Crowdfunding Civic Projects

A Kansas City MO based technology company - Neighbor.ly – has developed a crowdfunding tool that allows individuals to support civic projects of their choosing and receive perks in return. For example, the company plans to raise $5,000 in $10/individual contributions to make a neighborhood become eligible for Google's ultra-high-speed fiber-optic project. The tool can also be used to raise matching funds to free up government dollars for large infrastructure projects.

“At a time when citizen trust in government is seemingly at a low ebb, crowdfunding reduces the chance that capital projects will be selected for purely political reasons. Those that attract public support go forward, while those that don't must rely on traditional government processes.”

Here is a brief video on Kickstarter, which is a start-up that helps people raise funds through crowd sourcing.


Reference: Chieppo, Charles, Crowdfunding: a New Way to Get Things Done in Government, Governing, September 5, 2012 

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