EventTilt: Crowdfunding for Events

Crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter have already become widely used to help startups and individuals fund new products and initiatives. But now online ticketing startup Picatic is offering a similar opportunity for event planners, promoters, and venues to fund their events through its new service EventTilt.

EventTilt aims to help event planners ensure they’ll make a profit before actually going through the whole process of putting on an event. Organizers can even offer incentives like discounted tickets or free merchandise to those who help fund their events.

For businesses that host events, going through the whole planning and execution process can be a huge pain if the event doesn’t end up making a profit. This type of site can help avoid the let-down that comes with a less than successful turnout by letting organizers decide on a minimum amount of money or number of attendees needed to make a profit or at least break even before putting on an event. There are fees for posting events on the site, unless the event is free to attend – then users can submit it to the site free of charge.

This concept is different than just giving guests the option to pre-order tickets, because it allows people to donate or purchase tickets to an event before its even booked. If the event receives enough funding or donors, it happens. If it doesn’t receive enough funding or donors, then the organizer will know it’s not worth the trouble and the event doesn’t happen.

Upon visiting the Picatic site, users can browse different events to support. They can see how much tickets are, if there is a discount for supporting the event early, and how many more tickets need to be sold in order for the event to take place. Types of events range from concerts to charity fundraisers and even certain types of sporting events.

Picatic, which has been around since 2008, is not the only startup trying to launch this type of site. But so far none has stood out above the rest, making it the Kickstarter of event crowdfunding sites. And it still remains to be seen if this type of project will catch on with the general public, but the idea behind it could certainly be helpful for many different types of businesses.