Ideavibes: A new way to do crowdsourcing & crowdfunding campaigns

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Engage4change contest asks SF residents for ideas to improve housing & transportation

Editor’s note: A start-up called Ideavibes has created a crowd-engagement platform that can be purchased by nonprofits, government agencies or businesses to do their own crowd engagement or crowd funding. It’s one of the more interesting companies we spotted at Web 2.0 Expo this week.

Guest post by Paul Dombowsky
Founder & CEO, Ideavibes

As every nonprofit, business or government knows, the more engaged your constituents, the more likely they are to give or participate. What’s the best way to engage, then? A new technology, fresh on the market, promises to make it easier for people to participate and have their voices heard.

Ideavibes, a start-up based in Ottawa, Ontario and displaying at San Francisco’s Web 2.0 Expo (ending today), has developed a Crowd Engagement Platform that enables organizations to create crowdsourcing and crowdfunding campaigns. Nonprofits, municipalities and businesses can use the platform to engage a wide swath of constituents by seeking input or project funding in a highly visible and transparent interaction.

When individuals can see their input or dollars recognized and valued, they are more likely to participate, and more likely to encourage others to follow suit.

What we’re seeing is this: Participants feel involved, visible and acknowledged with the platform. When individuals can see their input or dollars recognized and valued, they are more likely to participate, and more likely to encourage others to follow suit.

The Ideavibes platform can be easily deployed on a current or a newly developed website built with the organization’s branding. The platform includes everything needed to run a crowdsourcing or crowdfunding campaign: Submit an idea, fund a project or make a donation and have the opportunity to comment and vote on the submissions of others. The immediate feedback of viewing their submissions provides participants an immediate public acknowledgement. They are further compelled to invite friends and family to support their idea or donation, to raise its visibility.

Engage4change, a crowdsourcing contest, kicks off

To demonstrate its crowd engagement platform, we’ve just launched Engage4change, a 14-day crowdsourcing contest focused on culling innovative ideas for improving housing and transportation in the city of San Francisco. It ends April 10. The idea that receives the most votes will be presented to San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee on April 12, and the person who submitted it will be awarded $250.

The Ideavibes platform has already been used in crowdsourcing campaigns for the Pathways2Sustainability conference, the University of Toronto and TELUS. The platform is also the backbone for the recently launched Fundchange crowdfunding initiative with TELUS in Canada.

For more info, visit:
• Engage4change.com
• ideavibes.com

Paul Dombowsky started Ideavibes with over 10 years of marketing experience under his belt at various technology or related firms in Ottawa and Vancouver. Paul developed an interest in crowdsourcing through his work with TELUS Communications and wanted to merge his desire to build a cool product with his intention to also build a socially conscious company that could help make change happen.

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