How A North Carolina A&T Grad Is Changing The Crowdfunding Game

There is now an easier way to donate to a cause with less taken out of donations versus other crowdfunding sites thanks to North Carolina A&T graduate Ronell Miller. The concept of Sponsor4Change was created while Miller was studying aboard in Paris during the summer of 2015. The International Business major created the new crowdfunding site to instill accountability to funding by upholding criteria that ensure correct usage. Miller along with digital developers Stephanie Springer and Bill Lennox are tackling high levels of fraudulent activity because reform is necessary for the crowdfunding industry.

Have you ever thought about where funds go once the goal is reached for a crowdfunding campaign? It can easily be scrutinized and used for projects or personal use other than what is stated for the generalized campaign. One example of crowdfunding that went terribly wrong is the campaign started by Erik Chevalier on Kickstarter.com for a board game “The Doom That Came To ATLANTIC CITY.” The campaign raised more than $122,000.00 by 1,246 supporters. This averages out to $97.31 per donor.

This became the first investigation conducted by the Federal Trade Commission with crowdfunding back in 2015. Another case is when a Kickstarter supporter sued a Kickstarter project creator. Back in 2011, Seth Quest launched a campaign to create a standing iPad mount that raised over $35,000. Neil Singh was one support of many that Quest was not able to fulfill the preorder for. Singh, later on, filed a lawsuit which led Quest to bankruptcy. Sponsor 4 Change is different because of a few reasons.

Donations from donors are protected because the company buys the actual products or services that people are raising funds for. Famous crowdfunding site, GoFundMe, deducts a 5% fee from each donation a campaign receives along with a 3% processing fee according to its website. Sponsor4Change charges a 3% fee per donation along with a 3% processing fee. With the use of company cards services and products will be purchased from online companies to ensure campaigns are purchasing and collecting for reasons they are promoting for.

It will also test the validity of businesses that campaigns use. “We want to buy products or services over the phone in the near future but for now we are focused on online transactions.” The way the company operates makes campaign creators actually think about what they need versus what they want.

When Sponsor4Change review campaigns that desire to use is services, it will make sure that costs for what the campaign is seeking to its services and products are aligned with the campaign objective.Sponsr4Change also cover that the businesses that are providing the products and services for the campaign are definite companies.

This results in a given estimate on how much revenue actually needs to be raised to fulfill the campaign needs.

Sponsor4Change takes an extra step by giving an authentic date and range of time for when services and products will be provided. Once campaign goals are reached the tables turn as the campaign organizers now hold the power to make a difference for a nonprofit organization. The choice of a nonprofit is up to the creator of the campaign if more money is raised than the stated goal amount.

Some organizations that Sponsors 4 Change has partnered with so far include Sisterhood of The Traveling Heart Incorporated, Georgia Giving A Hand, Brainiac Incorporated, Deaf Ability Resource, It Takes Two Incorporated, HBCUTRAVELERS.COM , and Raise ‘Em Up Mentoring. Sponsor4Change promotes itself as a proud supporter of small nonprofits to provide more recognition for the work they do by providing another avenue to raise capital.

You can pick any nonprofit that you want to donate too we just wanted to highlight some of these great organizations. If you want to create a campaign you can go on over to www.sponsor4change.org to register. Once your campaign is reviewed and approved the fundraising can begin.