Steemit is a very flexible platform, rewarding writers and bloggers its only a small part of what can be done with the steem blockchain. We have seen how steemit has been used to crowdfund not only the development of new tools but also social projects like feeding homeless people and streets dogs.
However there are houndreds of projects asking for backing that are left behind, unnoticed by most steemians. This happens to new users that dont have many followers, users who use the wrong tag or publish at the wrong time and some users are just unlucky.
@SteemFund to the rescue!
The idea of @steemfund is to organize and filter crowdfunding projects while providing some extra exposure to those worthy projects on steemit. In order to do this in an effective manner we would need to follow a set of rules:
Users who apply for funding (applicants) would need to provide a brief description of their project, main goals, objectives and an estimated timeline of completion.
Applicants must also provide a real I.D. and proof of residence via private steemit.chat or e-mail. If you are going to receive money from other users, people should know who you are and where you live, you WILL be held accountable if the money is not spent on your project. Your steemit reputation is at stake.
Applicants must set a SBD goal for the campaign. All applications will be evaluated so that the amount of SBD meets the demands of the project, in this way inflating project’s budget is avoided.
A donate button will be generated for those people who wish to donate more than their upvote.
How can you support SteemFund ?
- Follow @steemfund
- Join our steemit.chat channel # steemfund and contribute with us posting links of worthy projects that may need our help.
- Vote for project proposals.
- Re-blog projects.
- Optionally Donate to the projects you really like.
- We are currently looking for a cool logo design, if you are a designer we would really appreciate your help.
Have any good project that needs funding? - contact us on #steemfund channel
Can you steemfund the repairs caused by a recent escape at the Deathstar? If you can't fund the whole thing, we could really use a cover for the thermal exhaust port. It's about 2 meters wide.
Deathstar was an inside job!
#DeathStarTruth
This explains so much!
Put up the proposal and maybe the (dark)force will be with you!
Great initiative here. I'm definitely following your updates from now on.
Thanks!
This is really great!
Supercool idea! Also your proposal fits into the #UseSTEEM cause, please take a moment to learn more about it and consider adding the #UseSTEEM cause to your post. Regards!
-- @develcuy
Will do!! thanks for joining the steemit.chat channel
Supercool! Thanks for adding your post to #UseSTEEM tag :D
-- @develcuy
G-r-e-a-t! I had the same idea and I was working on it, I can collaborate if you want! I handle a group like this on facebook with 300+ people.. I think it can be useful introducing this project in a right way and then change the name if everything will be a success. I will think what I can do tomorrow morning! The only thing I cannot approve is the usage of the eanings surplus: it's normal even in the fiat-based crowdfunding websites that someone earns more than what was announced as the final goal, but those earnings remains property of the applicant anyway.
I have given this some thought and I think you are right, I will change it so that any surplus is given to the applicant.
Please join our steemit.chat channel for further discussion, we could really use your help :)
Sounds like a great idea, I will follow!
great. I'll try it
Facilitating crowdfunding through Steem has a lot of potential, great to see you get started on it!
One question, in regards to this point:
Does that mean that if I, as a supporter, donate to a particular project, my funds might be used for something other than that project if it raises too much money?
The general concept of supporting innovation is sound, but I wouldn't be happy if my donations went to a project I didn't care about.
interesting
I have given this some thought and I think you are right, I will change it so that any surplus is given to the initial applicant.
That's awesome, I think it's really important.
Another thing you might want to consider is how you handle underfunded projects. If an applicant estimates they need a certain amount and they don't get it, what impact is that going to have on the project? Are the supporters going to get the value that they thought they were paying for?
I don't mean to undercut your idea at all, I think it's great for community collaboration. I just think it's a pretty complex endeavor and you want to mitigate disputes before they happen.
The most important thing is that you're open to constructive feedback and you're willing to iterate on the plan. I wish you the best of luck!
At first I thought of returning the money to backers if the target was not meet, but this brings more complexity as not all votes are worth the same and that could bring all other kind of disputes.
So if a backer asks for 300 dollars and gets 50, he will receive 50 and try to use it in the best way possible. Backers votes will still be used towards that cause and the applicant will have to look for other sources of funding as well.
I really appreciate your input as I want this to be a community effort. Feel free to join our steemit.chat channel for further discussion.
Thanks a lot!
One idea for you is to have a minimum and a maximum funding target, and allow applicants to describe what they plan to accomplish at each of those extremes.
If the campaign doesn't reach the minimum target, the funds should be returned to the patrons (I think you have to figure out a solution for that, regardless). However, dependent on where the project lands on the scale between minimum and maximum, patrons can have reasonable expectations as to the output of the project.
Also, there's an opportunity for stretch goals at certain milestones beyond the maximum funding target. If you wanted to do that, I'd just scrap the maximum funding target entirely, and just have a minimum with multiple stretch goals beyond it.
Again, I love the problem you're trying to solve, keep at it!
Wow, this is an excellent idea! I have been dreaming about stuff like this, on Steemit and elsewhere. Now I only need to come up with a project!
I will be sure to recruit anyone I meet who wants to crowdfund something, and tell them that they can do it on Steemit.
Hopefully we will have a lot more users in the future, so we can make a greater impact.