Crowdfunding 101 and How to Activate Your Crowd!

PledgeMe is all about helping people fund the things they care about. We believe businesses (and the people behind ‘em) should have the opportunity to raise the funding they need.  Crowdfunding allows anyone, from early-stage founders to well-known businesses, to go to their community to raise funding, without the costs that a traditional public round of investment could entail. 

This 90 minute Webinar will help you figure out if crowdfunding could work for you and your community, give you some tools and tips to prepare, allow you to discuss your ideas with small groups of your peers so everyone can get feedback on their plans (and meet new people) in the session, and give feedback to us as well. 

In this webinar, you will learn:

• What crowdfunding is - and how the different types work (project, equity and lending)
• How to decide if you’re ready to crowdfund 
• What’s required if you run a campaign 
• The laws around equity crowdfunding
• Success stories - including our personal experience raising investment for ourselves 
• What doesn’t work - lessons we’ve learned from the 20% of companies that don’t hit their goals
• Tools to map your team and your crowd

We truly believe the power of crowdfunding is in your crowd.

Everyone has one. Activating your whānau, friends, fans, customers and networks and asking them to support you is an amazing way of validating your growth plans. It’s a chance to strengthen existing relationships, not just create new ones solely motivated by a return. Crowdfunding is about more than the funding, it’s about a crowd of your champions out there sharing what you do because they own a piece of you.

Who is it for?

This event is specifically for female founders, and our friends from the New Zealander and Australian SheEO networks. You should come along if:

• You are struggling with the current situation and are exploring ways to raise capital
• You have a great story to tell with a crowd who loves what you do
• You are looking to expand your business
• You may not be able to get capital through traditional means (eg; banks, Angels, VCs)
• You have access to capital through friends and family but don’t know where to start
•  You have a loyal crowd following and want to offer them a piece of your company
• You have always wanted to know more about equity crowdfunding and if it is right for you and your company.

CO-HOST: Anna Guenther Chief Bubble Blower of PledgeMe

Anna Guenther is the co-founder and Chief Bubble Blower of PledgeMe. Since launching over 1,450 creative, community and entrepreneurial campaigns have raised almost $50 million through the crowdfunding platform. PledgeMe was the first licenced equity crowdfunding platform in New Zealand, and one of the first in Australia. PledgeMe helps people fund the things they care about, with a focus on the funding representing the countries in which they are based (eg. 50% female led, 30% in the regions, 15% Māori). 

Anna has also worked for the New Zealand Government, MIT and Harvard, and completed her Masters in Entrepreneurship with a focus on crowdfunding.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/where_is_anna

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaguenther/

CO-HOST: Cathy Palmer

Cathy Palmer is the Founder and a Director of HOW NOW Ethical Dairy - HOW NOW crowdfunded over $500k through PledgeMe, which has allowed the business to expand and thrive. Raised by a committed vegetarian, animal rights activist mother and having a vegan brother in the family, she was always aware of the many farming issues that needed to be challenged. After getting involved in the dairy industry in 2015 Cathy has spent time developing a unique farming practice that has lead to HOW NOW.