Crowdfunding Academy - Green Hub Program

This week, Sustainability Leadership Kosova, in partnership with Venture Up and UNDP Kosovo, organized the Crowdfunding Academy. This module was prepare and conducted by UNDP CF Academy of the Istanbul Regional Hub and together we have carried out a capacity building module that will train students of communications, arts, and marketing (ToT) and representatives from these MSME’s in crowdfunding. Participating MSME’s were selected and paired with students who under expert coaching and mentoring, will help the businesses set up crowdfunding campaigns on different platforms.

The trainings have taught how to present their business in a more attractive manner and target the right audience/backers through communication, marketing, social media, visuals, regular updates, campaign promotion, and to communicate clearly to the backers what the donations were used for.

An evaluation matrix aided the selection of MSME’s with innovative ideas that have the potential to raise additional funding, pertaining to rehabilitating their business and greening their operations. Those MSME’s will undergo additional training and run their campaigns under the name “Unexplored Kosovo '' that will be designed jointly by UNDP and partners. However, UNDP will have no affiliation with Unexplored Kosovo after the training of the MSMEs.

The module consisted of a 2-day physical workshop in the premises of Venture UP (Pristina), preceded by an online orientation season, facilitated, and taught by UNDP Crowdfunding Academy experts, UNDP Kosovo staff, VentureUp, Sustainability Leadership Kosovo, KosovaIdeas, Germin and local experts in important and relevant topics, hosting 16 MSME and startup representatives that will be paired with students before everything starts.

As follow-up support, a small (online) mentorship ‘hub’ will be available which will host mentors that will be following the campaigns about 2 weeks after the training and support the students and MSME’s to publish the campaigns. Apart from the mentioned trainers, we will also have local mentors to be part of the training and coach participants in skills like design, content writing/social media, etc. The mentoring hours after the physical workshop will be open to be booked by participants/teams who need help with further refining their campaign. The mentors will mainly be local but with 2 opportunities of open online hours with a designer from the IRH.

Selected ideas with the most potential when doing the live pitch at the end of day 2 will receive photographic, video and copyrighting services as a resource to support them with photos and/or for their campaign.

Participating MSMEs from the Green Hub Program were Flamed (Dragash), Hotel Dardani (Mitrovicë), Pristina Center Hostel (Prishtinë), Lura Agroturizëm (Novobërdë), B&B BioLodge (Mejë, Gjakovë), City Hostel (Prizren), Hostel Oda (Prishtinë), Koha (Prevallë), Family Restaurant (Prizren).