Old Buildings, New Playgrounds, and Great Inspirations
Tips from “CreatINg Places” for Your Public Spaces
With two years under its belt, the community crowdgranting placemaking program known as “CreatINg Places”, created by the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority in partnership with Patronicity, has offered neighbors an opportunity to energize old spaces with new life with broad success from urban cores to small towns. With a 93% success rate, over just over 40 projects have received $1.7 million in donations to meet a match of $1.3 million in IHCDA grant funding leveraging over $5.5 million in community impact across Indiana.
While we can get swept up in numbers, and it’s easy to see why, we decided to talk to two project creators about their experience with “CreatINg Places” and the impact on their communities.
· Alex Koerner is Assistant Planner in Gary, Indiana. While considering how to find the funding to conduct a series of tours to highlight the city’s historic buildings (including ones usually closed to the public), Alex decided engaging the public around a crowdfunding campaign might be the best way to go about it. Not only was the campaign a success, all of the positive attention from the campaign led directly to several hundred people attending the three tours over the summer of 2017.
· Shelly Myers is a teacher and a mother in Wabash, Indiana. After seeing an online video about an inclusive playground, Shelly undertook an effort to bring a similar place to her town; she understands the divisions a standard playground can create because her son uses a walker to get around. Shelly’s campaign was extremely successful and used many different techniques to keep the community engaged both online and offline.
The Match Matters
When considering if a crowdfunding campaign might be right for your agency or community, it’s best to investigate the options. What platforms, assistance, grant matching or other opportunities might be available. Alex said the generous offer from IHCDA through Patronicity brought him to the platform because of the opportunity it provided the City of Gary.
A Little Goes a Long Way
There are many platforms for raising money in our interconnected digital world. But, not every platform has a dedicated coach for each project with knowledge of best practices to help you make your campaign as successful as possible. Shelly said that’s what helped to set her campaign off on the right foot.
Not Every Ask Leads Directly to a Donation…and That’s Okay
It can be difficult to make an “ask” for a donation, especially from people or organizations you don’t know, and it can be disheartening to be told “no” after all your preparation. But as Alex realized during his campaign, there are ways you can turn that “no” to a donation into something powerful for your campaign.
Engaging with a Great Plan
Since your project will live in the real world, it’s important to engage your community through great events, special opportunities, and other ways to bring civic and business leaders together with residents who could become donors. But, also consider what might be possible on social media. How can you show your thankful for the support? Every day there’s a new way to engage.
More Inspirations and Tips for You
If you want to hear the full stories, great strategies, and the impacts of the program for Shelly and Alex’s projects — you can dive into a recording of the full webinar below.
Let’s Build Yours!
At Patronicity, we know innovative organizations that sponsor match programs, like Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, as well as those who creative great community projects to improve their neighborhoods on the local level are setting a new standard for neighborhood engagement and improvement. Do you have a project that connects like Alex or Shelly? We’d love to hear about it and we know you can do it because Patronicity is here to help.
Let’s talk!
Learn more and get in touch at https://www.patronicity.com
