People's Vote , People's Money

Crowd funding & Elections

Crowd funding has led to a new political fundraising system. Rather than raising from a few wealthy, crowd funding allows the general public to pool small donations. It's an old concept on a new digital platform.

But who embarked it?

 In 2008, Barack Obama became the first person to raise the major fund from common people through his website. 72% of Obama's fundraising total of $ 118.8 million was raised by donations less than $ 1000. This election was trumpeted as the victory of common man. It was a tipping point where political elections would no longer be financed by millionaires who would have later shaped policy decision to benefit their needs.

An e-mail worth $ 2.6 million:

In 2012 bi-elections, the Romney campaign was raising huge amount through wealthy conservatives. In an e-mail plea by Obama, he asked people to donate as little as $3 each, by just clicking the attached link . By raising $2.6 million the email became the most successful of Obama's 2012 campaign. In the end, both Romney & Obama raised $1 billion each, making the 2012 US presidential race the most expensive in history.

Brayn Parker :

Brayn Parker, a lawyer from California announced that if he raised $20,000 in ten days through Crowdtilt website,  then he would contest against the incumbent Mayor Jean Quan. He raised $23,000 in less than 24 hours & reached $51,000 by ten days.

NaMo:

Narendra Modi, is the pulse of social media in India with the highest Facebook & Twitter followers. He applied a similar method of crowdfunding during Gujarat elections. He collected as less as ₹10 from common people & raised the fund for his campaigning. His this step, grabbed the confidence of the voters.  In the recent Lok Sabha elections Modi has generated good amount through crowdfunding on the BJP website. But, the major campaign portion was donated by Industrial families.

Aam Aadmi Party:

Faced with the challenge of generating over ₹300 crores in less than two months for Lok Sabha polls, the AAP used a mix of crowd funding & private fund raisers. The party has also availed a SMS mode, where the cash amount would be deducted from mobile balance. This mode has favoured donations by farmers and labourers.

 Crowd funding & Films:

* Kannada film Lucia by filmmaker Pawan Kumar raised more than ₹50 lakhs within 30 days.

* Onir's I am raised around ₹1 crore in six months.

* Filmmaker Abhay Kumar raised around ₹5 lakhs for his documentary.

* Filmmaker Kunal Kapoor launched Ketto, to build an online network focusing philanthropy in India, which raised ₹1 crore in 45 days.