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These days there are tens of thousands of philanthropic organizations and foundations that assist the vulnerable and those with creative and innovativeideas. In Armenia we have early traditions of charity: as early as the 4-5th centuries, the Armenian Apostolic Church was involved in charity projects to strengthen Christian values. Today there are several Armenian and international projects that are aimed at helping people.

Crowdfunding is a relatively new form of charity in Armenia. It brings together the individuals who voluntarily agree to contribute money or other resources to assist with the projects implemented by other people or organizations. This is normally done through an internet platform.

The development of internet and information technologies offers everyone the opportunity to share their ideas and projects with millions of people. If everyone contributes even a very small amount, it will be possible to implement any project, even the ones that seem to be unrealistic or impossible.

Ambassador Heffern about Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding is quite popular in the West. Well-known platforms for crowdfunding include www.indiegogo.com, www.catapult.org, www.globalgiving.org, which beat records by annually raising millions of dollars. U.S. Embassy Yerevan is trying to promote use of crowdfunding in Armenia. “We are very interested in promoting crowdfunding in Armenia. We think it’s a great way for individual organizations, communities or even farmers; it’s a very creative way to attract funds from donors. These are very exciting people-to-people donations”, said U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Heffern talking to Panorama.am.

Ambassador Heffern indicated the Embassy is trying to help NGO-s, individual entrepreneurs, and communities take advantage of this creative funding mechanism. For that purpose the Embassy is trying to develop a cadre of Armenians around the country who are knowledgeableabout crowdfunding and could help those who are trying to make an effective use of and benefit from it.

“We have a little team at the Embassy that’s done a lot of research on crowdfunding. We are working with a local IT company to promote the use of and to teach people how to do the video part of the crowd-funding campaign”, said Ambassador Heffern adding that on his Twitter page he tweets any Armenia project.

Ambassador Heffern pointed out that crowdfunding is a massive effort in the United States. There are probably about 650 crowdfunding platforms that work in the United States, and some have been dealing with very large amounts. Ambassador Heffern indicated that there are three platforms for Armenia-specific projects, including OneArmenia, Ayo and Boostbloom. Their projects have included an elevator for a center for disabled children, musical instruments for a Children’s Classical Orchestra Group called Systema and a braille printer for blind people to be able to have access to braille reading materials. They are going to do a documentary and have a lot of plans for additional projects.

Ambassador Heffern urged creative people think about crowdfunding to implement their ideas, and to those who are willing to donate he urged to assist individuals seeking funding for their projects through crowdfunding platforms.

“The beauty of crowdfunding is that nobody will get on your way, you work directly with the donors on the project, and you don’t have to work on anybody’s regulations or any bosses. You’ll be able to do it directly. It is people-to-people exchange. But it is not free money; it is hard work”, added the U.S. Ambassador.
For more details see the video.

E.S. Embassy Specialist on Advantages of Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding is a relatively new mechanism for fundraising which has started being used in Armenia. How does it work? There are online platforms where one can post any project for which funding is sought. The project might be posted by an individual or a non-governmental organization. Anyone, virtually from anywhere in the world, may donate to such projects. The key to success is how competitive and how good a campaign the project has. The U.S. Embassy in Armenia is trying to promote crowdfunding in Armenia and make people aware of the platforms where projects can be posted”, said Lilit Ohanyan, Political and Commercial Specialist of the U.S. Embassy talking to Panorama.am.
For more details see the video.

Thus, crowdfunding is a public platform that allows individuals to share their projects with the public and allows the public to make small donations to bring the ideas of creative people to life. We hope that this new mechanism for fundraising will be used successfully in Armenia, helping many people to pursue their dreams.