Anyone who has been using social networking for almost any time frame will be aware of UGC (user generated content) and crowd sourcing, many businesses source details about their brand this way, it gives them feedback about products and services along with answers to questions about possible new products. You are getting responses directly from your own customer base, it's a gain win situation.

Lots of people react to these requests for information out of a brandname loyalty - especially if it's a brandname they have employed for quite a long time, some respond as a genuine wish to have their voice heard, and others due to inducements, such as 'complete our survey and you could be in to win an voucher to your favourite store' ;.This inducement or reward system is undoubtedly the most used reason for involvement and although this style of 'something for something' is not new there's a complete new platform where incentive, combined with a degree of philanthropy, is starting to make its mark on the social scene, and that's crowdfunding.

Crowdfunding that is also called crowd financing, equity crowdfunding, or hyper funding started as far back as 1997 when fans of a group raised money to pay for to allow them to tour. This is carried out without the band's knowledge and has seen fans finance several more of the bands projects on the years. There have been other single projects over the years that have utilised this sort of funding model to greatly help launch their projects. More recently platforms dedicated to assisting project owners find supporters have launched, including ArtistShare which launched in the first 2000's and was the first platform for music projects. Popular creative projects site, Kickstarter, is restricted to US based residents, and recent stats show the website has funded over 250 million dollars worth of projects. New Zealand residents are offered an identical opportunity from local site Pledge Me, which uses the tag 'funding Kiwi creativity.

Among the newest kids on the crowdfunding block is Sportfunder, a crowdfunding platform dedicated to sports related projects. Although the website continues to be in 'start-up' mode, it boasts some high profile friends and projects, and with the ability to fund projects in lots of countries throughout the world, it's in a enviable position of being able to offer global projects and global funding allowing sports players to collaborate with sports enthusiasts to reach their sports related goals.

So how can crowdfunding work? Most crowdfunding platforms focus on an 'all-or-nothing' funding model where in actuality the project creator sets their minimal funding target and if that's not reached then the supporters do not pay and the project receives no funds. This model actually protects both parties. If the project requires $5,000 and the fundraising only reaches $2,000 then the project owner can't be anticipated to successfully complete their project with insufficient funds, consequently the supporter is not creating a payment towards a project that'll not get off the ground.

As eluded to earlier, there's a degree of incentive or reward combined with an element of philanthropy when it comes to sponsoring projects. Each project offers the supporter an incentive in exchange due to their financial contribution. Rewards vary from project to project and depend greatly about what the project is for and the level of 'exposure' the supporter will get. Some recognition may be in the shape of a social mention - the value with this depends upon the profile of the project owner. A tweet from a nearby amateur athlete may have less value than one from the high-profile professional sports star, so the rewards are set commensurate with the value of the donation and the value of the reward Wefunder. Rewards will also be often aligned with the project itself. If you're to sponsor a project raising funds for a nearby school team to compete overseas you could expect the main reward to incorporate a picture of the team at the function, perhaps with the team members holding up placards with 'thank you' written on them. Other funding rewards could be naming rights to the function, your logo on their clothing, a note on their website or social network, or branded clothing.

Obviously, social networking plays a large role in this sort of fundraising, therefore having a credible online profile, a strong social network, and a professional website can help the project owner in creating the necessary social buzz to improve the profile of their project and therefore help them achieve a fruitful outcome with their fundraising endeavours.