Verkami is a crowdfunding platform.

In other words, it's a place where many patrons get together to make small individual contributions to finance original and innovative ideas by creators, entrepeneurs, promoters and organizations.

Artists and entrepeneurs get to fund their projects while keeping 100% ownership.

Patrons receive all sorts of exclusive rewards in return.

verkami is a private initiative born in Mataró (Barcelona) from a father and his two sons: Joan, Adrià and Jonàs Sala, a biologist, an art historian and a physicist. We share the passion for creativity, art and research, and being able to make small manifestations of the things we most love come true is what motivates our work.

Crowdfunding is a way of collectively financing a project while receiving great rewards (products, services or experiences) in return.

Contributing to a project is not the same as investing in it. In verkami, creators keep 100% ownership of their work.

Anyone with a good idea. Creators and entrepeneurs from all cultural and social aspects of life: films, music, theatre, comics, community proyects,design, software, photography, tecnology, social endeavours, journalism, literature.

Verkami is also a great tool for promoters, curators and associations to organize concerts, exhibitions, fairs or any other sort of event.

It's also a good barometer, a good way of testing concepts without risk. Patrons are a good sample of how popular or successful a project might be. If a project doesn't have enough supporters then perhaps it needs to be focused differently or adapted to make it better.

Every project has a funding goal that must be reached in less than 40 days. Once the time has expired there are two scenarios:

1. The project is successfully funded. The patrons' card will be charged when the project reaches its funding deadline.
2. The project is not successfully funded. The patrons' contribution is canceled, their card is never charged and no money changes hands.

Because it'd be tough for a creator to fulfill an audience's expectations with only a percentage of the project's original budget. The project needed 100, not 40 or 50 to achieve what we wanted to achieve.

Even better! Because the project can continue to raise funds until the 40-day period is over.

That's right. During the time left, patrons can continue to make contributions and receive rewards while creators think of a way to use these extra funds. For example, if a project is about publishing a book, then the author might decide to do a larger edition or publish it in better quality paper, or make it hard-cover.

You can register from our home. We'll ask you who you are and what you are up to, and what your project is about.

The more detailed the description, the better. Tell us about the idea behind it, how much money you need, what do you think you'll have to spend it in, what rewards have you considered, why, what levels of contribution have you set, etc.

Once you have filled in the form, our adminsitrators will carefully review your project. We might even contact you to ask you to add more details, or be more precise. Either way, we'll let you know in less than 10 days if your project is approved. And once we do, you're all set, edit your project's page and you can begin fundraising immediately. Don't forget that once you publish your project the 40-day countdown begins.

Verkami supports quality projects that are creative and innovative. Reviewing the projects before they are published helps us maintain that benchmark.

This time also gives us the opportunity to give you feedback so that you can present your information in the clearest and most attractive way possible.

We're a small but dynamic team. We'll try to give you an answer in less than 10 working days.

No. But as soon as your project has reached its deadline and you have abide by your commitment to your patrons, you can start a new one.

A project can be any idea you come up with. Of course, nothing that might be offensive, violent or in bad taste. It can't be illegal or break any laws. You can read more about this in our terms of use.

No. Anyone from anywhere in the world (as long as they have a bank account) can publish a project.

There are 3 basics: know how much your funding goal will be, determine how many levels of contributions you will have and how much each one will be, select fun and smart rewards to give your patrons in return.

The funding goal is basically your budget. It must reflect how much money you will need to make your project but also, the cost of the rewards, the cost of delivering them, are you taking into account taxes, bank fees, verkami's 5%, etc.

The minimum funding goal is 800€. There is no maximum.

You have 40 days from the day you publish your project.

Nothing happens. It's great news! You can keep raising money until the 40-day period is over.

The rewards is what you give patrons in return for their contributions. It's important that you determine different levels of contributions so they are accesible to all budgets. Remember that those 10 people who contribute 25€ are just as important as the one who contributes 250€.

Anything as long as you are creative and you keep three things in mind: they must be fun, smart and symbolic. A great reward is a good incentive for anyone to support your project. Our advice is for them to be tangible, they might be anything from products, experiences or services. They can be unpretentious like a signed postcard or access to a download for 5€, or super exclusive like tickets to a movie premiere or lunch with the lead actor for 1000€.

The level of contributions can range from 5€ to 5000€

Patrons make their contributions by credit card. We like to call them, commitments of contribution since they are only effective if your project reaches its funding goal in 40 days. If it does, when you reach your funding deadline we will ask you to send us your bank account information to make a deposit of the money raised minus the 5% that verkami charges due its services.

No. Publishing your project is free. Verkami only charges a 5% due its services over your funding goal. This fee is applicable only if your project is successfully funded. If it's not, then no money changes hands.

Yes. If your project is successfully funded then Caixa Catalunya charges a transaction fee (betweee 1.30% and 1.45%) for each contribution made with a different card.

No, not unless you want to. If you do, you can add them as a contribution.

No. Creators keep 100% ownership of their work.

Every creator/ author has their own admin page for their project. There you can edit and personalize your project's page: you can change the background colour, edit text, add images and videos, edit or add new rewards, stay in touch with your patrons, manage your blog, answer questions about your project, pose questions about other projects, etc.

You can add text, images and videos from YouTube or Vimeo.

Yes. The only two things you cannot edit are: your funding goal and those rewards where patrons have already contributed money.

If you make any changes to your project, you must inform your patrons. To inform them you can either send them an email from your project's admin page or tell them through your project's blog.

Questions are the best way to clarify your message, to address any doubts or concerns. They will help you know whether your project's description needs some tweaking.

We suggest you answer them soon, keep them brief and to the point.

Because through the blog you can keep your audience updated of your project's progress, of news related with it, or changes you might be introducing and get some feedback. Remember that the more you make your patrons part of you creative process, the more they'll feel like the project is their own, and the more they'll help you to promote it.

Patrons and followers can subscribe to your blog's RSS feed and keep updated. Also, Your most recent articles are visible from your project's page.

No. Once the 40-day period has passed you will only be able to answer questions in the Q&A section and publish new articles in your blog. You won't be able to edit anything else.

Although it's not recommendable, if you think you need to, you can stop you project at anytime. All contributions will be cancelled but you'll be able to keep communicating with your patrons.

If for whatever reason you think you won't be able to complete your project as you said you would, you must stop your project and cancel fundraising. If you have successfully funded your project and have already received the money then you are expected to give all the money back. A failure to do so could result in damage to your reputation or even legal action on behalf of your patrons.

No, once you have published it, you can't delete it. We believe that all projects are part of our history and we can always learn from them.

If you need any information from your patrons, address or T-shirt size, etc. you can contact them directly via email from your project's admin page.

Both you and your followers have access to a widget from your project's page and buttons to share your project's info with friends in Facebook and followers in Twitter. They can also send the info. via email.

We recommend you come up with a good strategy to spread the word. Make the most out of all the online tools available to you. Remember, the more people know about your project, the higher the probability of being sucessfully funded.

During the 40-day funding period, patrons can make their contributions by credit card using the Catalunya Caiza gateway. Verkami does not have access to your credit card details.

Every project has different levels of contribution and different rewards for each one. Check out the rewards and select the one you like the most or the one that better fits your budget.

We call them "commitments" because they're only effective if the project you support reaches its funding goal within the funding deadline. If it fails to do so, your card is not charged.

You receive the reward you have selected. Your contribution is not an investment. Creators in verkami keep 100% ownership of their work.

Yes. Once the funding deadline is over, we will send you an email to let you know whether the project supported was (or was not) sucessfully funded. You will also receive an email to inform you that your card has been charged.

Yes, you can make your contribution from anywhere in the world using the Caixa Catalunya gateway.

The creator has access to your username, the amount you have contributed, and the reward you have selected. He can send you an email from his project's page but he does not have your email address.

Yes, if you register in verkami using an alias.

A project's success depends on word of mouth and relies on you as patron to make that happen. The best thing you can do is to tell people about it, to recommend it and make sure that if they like it, they support it. In the project's page you have several tools to help you do this: you have a widget, you can send the project via email, you can share it with your friends in Facebook and followers in Twitter.

You can give creators feedback through the project's blog or ask questions in the Q&A section to help him/her address things he/she perhaps wasn't aware of. But especially, you can help by sharing it with your friends and family and by getting them involved.

Creators are wholly responsible for their promises. Remember that creators are the ones most interested in doing things right because there are many things at stake: their reputation and losing you as supporter, for example.

In case they don't abide by their commitment, patrons could take legal action against them.

Creators in verkami must complete their project as listed and abude by their commitments to patrons. In case they don't/ can't they must give back each patron their contribution.

We would advise you against it but if you have to cancel, you can do it before the project's funding deadline ends. Write us an email and we'll cancel it for you.

If your credit card is declined, you will receive a notification via email with a link that will redirect you to a new page to try again. This time though, your contribution is not a commitment but a direct contribution.

Verkami is a neologism we have created by putting together two words in esperanto:

Verko: (artistic creation or scientific; work; production) or in its verb form verki: (to create artistic or scientific works; to produce art)

Ami: love, like, and that etymologically comes from the word "friend".

So verkami's something like: "a friend of creation"

What do they say about verkami on the radio, television, written press, online publications... in our media section.

To see where we have been spreading the word of crowdfunding visit our events section.

Do you need our logo, images or videos? Here you have our press kit.

Follow us at @verkami

Visit our facebook fan page

Read it here www.verkami.com/blog

It was designed by Vostok and programmed by Linking Paths. Thank you Javier, Aitor and the rest of the team.