Crowd involvement in CHEST: Insights and recommendations for crowdsourcing in innovative funding schemes and successful crowdfunding of Digital Social Innovations
A central goal of CHEST is to explore new ways of fostering Digital Social Innovations in Europe implementing different means and modules supporting that goal. Consequently, CHEST is more than only a platform running an idea competition providing seed funding to social innovators. It is a decentralized connected platform for Digital Social Innovations integrating a mix of technical (online) modules, on-site measures and best practice guidelines supporting grassroots initiatives through seed funding, collaborative knowledge and through the extended community of experts and other stakeholders (multipliers, social innovators and target groups).
This document summarizes the various ways in which CHEST has fostered crowd and community involvement in Digital Social Innovations aiming to provide insights and guidance for Social Innovators as well as recommendations for the design of future funding initiatives similar to CHEST. Firstly, CHEST has been implementing approaches of open innovation in the field of DSI crowdsourcing, selecting and funding the best ideas tackling societal challenges in three open calls. CHEST also experimented with possibilities to include online communities in the monitoring and evaluation of its beneficiaries. Finally, we also aimed to provide support for our beneficiaries beyond the CHEST funding period and also to the numerous applicants with great ideas that did not receive funding under CHEST. For them – and for the wider social innovation community – we have developed a best practice guideline on running successful crowdfunding campaigns for social innovators. The main takeaways for future initiatives similar to CHEST and for social entrepreneurs are provided in this report.
Further information: Crowd involvement in CHEST