his will be brief as my head is still spinning from last night’s Pagosa Springs Community Development Corporation (PSCDC) meeting held at the Quality Inn and Suites — my first "public meeting" as editor of the Pagosa Daily Post. First of all, many, many thanks to those who took the time to intentionally seek me out after the meeting for the purpose of encouraging me, offering me help (so needed) and suggestions (a bit over-whelming).  I even appreciated those who came up to me, shook my hand, offered me an encouraging smile and simply stated “You really are crazy...” This may not be “newsy” enough or “investigative” enough for some, but it’s all I got for now. Please bear with me as I feel like I am trying to catch a run-away train.

There were two main topics of discussion last night. First up was Udgar Parsons with a brief update on the “Imagine Downtown” project. Mr. Parsons is leading the charge to implement many of the preliminary initiatives that resulted from the two day meeting with Downtown Colorado, Inc. (DCI).  DCI visited Pagosa Springs on November 12-13, 2012 to take a look at our community and make recommendations about how to improve the Pagosa experience.  There were numerous opportunities and invitations to attend sections of these meetings. Attendees were then e-mailed to come to an inaugural launch meeting which took place last Thursday night.  As a downtown property owner, this is a group I intend to follow. They are energized to dig in, doing simple, inexpensive projects to make a difference.  First up is to identify all the vacant downtown property owners and offer to assist them in “dressing up” their windows and properties so as not to look so… well… “vacant”. There are a variety of suggestions including Christmas themed decorations, historical information, restaurant menus, high school art work and maps.  It’s really a very simple project that requires minimal funds and a few dedicated souls to carry it out. The best part is it requires no government approvals. Property owners will be contacted and the service will be offered — free of charge. Now that’s new and different.

Mr. Parsons launched the project with a $1,000 donation from Growing Spaces (the company he co-owns with his wife Puja). The CDC voted to match those funds — so with $2,000 & no government red tape to cut through, the first initiative of the “Imagine Downtown” project is off and running in less than 5 days.  If you want to get involved or have suggestions, you can contact Mr. Parsons at udgar@frontier.net or Muriel Buckley at madamebuck@gmail.com. Next up was Anthony Edwards, founder of “Crowdfunding Offerings, LTD”. Anthony’s presentation consumed a majority of the time last night, but quite frankly, it was so chopped up due to constant questions and off-tracking from the audience, it was hard to follow. A “great” reporter would have come home and dug in researching everything he/she took notes on — and could perhaps write an intelligent summary of Mr. Edward’s presentation. I came home, cooked dinner, cleaned the kitchen and helped my son with his spelling test.  In the scope of life — exactly what I should be doing. I will continue to update Daily Post readers as the viability and sustainability of such an endeavor really unfolds.  You can read more about what “Crowdfunding Offerings”  by clicking the link. It offers some basic education re: who, what, why and how. I was a little perplexed by the PSCDC’s willingness to jump in with Mr. Edward's company as it has no active platforms at this point. But I will assume for now the PSCDC has done their homework... and there is nothing wrong with joining on prior to the masses.  I am sure the original shareholders of Apple, Dell and eBay would agree, there’s nothing wrong with being first.  (Facebook??? Not so much.) 

Finding funding can be one of the biggest challenges for social entrepreneurs.

Family and friends have been one of the most common sources of venture funding capital for centuries. Crowdfunding takes this age-old source of venture funding and brings it into the digital age.

33 Needs: Connecting microinvestors & social enterpreneurs 133needs

Republicans and Democrats may finally agree on something: Small business owners and entrepreneurs need better and more plentiful opportunities to gain access to capital, grow their businesses, and create more jobs.

Last month, the House voted 407 to 17 to pass passed the Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act, which seeks to makes it easier for small businesses and entrepreneurs to raise capital through crowdfunding.

"This bill will make it easier for entrepreneurs to raise capital and create jobs," the White House noted in a statement.

With credit still tight and venture capital out of reach for many small firms, "crowdfunding" sites such as Crowdcube offer an attractive alternative.

By raising small sums from many individuals, businesses can access the capital they need to grow and thrive, often more quickly and on better terms than with conventional sources.

Crowdcube, founded in 2010 in Exeter, calls its crowdfunding model "the next generation of business investment."

The convening power of the Internet, rapid advances in technology, and the reduced costs of launching a social enterprise in today's wired world are driving the race to create business models brimming with purpose. In this environment, social entrepreneurs like these are developing new solutions to take advantage of these advances and recreate yesterday's broken business models.

One example of their approach is crowdfunding -- the collective cooperation by people who network and pool their money together. And the implications, from technology to community-powered renewable energy to political campaigns or to financing the next wave of social enterprises, are immense. Think about how the Obama campaign flipped the standard campaign fundraising model on its head through harnessing small repeatable donations from the crowd.

It's an opportunity that has the potential to transform the business, political, and charitable landscapes. And it's already happening.  In this discussion, we ask for your insights on this current trend.  Some questions to consider:   1. What business model for social impact does your organization use?
 2. Does an opportunity exist for crowdfunding to scale your impact?   3. Besides the examples noted above, can you think of other possibilities to harness crowdfunding for good?     4. What isn't sustainable about your business model? Why? Could "tapping the crowd" for funds enhance your sustainability?

On November 3, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2930 (the “Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act”), a crowdfunding bill that will allow startups to offer and sell securities via crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter, as well as social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

this change could be huge for startups and lifts certain securities law prohibitions that have been on the books since the 1930s.

Until the crowdfunding bill becomes law, startups should avoid selling stock or other securities via crowdfunding sites or social networking sites.

Crowdfunding Sources The sites listed below enable entrepreneurs, non-profits, and their supporters to solicit funds from individuals ("the crowd") via the internet.

General crowdfunding platorms AppBackr – Crowdfunding for mobile applications. Chip-in - a widget that can be posted on blogs, websites, and many social media profiles and that allows individuals, private groups, non-profits, and others to raise money online. Indiegogo - An online platform used for funding a range of campaigns. KickStarter - A crowdfunding platform for a broad spectrum of projects. Peerbackers - Enables entrepreneurs and non-profits to raise funding for their idea from friends, family, and peers. Rockethub - A funding platform and community for independent artists and entrepreneurs.

Green/social entrepreneur/non-profit platorms 33needs – A crowdfunding organization that connects micro-investors with social entrepreneurs who have ideas in categories such as sustainable food, health, education, and the environment. Ashoka Invest in Innovation - Funding platform to support Ashoka's network of social entrepreneurs. Causes - Provides an online fundraising platform (including leveraging Facebook) for nonprofits and other causes. CauseVox – Enables nonprofits and other causes to create online fundraising campaigns. FirstGiving - Enables non-profit supporters to create their own fundraising page to raise money for the cause of their choice. Give.fm (beta) – a micro-funding organization that helps nonprofits and individuals to set up a campaign to raise money for causes. Green Unite - A crowdfunding platform for sustainable products and clean technology. Greenfunder – A crowd funding platform for green, sustainable, and related projects. Razoo – A crowdfunding platform for non-profits and charities that allows individuals, organizations, corporations, and foundations to set up a fundraising page to raise money for their own cause or their other cause of choice.  Start Some Good – Connects social entrepreneurs with crowd funded venture capital.

the U.S. House of Representatives passed a crowdfunding bill that will allow startups to offer and sell securities via crowdfunding sites and social networks.

If passed by the Senate and signed off by the President, the bill will become a law, giving entrepreneurs new options for raising money for their companies.

Each investor is limited to investing an amount equal to the lesser of (i) $10,000 or (ii) 10% of his or her annual income.

While the phenomenon is not new, it is still not a mainstream concept and therein lies it beauty.

Three things to consider for taking your project to the crowdfunding street:

you have to be able to complete the whatever-it-is because the nature of crowdfunding demands completion.

As crowdfunding has matured from a series of one-off efforts into something reproducible, the money has followed.

Venture capitalists have also shown an interest by investing in start-ups that facilitate crowdfunding.

Of those that are accepted, about half meet their funding goals: around 1,600 projects had been funded by July 2010.