More on Crowd Funding

Let’s say you need to fly from Sydney to London. You are a member of the frequent flyer program with Qantas.  If possible, you’d like to fly with Qantas because you feel loyal to the brand.  The problem arises in that you do not have the money to buy a ticket.  You set up a public crowd funding appeal and you explain how your Nanna is sick and you really need to visit her because it might be the last time you ever see each other again.  We all empathise and hope that you get some support.  

Somebody then points out that for the particular dates you are flying, that you could could save a significant amount of money by flying a different airline of equal quality such as Cathay Pacific or Emirates. You decline to consider this because you’d prefer to fly Qantas.  Your crowd funding campaign gets some publicity and both Singapore Airlines and Etihad hear about your plight and offer to fly you for free. You gracefully decline these offers as you have always been with Qantas.  People will either wish to donate to your crowd funding campaign or they won’t. That’s fair enough.  You are getting bit emotional and say your confused because you’re worried about your Nanna.

You are starting to get a few donations. What if your donors knew that you had turned down the option of flying a lower cost carrier? What if your donors knew that you had turned down offers to be flown for free? If they were to find out, would donors now look upon similar crowd funding exercises with cynicism. 

So what is this all about?  This piece needs to be considered in the context of this previous blog piece (click link to read) about crowd funding for prostate surgery.