What Is Crowdfunding?
In order to understand how crowdfunding can help cover your medical expenses, it is important to firstly understand what the term means. The term ‘crowdfunding’ is a new form of fundraising online that has helped many Australians gain funding for an idea or cause in an organized way. Crowdfunding is the act of collecting small pockets of support usually in the form of money, from individuals in a particular location for a goal or cause.
This term is commonly used when individuals are looking to fund a business idea. For example, if you had a business idea, you could use a crowdfunding website to help receive funding for your business project in exchange of rewards or equity in your business. Individuals who normally support a crowdfunding initiative are generally from your own networks and contacts. However, there have been a large portion of supporters who are anonymous or are from the general public that just want to support the idea you are trying to fund for.
How Crowdfunding Can Help Cover Medical Expenses?
The idea of crowdfunding for medical expenses is generally new, with most websites offering crowdfunding for new business startups rather than for individual medical needs. However, in Australia crowdfunding can help cover medical expenses as it provides 3 advantages compared to the traditional forms of fundraising.
1) Leverages Each Donation
Think of your crowdfunding as a domino effect for your networks and contacts. When one individual makes a donation to your People Pledge page, this will help encourage others to do so as well. Everyone wants to support you at your time of need, however crowdfunding gives you a way to keep track of who made a donation and how to use this information to your advantage. By posting up updates on your status on who has made a recent donation, this can help pull in more donations. It provides a unique ability to give a little nudge for friends and family who may be thinking of donating and give them the push to make a donation immediately. This works effectively as you target new supporters when they are on social media websites.
2) Social Proof
Accountability is always important regardless of what the donor is going to support. Whether it is a charity or an individual, accountability always needs to be part of your plan when it comes to getting as much donations as possible. The unique advantage about crowdfunding online is the ability to provide automatic social proof. This social proof is useful to legitimize your fundraising page and to help others understand the concept of donating online in a safe environment.
3) Easier & Faster Than Traditional Fundraising Methods
If you’ve exhausted the traditional forms of fundraising in your community, it is time to try something new. One of the biggest advantages that crowdfunding has been it’s ability to attract supporters online anywhere in Australia at anytime during the day or night. This means that your recent promotion a few days ago may still have an effect today while you are at work or when you are spending time with family. Crowdfunding online is build-able and can work alongside your time instead of having you to fit into constrained time frames to get donations. It also means that you will be able to contact all your friends and family instantly, making the process of asking for donations faster.