Matching the Crowd - Combining crowdfunding and institutional funding to get great ideas off the ground

(INSME) The study “Matching the Crowd - Combining crowdfunding and institutional funding to get great ideas off the ground” issued by NESTA analyzes how matched crowdfunding can support the developments of new projects. Matched crowdfunding is defined as the process by which public, institutional or corporate funding is combined with smaller donations raised from the public online platforms. Even though this phenomenon grew over the previous
few years, there is little evidence of the financial and non-financial impacts of matched crowdfunding. Through analysis of a £251,500 matched crowdfunding pilot for arts and heritage projects, NESTA together with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Heritage Lottery Fund, Arts Council England managed to address this lack of evidence in this study.
Furthermore based on the analysis, NESTA provides a series of recommendations for funders, who should:

• invest in crowdfunding skills alongside providing match funding;
• make matched crowdfunding part of a wider funding strategy;
• use crowdfunding to build skills and organisational resilience through the additional non-financial benefits that come with it.

And for crowdfunding platforms that should:

• continue to develop bespoke services to fit with the needs of funders;
• rigorously measure and share evidence of what works.

To learn more, please download the study here.