Analysis: Not enough crowdfunding dollars at 'world's crowdfunding festival'

[chrismarkl]

I note that despite the avalanche of opinions on the analysis found here, via news outlets and at the OneSpark site, no one has provided any substantive criticism of the data and the analysis of that data.  If the components of the analysis are sound then why not just incorporate the findings into the planning for the next OneSpark instead of all this name-calling and gnashing of teeth?

You know rbirds - this is actually one of the most important points.  One spark itself doesn't refute my data, they could easily build the same graphs, if the conclusions were different.  Instead they just deflect to other lines of unmeasured impact.

Thanks for the support =)

[ProjectMaximus]

It would be very interesting to see what could happen if One Spark could partner up with some of the established crowd funding websites like Kickstarter. The festival could direct attendees to a kickstarter account to help drive up funds raised after the event and Kickstarter could be a source of ideas and entrants. Win-win.

I think this is what they will do next, though it seems they are partnering with rockethub.  Great idea

Rockethub CEO and co-founder Brian Meece lived in Jax and went to UNF. He's very familiar with the city and the connection was obvious since the early days of the festival.

[mtraininjax]

5) of 608 One Spark projects only 2 projects reached their goals.  Most projects failed to reach 1%

The results are really the point of the article from UNF, to show the results. Maybe 608 presenters is too many? Maybe they get lost amid a sea of citizens still trying to figure out what the voting thing is all about? After all, many people just come down to eat at the food trucks and bring their dog to another downtown event, and exclaim "Oh, there is a giant goldfish in a pool of water, hmmm", as they eat their Salmon Burger from a food truck.

O-S has potential, but it needs more staying power than just a week in April. It should be discussed and branded and processed locally to show the local impact, so that someone going to a store in their neighborhood can see the impact of a O-S vendor or a O-S meeting in their neighborhood. Because now that O-S is over, its up to the people who really love the O-S event to market and showcase that O-S is not just a week in April, its an everyday thing that benefits real neighbors in our community.

O-S needs to get that message out in the community, and do so with more than just community service events of picking up trash at the beach.

[chrismarkl]

If anyone's interested, i talked the study on first coast connect.

http://news.wjct.org/post/author-critical-one-spark-crowdfunding-analysis-speaks-out

thanks again for the discussion.

cheers

chris

[AuditoreEnterprise]

Okay so I put together all of the information and did the best analysis I could with the information available. So here you go.

- There were a total of 609 creators registered.
- Of the 609 creators there is only data reported on 402 ( I am assuming they either 1. Did not participate the day of... or 2. Received no votes or contributions in order to have the system calculate them.)
- The total goal amount asked by all 609 creators was $1,098,732,006
- The total votes collected were 102,747
- The crowd fund generated $199,912.97
- The contributions received for all creators was $50,084.43

% funded based on all data available
more than 50% - 8 which is 1.9% of the field
25-50% - 7 which is 1.7% of the field
1-25% - 219 which is 55% of the field
<1% - 165 which is 41% of the field

Of the total creators who signed up (all 609) the following totals apply for goal amounts.
#of creators asking for over $1,000,000,000 = 1 = 0.2% of the field
#of creators asking for $5,000,000 - $999,999,999 = 6 = 1 % of the field
#of creators asking for $1,000,000 - 4,999,999 = 6 = 1% of the field
#of creators asking for $750,000 - $999,999 = 3 = 0.5% of the field
#of creators asking for $500,000 - $749,999 = 7 = 1.1% of the field
#of creators asking for $250,000 - $499,999 = 45 = 7.4% of the field
#of creators asking for $100,000 - $249,999 = 57 = 9.4% of the field
#of creators asking for $75,000 - $99,999 = 21 = 3.4% of the field
#of creators asking for $50,000 - $74,999 = 43 = 7.1% of the field
#of creators asking for $25,000 - $49,999 = 98 = 16.1% of the field
#of creators asking for $24,999 or less = 322 = 52.9% of the field

Based on that information the majority of the field... Meaning 76.1% or well of 3/4 of the creators registered felt that under $75,000 was an acceptable amount to seek through One Spark.

The project that received the lowest funding was $0.67

Now I do agree that One spark has its issues, but I do believe the majority of the creators need to not enter One Spark using numbers that they think it will take to start their project and use it as a step. For instance, AquaJax went in asking for enough money to put together presentations to pitch to investors. They also were a part of the 52% who asked for 25k or less. I think one spark should be used to take the initial step towards making something greater happen. That is just a personal opinion. There was a creator asking for $1,000,000,000 dollars... seriously... that in itself skewed the numbers off the get go and spiked the average asking amount into the millions. When I capped it at a million the data showed the average was about 84k. I further capped it at 500k and that in turn brought the average to 72k, and then at 250k the average was 61k, then at 100k it was 40k and so forth until i reached what the majority was seeking. It substantially changed the numbers. to say the least.

Now before one takes a bit of information and goes public with it they should take into consideration whether or not they are using numbers where 10 people were asking between 2.5 million and 1 billion dollars a piece.

I think one spark has a lot of potential, but the bottom line is if you are seeking funding do you wait for a bank or investor to come find you? Or do you get you ass out there and make it happen through hard selling and donation collecting. If you are out there putting in an effort people will take notice. However if you sit there and twiddle your thumbs and rely on a award fund, no one would have voted for you anyway. Business is dominated by those who are ambitious, not those who sit back and wait for a handout. So anyone who signed up as a creator that thought it was gonna be a handout should re-evaluate the approach they are taking.

Now on another note. Of all the creators the average that was raised as direct contributions was $273 so if you had a 0 or really low number in that particular column then next time push harder and the donations will come! I haven't seen last years data to make a proper comparison, but seeing how a good majority of the creators were returns I believe the numbers would be fairly similar in regards to the goal category.

I have created a folder containing all the data so before anyone tries and tear it apart just take a look at and do the math yourself. It is as clear as day when you read through descriptions, plans and the data itself. As I have already read here numbers mean the most.

-- Link to my Data File -- http://jmp.sh/5OfkGKi

[IrvAdams]

Thanks for the analysis. As a Statistician I like the data of eliminating outlier data and re-specifying the percentages.

One Spark is so cool that it would stand on its own just as a social gathering or a downtown core promotional tool. It's good that it has promoted a healthy discussion. I believe it has become one of the top annual events in the city after only two years; it has one helluva future.

[AuditoreEnterprise]

Thanks for the analysis. As a Statistician I like the data of eliminating outlier data and re-specifying the percentages.

One Spark is so cool that it would stand on its own just as a social gathering or a downtown core promotional tool. It's good that it has promoted a healthy discussion. I believe it has become one of the top annual events in the city after only two years; it has one helluva future.

Thanks irv I appreciate that. Its a practice I like to keep in order to keep things on a more realistic level.