Crowdfunding Rap

I’m moderating a panel on crowdfunding this morning at the 20th Annual Western Conference on Tax-Exempt Organizations. In honor of the session, and thinking back to my recent trip to New York where reasonably priced Hamilton tickets were impossible to find, I wrote the following (still unfinished) rap –

In the style of Lin-Manuel Miranda‘s Alexander Hamilton 

How does a program, project, dream of a board and a concept,
popped in the middle of a popular site on the Internet by management, unsupported, no hollers,
Grow a big force of supporters and dollars

A ten-dollar contribution for a solution
Goes a lot farther, not working a lot harder
By being a lot smarter
By using a fund starter
By ‘15, 34 billion on sites like Kickstarter

And every day while staff were fundraising their hearts out
Online across the masses, ideas started to breakout
Mil’le’nnials were longing for something to be part of
Their movements were ready to grow, build, advance, and spread love

When a hurricane came, and devastation reigned
People saw their futures drip, dripping down the drain
But a coder started coding, and published on her domain
The creation of a chain, with testaments to their pain

Well, the word got around, they said, “This site is insane, man”
Gave money to the fund just to send them to the pained land “
We are sympathetic, can’t forget from whence we came, and
The world’s gonna know the same: We’re not lame, man.”

Fundraising through crowdfunding
It’s online fundraising through crowdfunding
And there’s a million things that you can fund
But just you wait, just you wait …

When it started the skeptics said, full of dread, forbidden
Registration, conduit and quid pro quos are hidden
Private interests advanced each click, just a schtick
But the sites got better and grew bigger real quick

Built as platform, not a fundraiser they clarified
No handling money, not qualified, but unsatisfied
A voice saying
“You gotta market yourself.” – “FundMe, you gotta market yourself.”

They started exceedin’ and placin’ other platforms on the shelf

There could have been AGs hot to sue
Concerns were so acute
They coulda feared fraud and ill-repute
Without a chance for restitution
It’s concernin’, learnin’ ‘bout false substantiation
Lettin’ donors deduct gifts though no charity donation
Scammers for every cause they can get their minds on
Clamor for the money, see them now as they stand on
The claim of a cool platform for a new land
On the web, you can have a new plan

On the web, you can have a new plan