Unlock your entrepreneurial dreams through ‘The Spark Project’

 

Filipino entrepreneurs trying to launch their business usually have 3 options to fund their endeavors: they can get a loan, bootstrap on their own, or raise funds from investors.

The Spark Project is giving Filipino entrepreneurs – particularly those with efforts that have social dimensions in them – an alternative fourth option: crowdfunding. Filipino consumers can contribute to the funding of a project in exchange for a reward or a set of rewards.

Patch Dulay, the founder and chief executive officer of The Spark Project sees crowdfunding as a complement to traditional fundraising. He said it works well for entrepreneurs who are still trying to validate their idea.

“Their success in crowdfunding can actually help them land better funding opportunities after,” he said. Venture capitalists and investors in other countries actually look to crowdfunding as one way to assess whether a startup is worth investing in.

Funding social enterprises

For over two years now, The Spark Project has already raised P2.2 million ($48,618.73) for 21 projects from more than 1,000 backers. The number of projects that successfully reach the campaign goal is an encouraging 60%.

Since many of these projects are social enterprises, The Spark Project has made a tangible impact on the community. Highlights include raising the income of mothers who make Gugu bags from P35 ($0.77) to P150 ($3.32); creating sustainable ecotourism in Culion, Palawan, with Kawil Tours; and providing jobs to artisans in Marikina and Cogeo through Gouache Bags.

Despite the success of The Spark Project, Dulay and its team wanted to streamline the crowdfunding process. “We felt that our old process of attending to one project at a time is not sustainable if we wanted to reach out to more projects,” he said.

As a result, they have created a new way to launch projects. Appropriately dubbed Launch, The Spark Project team has collated project previews from interested crowdfunders. Filipinos who wish to support a particular project may register their name and email.

Once a project gets 50 email supporters, it is “unlocked” and can proceed to the next crowdfunding stage. Dulay settled on 50 as the threshold because it is a reasonable number to shoot for in a two-week period.

Dulay feels this model is leaner and more appropriate for the platform. “We want to be more efficient in screening projects for crowdfunding by tapping into our community (crowd) in helping us decide,” he said.

It also helps the crowdfunders. Dulay said it gives them a glimpse of the campaigning they will have to do when they proceed with actual crowdfunding. And if they are able to get 50 email supporters, it increases the chance they will be able to raise their goal amount come crowdfunding time.  

When asked which of the listed projects he would most like to see get unlocked, Dulay cited the Boix House Redux Project, which aims to restore a house in Quiapo so that it can be turned into a community center.

He also likes to unlock BK Eats, a social enterprise that brings healthy food from the farm to the table in a sustainable way.

From unlocking to ‘Sparkathon’

Once a project is unlocked, it will proceed to a Sparkathon, which is what Dulay said is their fancy term for a crowdfunding hackathon. “Its objective is for teams to come up with a crowdfunding campaign in 24 hours,” he shared.

Dulay hopes this new Launch platform will get more Filipino entrepreneurs interested in crowdfunding, which boils down to more than fundraising.

“It could do wonders for your brand or advocacy if done successfully,” he said. “Consider crowdfunding if you want to build a community around your work.”

Still, crowdfunding is not without its own disadvantages. Not all people who want to contribute may have a credit card, so The Spark Project team is in the process of implementing Dragonpay for alternative offline payments.

Additionally, given how ambitious most of the projects are, the delivery of their associated rewards can often get delayed.

To reduce the frustration that may result from this, Dulay makes it a point to keep communication lines open between project creators and project bakers. The former must always update the latter about the status of rewards.

“Transparency is key,” Dulay emphasized to any entrepreneur considering the possibility of crowdfunding. – Rappler.com

Rappler Business columnist Ezra Ferraz brings you Philippine business leaders, their insights, and their secrets via Executive Edge. Connect with him on Twitter: @EzraFerraz