift Your Shopping season and Plaid Friday event!
New Sponsored Reward
Debbie Daniele Photography of Keene donated one Lifestyle Portrait Photography Session, plus one 11x14 enlargement for donating $250 to our crowdfunding campaign. Thanks Debbie!
Thanks to Nest :: mother child home
A big thank you to Kim Peck from Nest :: mother child home in Peterborough for her video lending support to our campaign.
We need your help sharing our story about the power of Placemaker. We'd love a very short video of you sharing why you support bringing Placemaker to the Monadnock Region. This would mean the world to our campaign -- as we try to convert interest into support. Post your video on your favorite social media platform and send us an email to let us know it's posted. (If you need help with this, please let us know -- we're so happy to help!) Thank you so much in advance!
We're excited to share we surpassed the half-way point yesterday and reached 65% of our fundraising goal. Woo-hoo! Thank you to the Monadnock Food Co-op for hosting our TLC Monadnock Night at the Co-op last night (and for Mother Nature for a rain-free evening). Next week, we plan to join the Dan Mitchell radio show and broaden our outreach quite a bit. We'll also be at the Farmers' Market of Keene next Saturday.
Hopefully, you've already browsed our amazing rewards for contributing to our Placemaker campaign -- but have you considering getting an early jump on your holiday shopping through our campaign? Have someone on your list looking to get more healthy in 2018? Get them one of our yoga or fitness rewards. Know someone who would love to see a Peterborough Players play? Get them the Picnic and a Play Package with the Jack Daniels Inn. A Citizen Membership to Monadnock Buy Local would also make an amazing gift for a buy local enthusiast. Check out all our rewards on the right side of our campaign page.
Visit our Placmemaker Crowdfunding Campaign
We surpassed the $2,000 mark this week -- and are now reaching towards the halfway mark (we're 41% there!). We built up 5,000+ Placemaker crowdfunding video views on Facebook BUT very few viewers watched long enough to learn what this awesome program is all about. So, we added a new Facebook video just about the Placemaker Program -- feel free to share it with your Facebook contacts.
Join Us for a Stronger Community! from Katrina Scotto di Carlo on Vimeo.
Please join us for TLC Monadnock Night at the Monadnock Food Co-op on Friday, August 4 from 4 - 6pm in Keene. Visit our table to say hello, share your questions and enjoy a special treat or two! Also, plan to stay for the Co-op's Local Food BBQ.
RSVP on Facebook and Help Spread the Word!
Last week, the Monadnock Shopper News featured our Placemaker crowdfunding campaign. Here's to hoping it reaches more community members and inspires them to vote with their dollars to bring Placemaker to the Monadnock Region!
Please Read and Share: Making Connections Visible and Rewards Sweeter
We're so excited!
The Monadnock Food Co-op will host The Local Crowd (TLC) Monadnock Night on Friday, August 4, 2017 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at its store in downtown Keene.
RSVP on Facebook to help spread the word!
You're invited to visit our table outside the Co-op and learn more about TLC Monadnock's latest crowdfunding campaign: Placemaker Local Rewards Program. Be sure to stay for the Co-op's Local Foods BBQ, too!
Placemaker is an online loyalty platform that tracks purchases made at locally owned businesses and offers gifts and discounts to users who spend their dollars locally. It is a powerful tool to inspire more community members to shop at locally owned business, while also giving community economic organizations access to valuable data -- regarding how much the region is shopping locally to grow a more local, green and fair economy. Individuals can contribute to this crowdfunding campaign online at http://c-fund.us/b3w. TLC Monadnock is a locally based crowdfunding platform that empowers individuals to support the businesses, organizations and initiatives that grow wealthier and healthier communities in the region. Crowdfunding, or the practice of raising funds to support a project from a large number of people, is a viable alternative to recruiting businesses from outside the region to boost economic activity.
Since launching on March 15, 2017, TLC Monadnock has raised over $10,000 from 164 supporters.
Originally Published in the Monadnock Shopper News
On July 15, Monadnock Buy Local officially launched its Placemaker Local Rewards crowdfunding campaign with The Local Crowd Monadnock (our region’s locally based crowdfunding platform). We're thrilled to report that in the first 2 days of the campaign we reached over 30% of our fundraising goal! To see where we’re at today, please visit our crowdfunding campaign page.
On the surface, Placemaker is an online loyalty platform that tracks purchases made at locally owned businesses and offers gifts and discounts to community members who spend their dollars locally.
Dig deeper and you’ll discover that Placemaker is a powerful tool to inspire more community members to shop at locally owned businesses. Placemaker can give us access to real data, while shoppers have fun. With this data, Monadnock Buy Local and other economic development organizations can monitor and demonstrate the true impact of our efforts on our local economy. Best of all, instead of independent businesses working to build customer loyalty on their own, they can band together through Placemaker and inspire more people to spend their dollars at locally owned businesses.
Bringing Placemaker to our community requires a three-year commitment -- a really big investment for an organization like Monadnock Buy Local. If we can raise $5,000 from you -- our neighbors, friends and family -- it demonstrates our community’s support for Placemaker. These dollars will also allow us to lower participation costs for participating businesses.
This program—started in Oregon by Katrina and Michael Scotto di Carlo—currently boasts a network of 150 independent businesses and 80,000 users who collectively shifted $8 million of their spending to locally owned businesses. Placemaker was the couple’s response to watching their town’s Main Street businesses close -- a solution that drives revenue to businesses and engages citizens.
“We moved here three years ago from a busy metro area with the belief that a smaller town with more individual personality would be a better place to raise our family,” shared one of our early Placemaker campaign supporters. “Placemaker will encourage a healthy local economy and ensure that the qualities we love about Keene will remain and hopefully strengthen. I love the idea of supporting my neighbors and friends in this way, and I'm not going to lie... I like rewards!”
When you shop at a Placemaker business that's new to you, you'd receive 20 Merits. Each time you come back to shop or get a service at that business, you’d earn 5 more Merits. You’d collect these Merits at each participating business by sharing your phone number or using the free Placemaker mobile app. Each participating business would then offer specific products or services that can be purchased with Placemaker Merits. You’d use your Merits to claim rewards on Placemaker's website or app. How much would it cost for community members to participate? Nothing. It's free! To make supporting our Placemaker campaign even sweeter, we’re offering special rewards to individuals who give at certain financial levels. For example, for $50 a campaign supporter can choose the "Buy Local Booster" and receive 5 gift certificates from Monadnock Buy Local members -- in surprise amounts from surprise members. Another great perk: A number of Monadnock Buy Local Members donated fantastic rewards to show their support for our Placemaker Crowdfunding campaign -- and to thank supporters for contributing to our campaign. Browse these sponsored rewards along the right hand side of our campaign page -- catered lunches, social media support, drone videos and more! Claim a reward by adding it to your cart and then following the steps to complete your contribution. These rewards are limited -- so be sure to check them out today.
Do you believe this is a good investment for our community? Then please support this program today.
Help Bring Placemaker to the Monadnock Region
Offline donations are also accepted. Checks should be made out to Monadnock Buy Local (with Placemaker in the memo line) and mailed to The Local Crowd Monadnock, c/o Monadnock Buy Local, 63 Emerald Street PMB #114, Keene, NH 03431. Placemaker can make connections between community and our locally owned businesses more visible, while making the benefits of shopping locally even sweeter!
We hoped to inspire at least 471 page views to our Placemaker Local Reward crowdfunding campaign by August 14... well, thanks to everyone's help spreading the word -- we had over 1,000 page views in our first week! Now, we need to re-engage those visitors over the next three weeks. Are you connected with a group interested in learning more about Placemaker? We'd love to share a short overview with your group -- just contact us today.
You might be as crazy about building the local economy as us -- so we wanted to share this short video connecting the dots between Placemaker and Community Economic Development efforts: Placemaker Overview for Local Economy Building Organizations
Two more Monadnock Buy Local Members added Sponsored Rewards to our Placemaker Campaign this week:
Learn more on our campaign page (along the right) -- and share these great rewards with your contacts today!
Placemaker Crowdfunding Campaign
The Local Crowd Monadnock - Keene, NH
