Crowdtilt blog

Internet creates happy ending for young scientist charged with felony

Sat, 18 May 2013 20:44:24 -0700

Here’s a happy ending for a young, expelled student.

Until last month, Kiera Wilmot was an exemplary student at Bartow High School in central Florida with good grades and a love for science. But on the morning of April 29, she mixed some chemicals together in a small water bottle and caused a tiny explosion. There was a bang and some smoke, but nobody was close to being hurt.

Kiera, 16, was handcuffed and charged with an adult felon.

Thanks to thousands of petition signatures, phone calls to representatives, and dollars raised on Crowdtilt, Kiera’s charges were dropped and she’ll be attending space camp instead!

In a beautiful turn of events, famous former NASA engineer Homer Hickam — whose memoir Rocket Boys was turned into the Universal Pictures film October Sky — gave Kiera a scholarship to the U.S. Advanced Space Academy and crowdfunded another for her twin sister :).

Kiera’s ordeal was a terrible one. But it was heartwarming to see the compassion of scientists and sympathizers as they worked together — collecting signatures, raising awareness, and chipping in to help her with the burden of her legal bills. Read about her story in this article “Teenage chemistry enthusiast won’t be charged with felony, will go to space camp” and check out the support for Kiera below!

May 4th: Angelle Stromeyer, a sympathizer with Kiera’s plight, crowdfunds legal bills for this student in need.

She raises over $4,000 in one day alone!

Cool tidbit: Angelle, the creator of this Crowdtilt, is a giant science enthusiast and has previously attended Space Camp!

May 12th: Renowned former NASA engineer and American author Homer Hickam gives Kiera Wilmot a scholarship to Space Camp. He crowdfunds another for her twin sister Kiera

See his Crowdtilt here:

It was truly inspiring to see the outpouring of support for Kiera. We’re honored to have played a small part in Kiera’s journey. In difficult times, it’s amazing to see the internet be such a caring place!

Tell us: do you support Kiera? What great causes would you like to see crowdfunded?

[Start your own Crowdtilt here]

[Read about the Crowdtilt that raised $50,000 in 3 days to buy a boat for a hero]

[Read about the Crowdtilt to Save the Blue Angels!]

Love,

Saving the Blue Angels through the power of crowdfunding

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:43:00 -0700

Our team was amazed when we saw this fundraiser to save the Blue Angels pop up on our radar. Marc McCabe, a local San Franciscoan and Blue Angel fan, created a Crowdtilt fundraiser to raise at least $650,000 for the show, which would take place from Oct. 10-14 during San Francisco’s Fleet Week.

Here’s a list of the news coverage the Blue Angels fundraiser has received so far:

SF Examiner: Crowdtilt fundraiser attempts to bring Blue Angels back to San Francisco
SFist: Crowdsourced Fundraiser Hopes You’ll Help Pay For Blue Angels Air Show
KTVU: Blue Angels fan tries to revive air show through crowdfunding
NBC Bay Area: Crowdsourcing May Save Blue Angels

For the most recent updates about the campaign, or to check out other blue angels fans, check out the official “Bring the Blue Angels Back” Facebook group.

So far, the fundraiser, titled “We can save the Blue Angels — let’s bring them back for SF Fleet Week 2013!” has raised almost $8,000 in just a few days. Let us know what you think of the blue angels and this fundraiser in the comments!

We’re honored and humbled to see our site used for such a creative and inspiring cause. Happy tilting! :)

[Start your own Crowdtilt here]

[Read about the Crowdtilt that raised $50,000 in 3 days to buy a boat for a hero]

[See the Crowdtilt by the famous NASA engineer and author whose memoir was made into the movie “October Sky”!]

[See the happy ending for a young teen arrested for science experiment gone awry]

Love,

Crowdfund Your Bay to Breakers 2013 Party

Tue, 14 May 2013 13:54:00 -0700

Dust off your Superman costume and get ready to ~~party with~~ race alongside ~~naked people~~ pink gorillas in Bay to Breakers, the most delirious and unforgettable footrace in the city! It’s on Sunday, May 19th, 2013 this year. We can’t wait to see ya’ll there :)

Don’t make rookie mistakes this year though ― like trying to catch a cab at Fulton and 48th to the afterparty, or waiting until Sunday to stock up for your house party. We’ve got your back with these great ideas for celebrating Bay to Breakers in style:

To help get your friends on board, use promo code “FREEb2b” to waive our fees! Now get out there and celebrate this Sunday!

We can’t wait to see you there.

What You Need vs. What You Want - The Power of Setting a Goal in Crowdfunding

Fri, 10 May 2013 21:33:00 -0700

Ever feel like you’re asking for too much? Or do you aim too low because you’re afraid of falling short of your goals? Worry no more. Our brand-new targets let you tell your supporters exactly how much you need, while inspiring your supporters to chip in for a home run!

After all, nothing is impossible in the world of crowdfunding! A model of a Tyrannosaurus rex with Christopher Walken’s head raised $2,000 just last week…

Upgrade that fundraiser

Just imagine: Hundreds of friends groupfund vacation homes and classy Vegas suites on Crowdtilt each week. They set their “tilt,” raise their funds, and pack their party clothes to Vegas!

But imagine if they were to reach a “target” of $1,200 alongside their “tilt” of $800! They’d be able to upgrade their parties to a luxury, top-floor suite complete with a jacuzzi and unlimited bar tab. This party sounds like too much fun for even Jennifer Lawrence to handle.

More inspiration:

Crowdfunding a surprise gift for your graduating friend? Set the tilt at $800 (the minimum cost for a nice laptop). But set the “target” as $1,200, and cross your fingers for an upgrade to the Macbook Air! She’ll be overwhelmed.
Fundraising for a local family in need? Instead of taking whatever you can get, set a target too. If you hit $700, you’ll be able to throw in some Christmas presents.
Crowdfunding a party? ($200) Aim for $400 to upgrade your drinks, and decorations. You could even throw in a… festive mime?

Telling your supporters your “target” helps you make an awesome goal even better. It’s clear. It’s effective. And it’s judgement free :)

Really, don’t be shy.

“Target” helped this real life campaign raise $48,097 more than its tilt…

[Click here to read the compassionate story behind this boat fundraiser.]

Boldly speak up about your goals. Here’s how:

Target comes in 3 easy steps:

Fill in your tilt amount when you set up your Crowdtilt.
Fill in your target amount too!
(Optional) Encourage your supporters to contribute to the target in your description.

It’s that easy!

Finally, here’s a gallery of high-fives to encourage you through your tilting journeys!

(At Crowdtilt we’re all about high-fives)

You may be small, but you are filled with power.

Puppy eyeing your way to the top? #respect

We’re going nuts over you :)

You plunged straight in.

To make giant things happen.

You’re so awesome, we can’t bear it.

Neigh-ver again should you dare to dream small.

Because you are pure fierceness in disguise.

Happy tilting!

Keep reaching for the stars,

P.S. If you haven’t heard about David Henneberry’s boat in TIME, Bloomberg, or Buzzfeed yet, read about it here. It’s so inspiring it would be a crime not to.

We Just Reached 16,000 Facebook Fans!

Mon, 06 May 2013 14:21:00 -0700

THANK YOU! We couldn’t have done it without you. To celebrate, here are 16 great happy gifs so you can share our happiness too! :)

“IS THIS REAL LIFE?”

It’s too much to handle…

You’re the BEST. Being with ya’ll is a dream…

No honestly, we can’t believe it! All these fans just, just… dropping out of the sky!!! Where did ya’ll come from??? What did we do to deserve this?

This is insane!

Where did ya’ll come from?

Happy dance. #awwyeahhh

Honestly, we feel invincible with ya’ll behind us. We’re still small, but we’re fearless!

We can conquer any mountain…

But really, we just wanna take a second to hug you.

And a few seconds more to dance…

We can’t wait to tell our moms

Smiling so much it kind of hurts

Even better than infinite puppies

What are we doing, you ask? Oh, just cruisin’ smoothly along… With our 16,000 fans….

Quintessential Happy Sloth. He yawns while celebrating.

Thank you!

Love,

10 Things We Loved About the Fundraiser to Replace David's Boat

Sat, 04 May 2013 10:03:00 -0700

It was amazing seeing the compassion of ordinary citizens come together to accomplish something unbelievable for this modern American hero.

We loved:

1. The simple hope that Craig Dunlap expressed about why he created his Crowdtilt for David:

2. The reason Jeffrey Griffeth gave for why he started a facebook group that amassed over 1,000 supporters for David:

“I enjoy fishing and being out on the water myself, and for a guy to lose his boat - as minor as that is compared to people losing their limbs and lives - I just thought to help a guy out who potentially saved many more lives.” - Jeffrey Griffeth

3. Every year, David would use his boat and take aboard disabled people for a spin around Boston Harbor. His passengers included the blind and people who’d lost their limbs.

4.

The camaraderie, compassion, and kindness of the “Help Get David Henneberry a New Boat!” facebook group as they gave each other pats on the back and collectively aww-ed about Mr. Henneberry’s cuteness:

5. The countless tweets streaming in by the minute.

6. How contributions climbed, articles from TIME, Bloomberg, Buzzfeed, The Huffington Post, Business Week, The Chicago Tribune and more came in, and the fundraiser took a life of its own.

7. The eagerness of Dunlap’s updates as he realized what he had started…

8. The generous donation from the Boston Whaler. Woohoo! :)

9. This email from David’s relative Kelly, as she talked to Crowdtilt representative Ajay, about the fundraiser:

This incredible compassion of everyone is absolutely amazing. You all brought these hundreds of supporters together to do this. David is still speechless with all this outpouring and support…
David does not have Facebook and is not too good with computers and as I was there reading all the wonderful kind comments to him and tried to explain what was going on he couldn’t believe it. As I stated he is beside himself with all of this unbelievable kindness from all over. I will pass all this along and let you know! Thank you!

10. This letter from the man, David Henneberry himself:

It was beautiful.

For the full story behind David’s boat, go here.

Love,

Last Call: Farewell Gifts for Grads Across the Nation

Fri, 03 May 2013 07:59:00 -0700

Grads across the nation are saying farewell to school and hello to 2013’s freshest-of-fresh supply of unforgettable gifts! As they step out, bright-eyed, into the gray world of morning commute and the terrifying job market, give them something special.

Admit it: the real world can be daunting. These bright and shiny gifts will give your grad some comfort to look forward to :)

1. The Do-It-All Toaster

Breakfast all day, e’ry day.

2. A gourmet beer-of-the-month subscription

It’s time for them to move on to more classy things.

3. The Ever-Coveted Retina Macbook Pro

4. Prinstagram and New Polaroids

Your grad is going to need some real photos for his/her bare walls. The new polaroid is awesome. Otherwise, Printstagram lets your instagramming friends print their #foodie’s and #selfie’s into real life.

5. Slow Cooker

Magically make a week’s worth of meals.

6. The Pinacle of Mass Production: Ridiculous Printed T-shirts

($9.99 Thank You Wikipedia, $20 Seniors eat freshmen, $9.99 iThink, $17.90 Evolved to Graduate)

So that they can strut their graduated stuff like this:

7. Real Cups!

Customize, go hipster-chic with Anthropologie, or get funny. Goodbye, red college cups. You’re hereby demoted to this level.

Split the costs to make these awesome presents affordable. Here are some pro-tips for crowdfunding graduation presents:

Presents for seniors in your school club

“Crowdtilt made it easier for us to get in touch with people who were both spread across campus and incredibly busy! It was very easy to use and was so key to the success of the senior gifts.” - Jessi Norton, UGA Mock Trial president

Surprise your bro with that computer he REALLY needs.

“Phil was really excited when I told him. I sent him a text that said, “I set up a CrowdTilt to get you a new computer for graduation, and it just tilted!” He called me and was ecstatic. It was a great way to get the whole family involved to do something big without a big expense to any one person.”
- Jared McFarland

Help with your grad’s planned costs!

“Brielle’s laptop completely bit the dust a few months back. But with this money, she bought a laptop and she loves it! She was beyond surprised! She didn’t expect it at all and couldn’t believe people put money toward such a meaningful gift for her. She was incredibly grateful and sent thank you notes to all who contributed!!”

-Alicia

Open-ended fund for an awesome surprise:

These co-workers are pooling money AND ideas for presents. “Swank factor” determined by the amount of donations collected…

For a free Crowdtilt T-shirt, go to our facebook page and tell us what you wish your friends/family would Crowdtilt for your senior gift! (even if you’ve already graduated!)

Congratulations, Grads!

Love,

A crowdfunded tribute for a hero: America bought Dave Henneberry a boat

Fri, 03 May 2013 07:58:00 -0700

We were humbled and honored last week as we watched an incredible social media wave raise over $50,000 in under 3 days to buy David Henneberry a new boat.

Watertown resident David Henneberry, 66, loved his boat. Those close to him said he was so particular about about it that he refused to use it for fishing, reserving it for pleasure cruising alone.

But on April 19, Henneberry discovered alleged terrorist and Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev hiding in his boat.

“He didn’t try to be a hero. He didn’t yell,” stepson Robert Duffy said. “His mind instantly did the right thing.”

David alerted the police, and thanks to him, the bomber was captured. However, his beloved boat was shot full of bullets during the capture.

As the story unfolded, America learned about this Watertown hero’s humility as he declined praise and condolences from the media. We learned of his selflessness as diverted donations away from himself, to the physically hurt victims of the Boston Bombing instead.

We learned of his compassion, as we heard of his yearly tradition of bringing the disabled, blind people, and amputees aboard his precious boat, and take them for spins around Boston Harbor.

Instead of sitting idly by, an ordinary Texan, Craig Dunlap, decided to step up. He raised over $50,000 in a heartwarming Crowdtilt effort to replace the boat.

With just a few words - “Let’s pool some money for repairs!” and a personal donation of $500 to “get things going,” Dunlap set off an inspiring wave of kindness and support.

Within a day, a facebook group started by Jeffrey Griffeth got wind of Craig’s Crowdtilt fundraiser and stepped in to help. They raised over $4,000 on the first day and $13,000 by the second day. 430 people from 42 states and 8 countries contributed.

The Boston Whaler stepped in to make a generous, large contribution. And just like that, in under 3 days, over $50,000 was raised.

We transferred the funds directly to David Henneberry and his family. David, who does not have Facebook and is not too good with computers, couldn’t believe it when he heard what hundreds of strangers had done for him. His relative, Kelly, put us in touch with him and told us, “he is beside himself with all of this unbelievable kindness from all over.”

Here’s a letter from Dave Henneberry himself:

[Read the 10 things we loved most about David’s Boat Fundraiser here!]

It was beautiful watching this story of compassion unfold, as a strangers stepped up to help someone they had only heard of. These efforts were featured in TIME, Buzzfeed, Business Week, Bloomberg, the Chicago Tribune, Yahoo News, and The Guardian, just to name a few.

We were blown away by the outpouring of collective kindness over the past few weeks. You all showed America that the internet is a caring place.

It’s people like you, getting involved with campaigns like this, that keep us plugging away at the Crowdtilt office. :)

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

- Margaret Mead

From the entire Crowdtilt team, thanks for inspiring us.

P.S. Read the 10 things we loved most about David’s Boat Fundraiser, here!

The 6 BEST Bachelor / Bachelorette Parties!

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 17:42:00 -0700

Collect money online. Have incredible experiences offline.

Crowdtilt is all about empowering you to do extraordinary things with friends, but with everyday levels of effort. We do this by making organizing and collecting funds easy:

Crowdfund the special party by a deadline!
Make time-sensitive group deposits for trips or getaway homes
Collect funds via credit card online so you can spend more time on what you do best - making memories.

From luxe weekend escapes, classy wine tours, destination bashes, to nights flowing full with your groom or bride to be’s favorite champagnes and beer, here are a few hot parties to inspire you! We loved the creativity and class of these unique pre-wedding celebrations - and we loved helping these friends crowdfund them.

*Links unavailable for some campaigns that wished to remain private. For the linked up ones - click away!

Funding a Dream Mediterranean Getaway

Their sun-kissed getaway makes us wanna sing: “Bodies in the sand, tropical drink melting in your hand, we’ll be falling in love to the rhythm of a steel drum band…” (A round of drinks to whichever reader guesses the name of this song first!)

A Palm Springs Destination Bash!

With the days counting down until Lucy’s Bachelorette, these friends used Crowdtilt to chip in $100 each to “make this trip happen!” Cheers from NoCal to this SoCal party!

A Bridal Weekend at Napa Valley

Not only was there good food and wine-tasting - they even rented out a house in Napa Valley with a hot tub - the bride to be’s favorite! :)

Celebrate With a World-Class Chef

With a set payment deadline, and the cost at $75.68 each, we’re happy that Catherine and her friends were able to spend less time fumbling over loose change - and more time feasting during their San Diego getaway!

Catherine said: “I’ve used Crowdtilt a couple times while planning bachelorette and engagement parties and its such an easy way to split up the costs!!!”

A Bridal Shower By The Lake

Sea, sunshine and a lovely view - these 11 friends used Crowdtilt to crowdfund the refundable deposit on this beautiful lake house.

What Happens In Vegas Stays In Vegas…

Less time spent fumbling over loose change = more time spent gazing at these Vegas Dimes…

Some other favorites include zip-lining, parasailing along the coast, spa days, and yacht parties out on the bay. We hope this gave you and your bachelor/bachelorette parties a bit of inspiration!

Have a suggestion? Leave them below! :)

Party On,

P.S.

If you guessed the song from the lyrics on the first featured party, let us know on our facebook page! We’ll contact you and send you and your friends some sweet, free Crowdtilt shotglasses ;)

Crowdfund Your Mission Trip

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 17:41:00 -0700

The Crowdtilt community is full of everyday people doing extraordinary things. There’s the social media wave that raised $50,000 in 5 days to replace David Henneberry’s boat (destroyed during the Boston Bomber’s capture). There’s the community in Illinois that saved their beloved toy store from going out of business. There’s the group of friends that funded their international friend’s school tuition.

Today, we want to share with you the stories of a few amazing do-gooders who typify the passion, empathy and spirit we love about our community. They make us proud to:

create a clear donations page that helps your contributors understand your mission, financial needs, and deadline
leverage social media to let your friends, family, or old acquaintances know about your fund
automatically issue tax-deductible receipts to all your contributors
crowdfund your service trip with one centralized page
tilt an average of 20% past your goal

Feel free to read their testimonies below and click through to their campaign pages to read about their unique journeys.

The Nally Family

Joseph is enjoying directing the Honduras medical missionary training school El Instituto Bíblico Centroamericano and Annie is enjoying serving in the bilingual elementary school Campos Blancos. Olivia (9) and Maya (5) continue to faithfully serve with hugs and tree climbing campus-wide, visiting the disabled, and occasionally teaching & preaching. Their family’s empowered, can-do attitude is uplifting.

“We had potential supporters all over the United States but not enough time to reach them all through conventional means. We needed something simple, safe, fast, and fresh. We wanted to feel confident entrusting our meaningful campaign to the web and we wanted our supporters to feel secure in contributing. Crowdtilt matched our needs in simplicity, security, in terms of cost, and with online presentation. We were so happy to see thoughtful people supporting us by giving sacrificially and we were affirmed in our mission. We will be Tilting again in the future!”

- Joseph Nally

Sarah for Arise Africa

Sarah set her heart on caring for orphans in Zambia this summer, and she raised her mission trip funds in 5 days! We love the joy and humility that radiates from all she does. She even wrote us a beautiful letter below. Sarah - you inspire us.

When the opportunity to go a mission trip to Zambia came up, I knew crowdtilt would be the perfect way to raise funds. Setting up the campaign was quick and easy. Within the first 30 minutes of sending out an email, instagram, and facebook post, people were already contributing! I was amazed at the fast response! I feel incredibly grateful for my friends’ and family’s generosity. Every time I receive a notification that someone has given, I get so excited to see who has become a part of my “team” in sending me to Zambia. Before my eyes, my dream of a mission trip in Africa is becoming a reality.

Since I was able to post the link on social media, my campaign is reaching far more people than just email or mail. It has been especially meaningful to receive contributions from old friends and even acquaintances who saw my post on facebook. I even reconnected with a friend who I haven’t seen in years - but gave to my trip!

Crowdtilt has made my fundraising experience painless, effective, and enjoyable. Every step of the process has been excellent. My contributors are able to donate easily with Crowdtilt’s user-friendly approach. They also feel like they are “rallying behind” me as they help me reach my tilt goal. Since Crowdtilt works seamlessly with non-profits, I am convinced that it is the future of fundraising. As for me, I am now a loyal Crowdtilt fan! Thank You!!!

- Sarah Johnson

Father - Daughter Mission Trip

Allan’s daughter Elizabeth has wanted to go on a mission trip since she was 8. After a life-changing experience, Allan was inspired to make a mission trip with Elizabeth (now 16) possible. With the support of their friends and family, they’re unstoppable. We can’t wait to hear about the connections they forge this summer with others - and with each other.

On his campaign page Allan wrote “Please don’t feel pressured to contribute simply because you are a friend, family member, or connection!!” Oh Allan, your humility leaves us speechless :)

Nonprofit causes and charitable fundraisers have been a huge part of Crowdtilt’s goal to change the world through group funding. We want to help make your fundraising as easy as possible, so that you can spend more time making a difference.

If you or someone you know is funding their summer service, we’d be absolutely honored to help you rally support and quickly raise funds for the journey.

Finally, we’ll leave you with one of our favorite sayings:

Much love,

P.S.

For all of you going on a relief trip this summer, email us at team@crowdtilt.com with the subject line “T-SHIRT”! We’d be honored to give you a FREE Crowdtilt T-shirt so you can serve in style :)

How to Give the BEST Wedding Gift!

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 17:39:00 -0700

This year, hundreds of friends used Crowdtilt to crowdfund heartwarming, clever gifts for their wedded friends. We helped them raise money by a deadline, get fixed or minimum contribution from contributors, and make a centralized place for funds that led them to raise an average 34% more than their goal :)

Here are the top 3 wedding gifts on Crowdtilt this year!

The Gift He’ll Love: A Wedding Grill

Most guys will tell you that there really is nothing quite like firing up the grill, throwing on a few steaks and kicking back with a few beers. Girls love having company over and watching the guys cook for once! Think about this the next time you’re shopping for a wedding gift. Throw in a few spices and meat rubs if you raise past your goal! Or get fancy and inscribe your names under the lid. Barbecue grills and grilling accessories make great gifts for any occasion.

Gooch loves his new Big Green Egg, and Crowdtilt made it easy for all of us in different cities to get the money together and the gift delivered on time for him to grill when he got back from his honeymoon!

- John Clifton

The Gift She’ll Die For: Stunning Bridal Shoes

Wedding shoes make an incredibly thoughtful and lovely gift! Buy the bride a set of stunners from her favorite designer. Set different options depending on how much money you and your friends raise. This brilliant maid-of-honor was unbelievably clever and surprised her bride with her fantasy Manolo Blahnik shoes! In fact, they’re also the shoes that Carrie from Sex in The City wears to her wedding. AND they double as the bride’s “something blue.” Zeenat, please be MY maid of honor.

Linda always wanted to splurge on her wedding shoes, and as her maid-of-honor I loved the idea of combining her something blue with her fantasy Manolos. Crowdtilt made raising the funds super easy and accessible for all the attendees, scattered as we are across the US. She’s going to be so surprised and so in love - with the shoes, of course :)

- Zeenat

Leave it Open Ended: Give Wedding Cash

Finally, if you can’t think of something your friend will need, a sum of cash is sometimes the perfect thing to get the new couple off to the right start. They can use it for anything from their honeymoon to new furniture! These friends set out to raise just $500 but reached nearly $2,000 for their friend!

Ousmane was a close college friend, and Crowdtilt gave us the ability to celebrate his wedding with him despite the Atlantic Ocean keeping us apart!

- Chris Blauvelt

Happy Tilting! :)

Love,

The Crowdtilt Team

P.S.

Want some free Crowdtilt shot glasses? Head on over to our facebook page and tell us what you wish your friends would Crowdtilt for your wedding! We’ll be happy to mail you some of these unbreakable beauties:

The 5 Most Amazing Treehouses Ever Built. Happy Arbor Day!

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 11:58:00 -0700

April 25th is National Arbor Day! At Crowdtilt, we’re hardcore tree-huggers. Our office is chock-full of trees and greenery! On the occasional Tuesday, you’ll even catch our engineer Andy lovingly watering his surprisingly spiky “Herculeaves”… (a story for another time)

On Arbor Day you’re encouraged to plant and care for trees. But if you’re a hardcore tree lovers like us, join us in a quick daydream trip to one of these beauties! :)

(If you’re caught browsing at work, be proud. Spread the green love. We owe a lotta love to these green buddies that allowed life on Earth to, well, happen.)

Here are 5 of the most amazing treehouses ever built.

These incredible looking tree houses are called ‘Free Spirit Spheres’ and are designed by Tom Chudleigh. Built with wooden strips like a canoe or kayak, they’re eco-friendly living quarters created to co-exist unobtrusively with the forest environment.

Inside:

A more colorful variation:

With the breezy playfulness of a hammock and the trusted stability of an old oak tree, Baumraum treehouses bring the imagination alive!

The O2 Treehouses line by Dustin Feider are absolutely green and fabulous! All materials that construct the treehouse are entirely recycled - made with a philosophy of harmlessly and sustainably co-existing with nature. This original O2 Sustainability Tree house is 13 feet wide.

This amazing treehouse was designed by Takashi Kobayashi! Mr. Kobayashi built an oval bird’s nest of a house, 12 feet high and 9 feet in diameter. The house is located on a field in the town of Kamishihoro.

Opened in 2005, The Alnwick Garden Treehouse is 6,000 square feet and one of the largest wooden tree houses in the world. It houses a 120-seat restaurant, a retail shop, two classrooms, and tow private dining rooms! Opened in January, 2005, it’s a labyrinth of turrets, treetop walkways, and cavernous spaces. Our Crowdtilt team dreams of Crowdtilting a vacation to this treehouse someday…

Happy Arbor Day! We’re send a big hug to all our fans (and all the great companies out there) for are eco-friendly tree-huggers! We’re proud to send all our receipts by email only, to help keep the Earth clean and green. :)

TRIVIA: Arbor day started in Nebraska City in 1872, and is a holiday where individuals and groups are encouraged to plant and care for trees.

The BEST Grilled Cheese Recipes Out There. Happy National Grilled Cheese Month!

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:54:00 -0700

April is National Grilled Cheese month!!! Celebrate with us by getting some of your friends together to make the most awesome versions of the world’s favorite gooey, crunchy, buttery staple! Because really, the best thing about grilled cheese is that its SO easy to make, even the most kitchen-clumsy** of us can achieve beautiful, gooey deliciousness in a few quick steps.

**Believe us. Some of our Crowdtilt engineers make that list. And they made these beautifully :).

Our favorite recipes:

Brie and Raspberry Panini with Hazelnut Spread

Avocado and Jalapeño Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Southwestern Grilled Cheese Sandwich

If we’ve got you salivating already, you know what you need to do :). Crowdtilt a campaign to buy those slabs of cheese, great ol’ loafs of bread, and if you over-tilt, spice it up with condiments like raspberries, jalepenos, or avocados…

Ahhhhh. Can you smell the gooey cheese and crisp, buttery bread in the air already? :)

Love,

The Crowdtilt Team

Plan your Cinco de Mayo party in 3 easy steps! (AND GET FREE SHOT GLASSES!)

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 11:19:00 -0700

Magnífico sombreros and bright flowery crowns. Delicioso burritos, tacos, salsa, flan, and margaritas that we can’t get enough of. Cinco de Mayo is full of food, music, and fun that you and your friends will want to celebrate!

Whether it’s a get-together over Mexican goodies and margaritas or a full-on fiesta with tequila, pinatas, tres leches and more, we’ll help you invite your friends, plan, and fund your Cinco de Mayo party in 3 easy steps :)

PLANNING THE EASIEST CINCO DE MAYO PARTY EVER:

1. Tell your friends what’s up! Start a page in 5 minutes. Add a quick description and set a fundraising goal! Check out these two real parties for inspiration:

23 Buddies Funded a Cinco de Mayo Feast!

Instead of making the party BYOB, Bryce collected money beforehand and provided kegs, margaritas and crawfish.

40 friends Celebrated Cinco De Mayo in Sizzling Style:

“Lots of friends and lots of fun means lots of money! We want kegs, margaritas, sangria for bag slapping, tequila shot block, queso and guac, tres leches, pinatas, flower crowns…but we’ve gotta get some mula first!”-Elizabeth

2. Invite your friends with a Facebook event. You can automatically set up a Facebook event connected to your Crowdtilt! This lets you invite all your friends in a few clicks. (you can tweet or email the link too)

3. Get your friends to donate before a deadline. Don’t worry about BYOB or check/cash reimbursement. Your friends can pay on Crowdtilt with their credit card in about 2 minutes and 5 clicks!

Shortly after their parties, Elizabeth and Bryan from the parties above emailed us, saying:

“THANK YOU! Crowdtilt let us throw a fiesta that was beyond our imaginations! Tequila!!” -Elizabeth
“Our crawfish Cinco de Mayo party went great! Thanks to Crowdtilt, raising the money was a breeze and allowed us to focus on getting the party set up!” -Bryce

Happy Crowdtilting! We can’t wait to hear how your Cinco de Mayo parties go! :)

FREEBIE OF THE WEEK:

Want free, unbreakable shot glasses? Tell us your favorite Mexican food or drink in the comments! :) Then email your mailing address to mary@crowdtilt.com!

TRIVIA: Officially, Cinco de Mayo commemorates the Mexican victory over the French in the Battle of Puebla in 1862. But if you care less about the history side of things, it’s basically a festival of Mexican pride and heritage in the United States.

Worry less and tilt more! Set a limit for your campaign.

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:59:00 -0700

You might have heard the saying you can never get too much of a good thing. Though we love the biggest parties and our dessert indulgences at the office as much as the next guy, when it comes to limited-seating party buses, events with only so many spots, or special edition T-shirts, sometimes scarcity can be important too. (After all, would Marilyn really have been singing about diamonds, if every girl and a monkey’s uncle were wearing them too?)

That’s why we built our newest feature. Now you can enhance your Crowdtilt by setting a max number of spaces, tickets or goods that can be claimed!

Before.

Crowdtilters who dreamed big, used to worry about overshooting their goals. Our team got hundreds of emails asking for a way to automatically close a campaign once a certain number of people joined. Although many admins specified campaign limits in the description, their over-eager friends often glanced past those words in zealous pursuit of coveted private jet seats — snatching up more than our unfortunate admins had available.

Now.

With your requests in mind, our team has worked hard over the last few weeks to develop an incredibly simple way to handle this! :) All you have to do is:

Fill in a max quantity when you set up your Crowdtilt.
Kick back and watch your total number of spots decrease as contributors claim them (in real-time!)
Pat yourself on the back as your campaign sells out and automatically closes! (lifting all your worries!)

It’s that easy!

Now Crowdtilters who dream and tilt big will no longer have to worry about overselling tickets, puppies, or autographs. We hope the new urgency and transparency of this feature helps you tilt better and more than ever before. :)

Here’s how the magic works:

Go to www.crowdtilt.com and click Start here
When setting up your campaign, select the option to define a contribution amount. Under the second option, you can now enter a maximum quantity.
(After you Create your campaign…) On your campaign page you’ll see the max quantity show up in the green Contribute (or Pay) button.
When your friends, relativesc or others contribute to your Crowdtilt, they’ll be able to select the number of items they want to claim, and the price will automatically update for them.
As always, when the campaign tilts, you can continue collecting funds past your goal (Read about what a tilt is here).
As the campaign progresses, you and your contributors will be able to see exactly how many items are still available. This creates a sense of urgency for your contributors, encouraging them to chip in before it’s too late! It also helps you easily keep an eye on how your campaign is going.
SOLD OUT! When your campaign hits its maximum, it automatically closes. We’ll transfer the funds to your bank acount, and you’ll get ready to celebrate the sweet taste of success!

Finally…

Our team has been thrilled watching campaigns earn more support, love, and demand than their creators could possibly fulfill! The fact that we just had to build this feature is a testament to the awesomeness of our ‘tilters. ♥

Lessons learned? You can never get enough of the best things. Because they’re scarce! And sometimes a limited quantity can actually be… a really good thing! For one, it tells us that the people, experiences and things everyone is clamoring to get a piece of, are really just that special.

We hope the new “Quantity Available” feature helps Crowdtilters around the world embrace their scarce and indispensible inner awesomeness.

Happy Tilting!!!

Love, The Crowdtilt Team

Don’t forget to tweet, instagram, or facebook us!

For a shot to win a free, limited-edition Crowdtilt T-shirt, answer our question of the week in the comments! Q: You and your friends just tilted $1,000,000 on a vacation Crowdtilt campaign. Where would you go?

How We Got 31K Pageviews in A Day By Pretending To Be Obama

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 08:33:00 -0700

A week ago, on April Fool’s Day, we launched Crowdfund The Debt: a spoof splash page claiming that the White House was asking everyday Americans to chip in and help pay off our mounting national debt using Crowdtilt. At the end of the day, we had 31k+ pageviews, press mentions in TechCrunch and others, 3,000+ Facebook likes, and countless tweets.

Here’s the story and what we learned:

What was the joke?

Just about a week before, we were brainstorming a good prank for April Fool’s and hit upon the U.S. National Debt. It was the perfect combination of a culturally relevant crisis, a match with Crowdtilt, and just a fun concept. So with the goal of cribbing as much as possible from the Obama 2012 campaign aesthetic, we created CrowdfundTheDebt.com in a few days (with design help from our friends at Hypr) to go live at midnight on April 1st.

With a national debt counter that was counting down rather than up, and a real quote from JFK (as well as fake quotes from Paul Ryan, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Warren Buffett), the page seemed real. Almost a little too real, which we’ll get into below. But luckily, people seemed to get a kick out of it, and with a morning push of our own, the page started to get off the ground.

Our splash page linked to a fake Crowdtilt campaign that we customized with a script that would trigger random contributions from $100 - $10,000 throughout the day. We also needed a HTML hardcoded tilt amount, since our backend didn’t support a $16 trillion goal (thanks Crowdtilt tech team!):

When a visitor clicked to actually contribute, they got this custom popup (with a fancy American Flag background):

Finally, if the visitor came through this far, and logged in/created an account, they were met with the slogan “You’re the hero America needs, but not the one we deserve right now” and this swanky GIF:

How much traffic, and where from?

Here are the traffic stats (from Google Analytics, screenshots at bottom) for CrowdfundTheDebt.com, filtered to just April 1st:

Unique Visitors: 24,853
Pageviews: 31,097
Average time on page: 3:08 min

Almost all of this traffic was a direct result of a viral bump. We were lucky enough to be listed in TechCrunch’s big morning roundup of pranks, and had very kind features later in the day by the Daily Dot and GOOD Magazine, but a relatively small bump from any of that press. 36% of the traffic was direct, and of the 63% referral traffic, the largest sources were Facebook and Reddit (attached is another screenshot of traffic sources at the bottom, if you’re interested).

Watching the number of active users on the site spike upwards was exhilarating! Instead of having to push for traffic through PR — or even through Hacker News (we were killed off the front page after a quick surge to the top), we saw the site spread organically. Before we knew it, Bloomberg/BusinessWeek social media director Jared Keller was playing along, and we got a phone call from a group of giggling young women, who had a bet whether the campaign was a joke or not.

What did we learn?

People actually got fooled, and more than you would think. Now this one, we weren’t quite expecting. We tried to match the Obama 2012 campaign aesthetic as much as possible, and succeeded thanks to some design help from our friends at Hypr. But even when you confirmed your whopping $55,820 contribution, we never clearly confirmed it was a joke (although we didn’t ask for payment details either). The “realistic prank” is definitely in the April Fool’s spirit, but it ended up hurting us: the admins of a Facebook page with a huge following tried to post our link as a favor, but had to take it down after 15 minutes of confused and angry comments.
Call to actions are important, even for one-off efforts like this. We spent so much effort tweaking the page and jokes, that we put minimal effort into how users would land on Crowdtilt as a result. Because CrowdfundTheDebt.com linked to an actual Crowdtilt campaign that eventually required a signup to contribute, we got a pretty good amount of traffic/conversions to our actual site. But there was no clear explanation of Crowdtilt from the gag, and no push to create a campaign once they had signed up.
Apparently, we weren’t joking after all? Thanks to a tweet by Seth Juarez, we learned that one can actually give a financial contribution gift to help reduce our public debt. Huh. Who knew?

Appendix:

Google Analytics screenshots, filtered for just April 1st:

Facebook likes on CrowdfundTheDebt.com as of 4/8:

Thanks for reading, and a very special thanks to modern American politics for making this silly prank even remotely believable. We couldn’t have done it without you :)

Subscribe to our blog for more updates as they come.

Much love,

The Crowdtilt Team

Planning a big event? You will love this!

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 11:27:00 -0800

You love hosting successful events: there’s nothing like watching the different pieces you planned come together beautifully, while all of your guests are having a great time too.

For your next event, you already know how to use Crowdtilt to spread the word and pool the money to make it happen. But what about the logistics and specifics once you have the money in the bank?

This is where our friends at Fiestah come in!

Working with local vendors, they get you everything you need for your event!

You simply list what food, drinks, decoration, entertainment, etc you’d like at your event, and Fiestah will find local vendors and quotes for you. You then choose your preferred vendors, and pay them through Fiestah. That’s it! They’ll do all the legwork for you, and also centralize all the information and communication you need to keep track of.

Fiestah is currently available in New York City and will expand to other major cities this year.

Did you already have a good experience with Fiestah you’d like to share, or questions you’d like to ask? Tell us in the comments!

Subscribe to our blog and be the first to find out about the awesome services we feature!

Real-Time Campaign Updates

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 17:47:00 -0800

If you’ve ever run a campaign on Crowdtilt, you may have noticed that you couldn’t make changes to your campaign after the first person contributed. That restriction is now a thing of the past. Starting today, you can make changes to your campaign at any time. Here’s why this is cool:

Extend Your Campaign

Do you need more time? You can now easily push your campaign expiration date forward a few days. So for your next campaign, if you’re at 95% with a day left, you know what to do.

Post Updates

Is there new information you’re eager to share with everybody? Simply add an update to the top of your campaign description. It can be as small as a thank message or a series of updates throughout the duration of the campaign.

Post campaign updates to communicate important new information.

Lower Your Tilt

In rare situations, you might realize that the tilt amount you set was too ambitious. If you choose to lower the tilt amount, we recommend that you communicate with all your current contributors first. Remember that they initially joined your campaign on the assurance that the goal amount would be reached before their cards were charged.

Change The Contribution Amount

Here’s a nifty tip: To provide an incentive for people to be among the first to contribute to your campaign, you can offer a reduced price to for example the first 10 contributors. After the first 10 people join, you can change the contribution amount for future contributors. This works extremely well for events, as you can see here.

Change the contribution amounts to get people to contribute early.

More Good Stuff

Of course you can also do other useful things: change your picture, make corrections, and edit the formatting in your campaign description.

Since contributors want to be the first to know about your recent updates, we’ll send them a quick email so they know changes were made to the campaign the contributed to.

We’ve made these changes based on your feedback over the past weeks. Thank you for voicing your opinions and helping us make Crowdtilt easier to use.

Subscribe to our blog to find out about more product improvements in the coming weeks.

Love,
The Crowdtilt Team

A Mardi Gras To Remember

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 11:44:00 -0800

What’s up, Tilters? It’s that singular time of year again - time for the beignets, king cake, colored beads, and other accoutrements that mark…Mardi Gras! We hope you have an awesome Fat Tuesday wherever you are, but in case you’re lucky enough to be headed straight to the Big Easy, we’ve got a few tips for you.

Let Crowdtilt take the hassle out of organizing your lodgings so that you can focus on the party. Start a campaign today to pool money with your friends to rent out an entire home on Airbnb. Here are a few properties that we like.

Right in the heart of the historic Treme neighborhood, within walking distance of the French Quarter, this place is a beauty: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/474197

Smack dab in the middle of the French Quarter, so you can gorge yourself on alligator po’boy, gumbo, and king cake way into the wee hours of the night: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/896450

Or for those of you who might not want to be right along the parade route, check out this place in the Lower Garden district. It’s a short cable-car ride from downtown, so while it’s easy to get to the action, you’ll still be able to sleep at night: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/406103

And while you’re in New Orleans, don’t forget to check out Frenchman Street in the 7th Ward, the true home of the NOLA music scene. We’re big fans of Blue Nile, The Maison, and Snug Harbor.

And subscribe to our blog to be the first to get tips on how Crowdtilt can help you #DoMoreTogether.

Wishing you a great Mardi Gras,
Will & the Crowdtilt team

What's Your Super Bowl Game Plan?

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 18:54:00 -0800

Super Bowl Sunday is just a few days out. Whether you’ll be watching the afternoon’s broadcast for the commercials (TV advertisers spend serious bucks for spots in this program), the half-time show (will your favorite artist be performing?), or the game itself (you want to see these teams duke it out!), the question is whether to go to someone else’s Super Bowl party or to throw your own.

If you’re the type who likes to host the party, then you’re also the type who knows how to take care of your guests. Go beyond the standard spread for a regular season game. This is the Super Bowl – there’s no need to hold back.

Some ideas for food and beyond:

Chicken wings, potato skins, seven layer dip, vegetable trays… Hungry yet?
Beer, beer, and more beer… Save money and just get a keg. You know you want to.
Revive a tailgating game, space permitting. Cornhole, anyone? Ladder ball?
Splurge on that nacho cheese fountain that you couldn’t justify getting during the season…

Your Super Bowl party doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg. Split the cost with your friends with a Crowdtilt campaign. Even better, ask for a few bucks more and get the keg, upgrade to the 6-foot sandwich platter, or – best of all – build this epic food stadium. Now those are the ingredients for an epic Super Bowl Party!

#DoMoreTogether

- The Crowdtilt Team