Crowdfunding: It’s Just Fundraising, Right?

So what is it, and how is it different to fundraising, even modern online fundraising?

Crowdfunding platforms are websites that showcase your project. That could be a project to install rainwater harvesting equipment in a rural Tanzanian community or to take your prototype for a new gadget into production. Crowdfunding is best known for raising funds to get business and creative endeavors off the ground. Kickstarter.com is probably the best-known website — where you can fund anything from a virtual-reality gaming headset to a new album from an as yet unknown singer-songwriter. Kickstarter doesn't allow charity projects, but other crowdfunding websites do.