Crowdsourcing, besides helping in preparing for the future, helps your organization cast a wider net for ideas on how to further its mission. This is what one foundation has learned. They are looking for organizations that have crowdfunding as part of their fundraising scheme.

The Daughters of Charity are already involved in using this innovative fundraising resource.

An in-depth article to help you consider this way of helping foundations mine information while raising funds is “Seeking and Solving” at the Stanford Social Innovation Review.

The primary benefit that foundations gain from crowdsourcing is that it helps them cast a wider net for ideas on how to further their mission. It’s also an opportunity for individual solvers—even if they are “outsiders”—to share their ideas directly with a foundation. That kind of broad connection to the public can help foundations tackle the tough social and technical problems that they aim to address.

The low cost of crowdsourcing and the high value of crowdsourced solutions translate into a high return on investment. Lumina typically awards between $50 million and $60 million in grants each year. Crowdsourcing, in contrast, costs only $10,000 to $50,000 per challenge, and it yields useful and often priceless ideas. In addition, the results of a challenge can help define Lumina’s grantmaking priorities and can inform the evaluation of its grant proposals. Crowdsourcing has not replaced grantmaking at Lumina, but the foundation has learned that it can effectively combine open innovation practices with other innovation methods to achieve greater impact.

Take the time to read this article. Foundations are waiting to help. Consider crowdfunding, for lots of reasons! Help yourself and foundations in preparing for the future.