The report found that since 2017 Community Business Crowdmatch:
- Enabled Power to Change to deliver over £500,000 across 100 projects in funding directly to community businesses
- Leveraged an additional £3.83 in additional funding (through members of the public and other funders) for every £1 invested by Power to Change
- Supported community businesses to exceed their funding targets, raising 129% of their targets on average
- Garnered significant support across communities, with an average of 218 backers per campaign
The report also found that Community Business Crowdmatch, and crowdfunding more generally:
- Is valued by community businesses for its flexibility and simplicity
- Provides financial support for community businesses ineligible for other types of funding
- Helps to deepen engagement with communities, providing non-financial benefits such as strengthened local profile, value resources/comms materials
- Can be a challenging experience – running campaigns and setting targets is time-consuming but most organisations would consider crowdfunding again in the future.
