The borough of State College, Pennsylvania has decided to test the crowdfunding waters to raise funds for civic projects. Acknowledging that many communities across the nation (and around the globe for that matter) struggle with funding for projects and amenities desired by the community – the city sees crowdfunding as a potential aid in addressing the money struggle.
Dwindling tax revenue coupled with increasing public demands is a challenging equation. Simultaneously it is difficult to allocate limited resources to projects that are frequently not supported by all. State College is tackling these issues by first asking the community to rank projects most in demand and then by possibly asking for donations.
Each year, Borough Council and staff must make tough decisions about what projects are funded using the Borough’s limited tax dollars. Often times, this means that maintenance of infrastructure and the provision of basic services must take precedent over new features that residents would like to see in the community.
One way to address this is to find creative funding sources to help the Borough continue to provide improvements that make our community more livable. In the past, these sources have included partnerships and grants. This year, the Borough would like to expand this to crowdfunding.
As of today using the feature from Peak Democracy there have been 49 “Priority Lists” created on the State College site. The four options available to participants are:
- Bike State College Mobile App
- Neigborhood Park Improvements / Upgrades
- Public Art Installation in Downtown
- Would not be interested in donating at this time
The deadline for participation is on June 13, 2014. Following the results the organizers will decide next steps.
Have a crowdfunding offering you'd like to share? Submit an offering for consideration using our Submit a Tip form and we may share it on our site!