FAQ

• Community Support: The community weighs in by giving. A project only receives a matching grant after showcasing support from the community. This vetting process adds to the project’s sustainability, as the community becomes invested to make this project possible.
• Double Your Impact: Your dollars are multiplied. Our crowdgranting model requires community projects to crowdfund and engage their community to prove the project is worthy of a match.
• Hassle-Free Evaluation Process: Patronicity serves as the filter to evaluate projects to ensure they meet your grant requirements and qualify. We manage the evaluation process and pass on the specifics of the project to you for a quick final approval or rejection.
• Widespread Publicity & Exposure: Projects are reaching out far and wide to collect contributions, reaching thousands of potential supporters, all the while publicizing your support of their project. Your name is connected to every social media post, email blast, TV spot, and news article about the project.

In crowdfunding, the crowd always comes before the funds. So the biggest benefit generated from any crowdfunding campaign, even if the goal isn't reached, is publicity.

Crowdfunding democratizes the access of capital and funding in a way where people get to cast a vote with their dollars about what they want to see created. This grassroots support provides the freedom to not be solely dependent upon a bank, a grant, or a few donors for support.

Through online engagement, Project Creators have the ability to connect to those far and wide. Patronicity is unique in that we offer a space for you to add offline contributions that you may have collected through traditional forms of fundraising, as well. This provides a tool to keep track of all contributions that went towards your project during your campaign.

If you are still not sure how crowdfunding can benefit you, email us at info@patronicity.com! Feel free to pick our brains and will help you figure out if it’s the best fit for you.

These are all great platforms, and it's important you choose the best one for your needs. Below are a few things that make Patronicity unique:

• Vision: We are committed to building vibrant communities across the country. Every patron is one more individual committed to improving their local neighborhood, town, or city.
• Personalized Support: Raising funds can be scary. We provide one-on-one coaching for you throughout the whole process. From developing your pitch, to selecting the best perks, to creating a funding strategy. Our team has crowdfunded dozens of projects, so we know what it's like to ride that roller coaster.
• Offline Contributions: Patronicity offers a simple way to add contributions you collect through offline fundraising to your campaign for everyone to see the progress you are making towards reaching your goal. Our platform is a great tool to keep track of all contributions made towards your project during your campaign.
• Partners: 

  We have worked with numerous public and private sector partners, ranging from state agencies, foundations, nonprofits, banks, and corporations, to distribute grant dollars to qualifying crowdgranting projects since our founding. Our crowdgranting programs support community-based initiatives and small business funding. These programs provide additional support to projects by offering additional funding opportunities and credibility to campaigns.

  Become a partner today to empower your community with crowdfunding and matching grants, driving community impact and engagement. Contact us at info@patronicity.com to learn more about how you can become a partner.

  Learn more about our current partners.

These are all great platforms, but they all serve different purposes, so it's important to choose the platform best suited for your needs. Being a hyper-local crowdfunding platform aimed at building vibrant communities, your project is positioned to connect with the community it will directly impact. Our one-on-one project coaching will help you plan for the campaign and develop a strategic marketing plan that will be best suited for your engagement and expand your reach. You won't find this level of support from other crowdfunding platforms.

It's absolutely free to create and launch your project. We will provide support and advice from beginning to end. We do collect a standard 5% fee on all funds raised. In addition, our credit card processing company, Stripe, collects a 2.6% +$0.30/txn processing fee for all online contributions. If you don't raise any funds, we don't collect any either. That's because your success is our success. It's that simple.

Uniquely on Patronicity, patrons have the option to cover their fees at checkout. They will be charged on top of their contribution amount if they select to do so. We find on average, 80% of online patrons opt to cover fees, thus reducing overall fees to under 4%.

1. Click Login or Sign Up to create your profile and account, or login if you already have one.
2. Click the big green Begin a Campaign button and follow the steps!

   

   

   

   After you create your project, you will be emailed a handy guide to help you through the rest of the process. When you have filled out the pages and are ready to launch your campaign, select the orange Submit for Review button in the upper right-hand corner. After submitting, you will be assigned a personal coach that will work with you throughout your campaign.

   

No, you may not use music, images, video, or other content that you don’t have the rights to. Using copyrighted material is almost always against the law and can lead to expensive lawsuits down the road. Reference the details listed on our Copyright and DMCA Policy page.

It's absolutely free to create and launch your project. We will provide support and advice from beginning to end. We do collect a standard 5% fee on all funds raised. In addition, our credit card processing company, Stripe, collects a 2.6% +$0.30/txn processing fee for all online contributions. If you don't raise any funds, we don't collect any either. That's because your success is our success. It's that simple.

Uniquely on Patronicity, patrons have the option to cover their fees at checkout. They will be charged on top of their contribution amount if they select to do so. We find on average 80% of online patrons opt to cover fees, thus reducing overall fees to under 4%.

Make sure you are logged in to your account. You can log in by clicking the Login or Sign Up button in the upper right-hand corner, then Login. Enter the email address and password you used to register when creating your account.

Once you are logged in, you can navigate to your campaign by clicking your name in the upper right-hand corner, then My Campaigns.

The amount of time it takes to build a project page may vary depending on your project's scope, size, and the content you already have on hand to detail your project. You can take as long as you need to build your project page, and even save it as a draft to revisit again at a later time. Our team will review your page when you submit it and after it has been approved, you can go ahead and launch whenever you are ready.

We recommend a timeline of anywhere between 30 to 60 days for your campaign to be Live. The key is to find a timeline that you and your fundraising team can effectively and continually push and promote the campaign for, while allowing yourself enough time to get press and media pickup.

We offer both funding models. There is no difference in cost between the two models.

All-or-nothing funding only collects online funds if the campaign goal is reached by the deadline. Cards are not charged until the goal is reached, so if the campaign ends before reaching the goal, cards are never charged.

Partial funding, sometimes referred to as Keep-It-All, is a funding model for crowdfunding that collects the funds it raises as they come in, regardless of whether or not it reaches its goal.

It depends! Partial funding campaigns are more commonly seen on Patronicity's crowdfunding platform. This is because we work with crafty Project Creators that can do a lot with whatever amount they raise! They want to keep the fruits of their labor, even if it's not the full amount of their original goal. Partial funding allows for flexibility, while generating momentum and energy behind the project.

With our community-driven approach, even if campaigns only receive partial funding, the community reaps the rewards and sees the impact a partial project can have on their neighborhood. The Patronicity crowdfunding platform makes it easy to update patrons on campaign progress and allows for transparency with patrons, in case things change.

This is our recommended model for most campaigns.

All-or-nothing campaigns have the power to create a sense of urgency for patrons to give. Patrons know that if the project does not hit its crowdfunding goal, the project won't happen at all. Thus, some patrons are encouraged to contribute at higher amounts, knowing their contributions will support a guaranteed project.

Because of our unique crowdgranting model, we see that partial funding crowdgranting campaigns typically have the same sense of urgency, if not more, than an all-or-nothing campaign. Communities jump into action, because they see the large amount of matching funds that are on the line, if the campaign does not reach its goal.

Read more about the comparison between these two models. Feel free to reach out to us if you're still not sure what's best for you.

For Project Creators:

• If your organization is a registered nonprofit, municipality, or entity that can receive tax deductible contributions, contributions to your campaign will be tax deductible. Patronicity is just considered a pass-through.
• For Municipalities: Section 170(c)1 from the IRS code allows for contributions to municipalities to be tax exempt. Section 170(c)1 provides a deduction for contributions to municipalities.
• Be sure to add your tax ID and organization's address when editing out your campaign page on the Enhance Tab. Patrons will receive an email receipt indicating their contribution went to your organization and may be tax deductible.
• We encourage you to follow up with patrons directly to provide an additional tax deductible receipt.

For Patrons:

• Your contribution may be tax deductible. You will see the tax ID information located on the project page under the Tax Deductible section below the support button on the right.
• Status on tax deductibility may change depending on if any rewards/gifts are provided for your contribution.
• Each project manages their request for a tax deductible process. If you have questions, contact the project creator by navigating to the project page and clicking Email Directly under the Campaign By section below the support button on the right.

Note: All contributions MAY be tax deductible and patrons/Project Creators should check with their tax advisors for further clarifications.

When you create your project, you will be emailed a strategies guide with ideas for rewards you can offer, from a handwritten card or cup of coffee to free tickets, branded merchandise, or even an engraved plaque. Talk to your Project Coach to brainstorm more ideas to help motivate patrons.

To delete your campaign, please email info@patronicity.com. Include your name, project name, project URL, and reason.

If you have questions about a project's timeline, events, incentives, or other ways to help, please contact the project creator directly.

You can do this by navigating to the project page. Scroll down slightly until you see a box with the text Campaign By under the big orange Support button. In that box, under the project creator's name you will see a green Email Directly button. Make sure you are logged in to your Patronicity account before clicking this. Fill out the information and click Ok to send.

To change your password, log in to your account. Click your name in the upper right-hand corner, then select My Profile. Scroll down until you see the green button labeled Change Password. You will need to know your old password to update it.

Forgot your password? No problem! In the login screen, click Forgotten Password? and enter your email. We will send you a link to reset your password.

You can create an account by clicking the Login or Sign Up button in the upper right-hand corner. From there, click Sign Up, enter your information, and create a password. Make sure you check the box to agree to our Terms of Use!

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You can edit your account (such as profile picture, display name, and more contact information) by clicking the small arrow next to your name, then My Profile.

Scroll to the top of the screen. Click the Login or Sign Up button in the right-hand corner.

Click Log In to enter your information and sign in.

If you have forgotten your password, click Forgotten Password? under the Password box and enter your email address. We’ll send you a link to reset your password.

Yes, you can login using Facebook by clicking Continue with Facebook on the login or signup screen. A new window will ask you to enter your Facebook login information. If you have already created a Patronicity account with the same email address, logging in with Facebook will now link those accounts.

At any time, you can disconnect your Facebook account by navigating to My Profile, then scrolling down until you see the Disconnect Facebook Account button. Selecting this will prompt you to select a new password to login to your Patronicity account moving forward.

Yes! When logged in, you can edit your account (such as profile picture, display name, and more contact information) by clicking the small arrow next to your name, then My Profile. The box to update email is on the right-hand side. Please note that this will update the email tied to your login and current account. If you have already made a second account with a new email, we are unable to merge those accounts.

You can see a full history of campaigns you have contributed to by navigating to My Contributions under your account name when logged in.

1. Go to the project page for the campaign you would like to support.
2. Click the orange Support button.
3. Select the giving level or amount you want to contribute.
4. Confirm your contribution amount on the next page.
5. If you aren’t logged in already, Login or, to continue as a guest, select Contribute with Credit/Debit Card. We have all our patrons do this to increase security around their transaction.
6. Enter credit card information.
   1. Be sure to fill out all boxes - double check that the country is filled out. Also be sure that you've clicked Continue on any previous boxes and there is a green check at the top of each box.
7. Click Continue and confirm all details. You may change your display name or contribute anonymously here, as well as opt to cover the processing and platform fees, subscribe to project updates, and subscribe to Patronicity's newsletter.
8. Confirm Contribution and you will be directed to a Thank You page. You will also receive a contribution receipt via email immediately after.

Unfortunately, we do not accept Venmo or PayPal as a method of payment. The quickest and fastest way to contribute is via credit card online. We use Stripe, the world's most secure system, as our credit card processor.

If you'd still prefer to give offline by check, some projects do accept checks. Please refer to the bottom of the text/story section of the project page to see if they've included how to contribute via check directly.

Patronicity uses Stripe, the world's most secure system, to handle all our credit card transactions. Patronicity does not store full credit card numbers - only the last four digits and expiration date. Saving your payment details for future use is entirely optional. Project Creators never receive patrons' credit card details or other payment information.

When an online contribution is made, the Project Creator will be able to see the first name, last name, email, amount contributed, any request to remain publicly anonymous, and shipping/billing address for contribution follow-up.

This could be happening for a number of reasons. Sometimes it's an overprotective firewall at work - try accessing the project on a personal computer or smartphone. You can also try different browsers, such as Chrome or Firefox (our favorite two). Double check you have all information for the billing details filled out, including the CVC code on the back of your credit card. If you're still having problems, please reach out to us at info@patronicity.com.

You should receive an email notification and receipt immediately after you submit your contribution. Be sure to double check your spam/junk folder if you do not see this email in your inbox. The checkout page should also automatically direct you to a Thank You page following successful submission. If you did not receive either of these things, you may not have entered information correctly or completed your contribution.

You should receive an email receipt immediately after you submit your contribution. Be sure to double check your spam/junk folder if you do not see this email in your inbox. You can also check which campaigns you have contributed to by navigating to My Contributions under your account name when logged in.

If you would like a refund on your contribution, please contact info@patronicity.com with your name, email address connected to your Patronicity account, and the project to which you contributed. When a refund is requested, you will be notified by email as soon as it is processed. The refunded amount should appear in your bank account or on your credit card statement within 5-10 business days.

After you make a contribution, you will see a charge on your credit card or bank statement to Patronicity and it may also include the first few letters of the project name. If you navigate to My Contributions under your account name while logged in, you will also be able to see a full list of campaigns you have contributed to and the amount. You can request another email receipt from this page as well.

If you contributed to an all-or-nothing campaign, your statement may list the charge as "recurring." This is because credit cards are not charged until the campaign ends and meets its goal. You will only be charged once for your contribution.

If you made a contribution to an all-or-nothing campaign (which only charges all the cards after the campaign has hit its goal), some credit cards may be declined. To retry your contribution, simply visit the campaign page and make another contribution. You will not be charged twice. If the campaign is closed, email our team at info@patronicity.com and we'll be able to assist you.

When you are making a contribution, you will have the option to contribute anonymously or change your display name on the public donor page. If you would like to update this after you've contributed, click your name in the upper right-hand corner (must be logged in), then navigate to "My Contributions."

Under the relevant campaign title, you will see a small green Edit Display button. Here, you can update your public display name or change it to anonymous or private. The campaign creator will always be able to see your full name.

No, you cannot change an existing contribution. If you would like to increase your contribution amount, you can make a supplemental contribution to the same project. If you would like a refund, please email info@patronicity.com with your name, email address connected to your Patronicity account, and the project to which you contributed.

Are you a patron? Reach out to the Project Creator! You can do this by navigating to the project page. Scroll down slightly until you see a box with the text Campaign By under the big orange Support button. In that box, under the project creator's name you will see a green Email Directly button. Make sure you are logged in to your Patronicity account before clicking this. Fill out the information and click >Ok to send.

Are you a creator? You can see the mailing address and information by clicking the Donor tab on the black bar above your project page and clicking Download Report. You must be logged in to view this. You can download the file in CSV or Excel format.

Unfortunately, if a campaign has ended it is no longer accepting contributions online through Patronicity. You can reach out directly to the project creator to inquire if you can still mail them a contribution via check.

You can do this by navigating to the project page. Scroll down slightly until you see a box with the text Campaign By under the big orange Success!/Closed button. In that box, under the project creator's name you will see a green Email Directly button. Make sure you are logged in to your Patronicity account before clicking this. Fill out the information and click Ok to send.

Ask away! Reach out to us through our contact page or email us at info@patronicity.com.