The Nitty-Gritty explained...
Can I raise more than my target?
Absolutely, or you can choose to stop your campaign once your funding target has been hit.
Is there anything that cannot be a project?
We accept a wide variety of campaigns. However, to be acceptable your campaign must offer a creative or innovative project to the public. All campaigns are vetted and Sponsume reserves the right to reject any project it deems unacceptable. Please refer to our terms of use for more details.
I've submitted my project but nothing happened. Why?
We check all campaigns before they can be published. The process generally takes 24 to 48 hours. If you did not receive any email notification from us our messages probably got blocked by your email provider. Please consider adding and to your contact list to make sure you receive our notifications. If you are unsure about your campaign’s status: contact us.
How do project creators receive their funds?
From October 9th 2012, backers funds are instantly paid into the project creator's PayPal account. This means project owners can now withdraw funds at any time during their campaign (no need to wait until expiry!).
Do backers need a PayPal account?
No, backers can pay using any major credit or debit card from 190 countries.
How do I know who backed my project?
In addition to sending you email notifications, your Sponsume campaign page automatically generates a spreadsheet containing your backers’ details. The backers data is only accessible to the creator of the page, which is why you have to be logged in to access it. To view the spreadsheet, click on the 'backers' tab on your page and hit the orange button.
What funding currencies are available to project creators?
You may choose to set up your campaign in any of the following currencies:
- Australian Dollar
- Canadian Dollar
- Czech Koruna
- Danish Krone
- Euro
- Great British Pound
- Hong Kong Dollar
- Hungarian Forint
- Israeli Shekel
- Japanese Yen
- Mexican Peso
- New Zealand Dollar
- Norwegian Krone
- Philippines Peso
- Polish Zloty
- Singapore Dollar
- Swedish Krona
- Swiss Franc
- Taiwanese Dollar
- Thai Baht
- United States Dollar
How does it work when people back us with a currency that is not the same as the Project's currency? How do they do that?
Users CAN back any project in ANY currency using either their credit or debit card or their PayPal account. The process is exactly the same as when paying in the project's own funding currency. However, our payment provider (PayPal) may charge an exchange rate fee to the payment.
Can I create a multilingual page?
You will soon be able to create fully multilingual versions of your page! We will also soon release French, German, Dutch, Spanish and Catalan versions of Sponsume.
Can I submit several campaigns at the same time?
We generally do not allow the same person to list several campaigns at the same time, unless she has a proven track record with us. However, organisations may do so by creating a Super Sponsumer profile. If you’d like to learn more about becoming a Super Sponsumer, please contact us.
Do PayPal charge fees?
Sponsume users benefit from reduced PayPal fees. The applicable fee depends on the campaign's funding currency (only 2.9% + fixed amount).
Is my campaign tax deductible?
It depends where you are based. Because the treatment of crowdfunding varies between jurisdictions, we recommend you check with a local accountant.If you are EU-based and VAT registered, you are entitled to recover 20% of the fee Sponsume charged you (as our fee is inclusive of VAT). Check if your backers’ contributions are tax deductible here.
How is Sponsume’s fee charged?
Sponsume levies a 9% fee on all transactions. However, if a campaign hits its funding target we pay back 5% of the campaign’s funds to the project creator within 7 working days of expiry (9% - 5% = 4% fee).
Does Sponsume take some percentage of ownership or intellectual property of projects or products made through Sponsume?
No. Sponsume is just a platform matching projects with their public.
Is equity crowdfunding allowed?
No. Currently transfers of ownership or intellectual property rights are not allowed on Sponsume.