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Crowdfunding for emergencies

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KEY MESSAGES
• Crowdfunding is distributed small-scale fundraising often facilitated by technology.
• Crowdfunding could send money directly and immediately to the disaster area, which could com- plement established, but slower, traditional funding systems.
• The use of crowdfunding to support the 2015 Nepal earthquake response is one example of the potential financial support local NGOs may receive following a disaster. For example, during six days, over US$100,000 was raised through Indiegogo to support local NGO development in Nepal1.
• Crowdfunding models highlight how people interact and donate to a project. Specific models include donation-based, reward-based, debt-based and equity-based models.
• Crowdfunding frameworks describe the financial structure. They include single-goal, multi- staged goals and distributed-goals frameworks.
• Crowdfunding is built off trust. Humanitarian actors should be cognizant of potential risks at the individual, community and systems levels in order to strengthen donor trust.
• In partnership with an existing crowdfunding platform, OCHA could serve as a trusted agent, verifying projects and NGOs within the affected community.

Disclaimer

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.