A new CrowdFunding website, OzCrowd.com, is aiming to help individuals raise funds for everything from medical treatments to aspiring musicians seeking to fund their first album.
Crowdfunding is a new craze which is quickly catching on, having raised over $10 billion around the world. OzCrowd is bringing this online platform to Australia with its first campaigns due to go live from 1 July 2014.
As well as providing the opportunity for individuals to contribute to follow Aussies’ causes, OzCrowd will be providing a new way for corporate sponsorship, directly to particular causes as opposed to organisations.
Founder of OzCrowd, Nick Karolidis, a lawyer and entrepreneur, states that this “direct funding model should allow for a much more efficient way for funds to flow between big business and individual causes”. His experience is that, particularly in recent times, people are somewhat hesitant to make donations in Australia due to many organisations taking up to 40% of donations as administration fees, meaning only a fraction of funds donated actually reach the target individual.
With the low cost of an online platform, Mr Karolidis expects upwards of 90% of funds to be received by individuals. This is a much more efficient method to distribute funds, which means all parties are better off and less donations are being spent on advisor and executive fees.
Individuals with fundraising ideas can sign up at OzCrowd.com, authenticate their identify through Facebook and post their fundraising campaign within minutes. Organisations seeking to get involved should contact partners@ozcrowd.com
