"Ask and you shall receive."

“Excuse me.  Can you spare a dollar?”  “Would you happen to have any loose change?”  For those ambitious enough to turn their dreams into a reality, have you ever felt like that when asking others to support your dream?  It almost feels like you’re missing everything but the sharpie and the cardboard cutout.  Thanks to the new phenomenon called crowdfunding those days are now over. 

So right about now you’re probably asking what am I talking about, because if you’re that aspiring artist who is seeking skies limit, but can’t afford the fuel to get off the ground; this is the perfect read for you.

Crowdfunding is the collective effort of people who network and pool their money, via the internet, to support efforts started by other people or organizations.  This concept enables anyone to be able to generate funds for any particular project by asking for donations.  Crowdfunding has given the entrepreneur a chance to earn funds without feeling like you are a panhandler and instead make you feel like the CEO you are.

Brad Damphouse, CEO of GoFundMe, views equity crowdfunding from the standpoint of the project creator. 

Do I really want to give away parts of my company to other people? Reward-based crowdfunding has proven that project creators can successfully fund their businesses without parting with any equity at all. That said, some businesses don’t have rewards to offer — they just need capital. In these cases, supporters should absolutely be allowed equity in return for their investment. — Brad Damphouse, CEO of GoFundMe.

With websites like Damphouse’s gofundme.com and other sites like kickstarter.com and indiegogo.com the entrepreneur now has the opportunity for financial backing at his or her fingertips.  Kickstarter.com alone has had 4.6 million people back a project.  There are many success stories as well.  Filmmaker Spike Lee raised $1.4 million on Kickstarter for a film that he gave little detail about; there were more than 91,000 backers for the Veronica Mars movie Kickstarter campaign, and the world’s tallest man, Igor Vovkovinskiy, was able to raise over $46k for shoes. 

For most of us with a dream we wake up to realize that we don’t have the money to make our dreams a reality.  However, with the opportunity that crowdfunding now gives aspiring artists; dreams don't have to end when you wake up.