What it is: Crowd funding is about persuading individuals to each give you a small donation maybe more. Once you get thousands of donors, you have some serious cash on hand. This has all become possible in recent years thanks to a proliferation of websites that allow nonprofits, artists, musicians -- and yes, businesses -- to raise money. This is the social media version of fundraising. There are more than 600 crowdfunding platforms around the world, with fundraising reaching billions of dollars annually, according to the research firm Massolution.

Crowdfunding is a relatively new concept in India. It is a method of raising funds through the collective effort of friends, family, fans, customers and individual funders. This approach taps into the collective efforts of a large pool of individuals-primarily online via social media and crowdfunding platforms-and leverages their networks for greater reach and exposure.

You can fund ideas (want to write a book or create a music album/ movie/ app etc., fund a new product), causes (want to run a marathon to raise money for a cause you believe in), charities (fund an NGO/charitable institution/non - profit), events (fund a music event, art show, marathon, concert) & recoveries (help people impacted by a flood, earthquake, cyclone etc.,).

How is Crowdfunding different?

Crowdfunding is essentially the opposite of the mainstream approach to business funding. Traditionally, if you want to raise funds to start a business or launch a new product or fund a charity (NGO) you would need to put together a business plan, do your market research, get a prototype ready (for products) or get a pitch note in place for charities etc., and then sell your story to a limited pool or wealthy individuals or institutions whom you know. These funding sources included HNI's, corporates, banks, angel investors and venture capital firms thus limiting your options to a few key players. You can think of this fundraising approach as a funnel, with you and your campaign story at the wide end & your audience of probable funders at the narrow end. This is a very time consuming approach with massive geographical constraints and it only allows you to meet 2 to 3 funders on a daily basis.