Now to the question of what a project is.

Any active backer in the community may have a project which he intends to execute. This project could result in the backer growing his business from a parlour operation to a national operation.

To achieve this, he needs more clients than he currently has. By running a campaign on the platform, interested backers will signify interest and subsequently pre-order his product. If for instance he use to cater to 20 people in the past and now 10,000 people pay for his product, it becomes quite difficult for him to meet up with the surge in demand.

This is where the community steps in and ensures that the operations are centralized as much as possible, and the pre-orders are delivered.

The active backer who promoted the campaign for this project can also be called the promoter.

Sarahluv:
And pls, for the benefit of some of us who'd like to know, what are campaigns, backers, projects and the promoters you mentioned.

For the second question - who is a backer?

A backer is someone who has seen a campaign he likes and decides to back it so that he can enjoy the goods/services and the attached bonus when he completes payment.

He never needs to make any payment until the total number of required backers for the project is achieved.

The backer also enjoys certain benefits, because only an active backer can get a new project campaign approved.

Sarahluv:
And pls, for the benefit of some of us who'd like to know, what are campaigns, backers, projects and the promoters you mentioned.

Great question. Let me start with what a campaign is.

Crowdfunding in Nigeria in the context we are considering allows every single Nigerian to raise funds in order to create the product/brand they wish to build.

It supports projects which create something tangible, sustainable and enduring.

In order to raise funds, you need to fill the form in the appropriate part of the website and create a campaign telling backers what they stand to gain by supporting your project.

Since backers are pre-ordering a product that may take some time to deliver, they are usually given significant bonuses.

After filling the form, provided you have met the criteria for active members, you will wait for approval.

If you are lucky to get the approval, your campaign is created to tell everyone about what you are offering.

Those who back campaigns get to enjoy both bonuses and a chance to upload their own campaign.

Another wonderful thing about this model is that if you design your campaign very well, one successfully completed project may serve as a foundation for continuous growth, since the backers will remain customers month after month.

The implication is that many can take their businesses from a kitchen operation to a national operation, and possibly in future, an African and global operation.

I'll stop here for now and try to answer the rest of your question tomorrow.

Sarahluv:
Cool, but what if I pay and they cannot get enough people to meet up with the project requirements.

If you go through some of the write-up, you will notice that they do not collect any backer's pre-order if the total number of backers needed is not attained.

This works out well for the backers because you will not have someone tying down your money, and it is almost certain that transactions start to move briskly once the numbers are completed.

It also works out well for the project promoter because he only needs to take action as soon as the required number of backers who will make his product profitable, come on board.

The fact that the promoter is also supervised centrally makes it a lot easier for the community to ensure that all backers receive what they have paid for. Brb

Sarahluv:
And pls, for the benefit of some of us who'd like to know, what are campaigns, backers, projects and the promoters you mentioned.

Sorry, I've been a bit busy. I will address your questions in a little while.

Sarahluv:
Nice summation sir. I really like it that fundscheap is helping Nigerians think big. My only reservation is whether crowdfunding can actually work in Nigeria.

That is a valid question so many will ask, and I fully understand where they are coming from. For any crowdfunding platform to work in Nigeria, it first and foremost, must not be crowdfunding for equity. Secondly, all backers must be protected and at least have some form of guarantee that they will receive the goods they have pre-ordered.

It is for this reason that the fundscheap approach easily takes the number one position it terms of attempting to deliver a workable crowdfunding platform for Nigerians. They focus on delivering projects which are supervised centrally to ensure that every backer gets what he has paid for, and if for some reason, the promoter of such campaigns cannot pull his weight and get things done, they offer perks of equivalent value to preserve their integrity.

I believe it is the best way to approach crowdfunding in Nigeria, and with such a plan, it can only achieve humongous success.

WHAT IS THE SOLUTION?

First thing first, you need to change your mindset and start to regard your salary not as money for immediate spending, but as capital towards building your own business. That way, you will find it a bit easier to put aside a few thousands monthly for your own benefit.

Then you need to get a reliable community the Fundscheap platform makes it possible for most Nigerians to put aside a little part of their monthly salaries in form of payment for goods and services in installments, while you get to monetize when you receive your products.

For anyone, I mean any Nigerian who also has a dream to start a business while working at his day job, this gives them a superb platform to raise funds for themselves, since such communities will centrally process most projects, thus giving visibility and a help-desk facility to all backers. It means your business will probably already be a success before you think of letting go of your day job.

It is a lot easier for backers to monitor all such pre-order payments since it is a community and every project promoter gets to update its backers with pictures and videos, as well as on-site visits among other things.

The advantages of such a platform are many, but I will consider another real-life example.

Imagine pre-ordering a timeshare for a hotel room by paying just N20,000 monthly form your salary. Timeshares are for one week in a year, and your proposed room will fetch you N20,000 per night if you mandate the operators to give it out. This will fetch you a lump sum of N140,000 yearly for a few decades, meaning you are virtually collecting rent without being a landlord.

Now, imagine that you cautiously started with pre-orders for one unit, and upon seeing the progression of the project, you increase your holdings to 2-5 units. Easily, you will be raking in some decent hundreds of thousands annually as lump sum.

The great thing with such platforms is that they also accelerate the approval for campaigns by backers of hotel projects such as yourself to raise funds for their own hotel projects, even if they had never imagined that it was a possibility for them in 5 years.

What this simply means is that by changing your mindset from one which does not believe you are capable of putting up a structure because of a poor salary figure, to one which believes you can own a hotel in the next five years, you will actually get a better chance of achieving such a dream while doing everything legally. I will simply suggest you always keep yourself abreast of new campaigns, as there will also be hotel projects which will cost just N5000 monthly in pre-orders.


CONCLUSION

Paying yourself first on a monthly basis is very important if you want to build a future of financial security. You need a plan, an investment outlay, and a simple vehicle which can help you achieve your goals. The fundscheap platform looks out for Nigerians and is a highly recommended place to begin.

One great thing about such platforms is that they do not collect any payment from you until they have a minimum pre-determined number of backers ready to fund the project, and since you are pre-ordering, you get HUGE bonuses when the project is complete.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO PAY YOURSELF DESPITE ALL THESE BARRIERS?

The truth is this: Spending ninety thousand per month on expenses will almost go as far as spending one hundred thousand in the same month. Besides, if you are spending ALL your salary and even borrowing on a monthly basis, you are preparing the ground for a disastrous financial future.

Having little or no savings puts you in a position to keep digging yourself into debt, and in case of an emergency, you will need to borrow, that is if "you see to borrow".

So, can you squeeze out N5,000 to N20,000 on a monthly basis for the purpose of delaying gratification and accessing lump sums in the future which will help meet bigger dreams? I am not talking about saving it in the bank, as most people find it impossible to save, no thanks to our economic realities.

What I mean is this - consistently use a little portion of your salary to pre-order goods/services on a crowdfunding platform which accepts payment in installments, and when your purchase is ready and due, you get something remarkably tangible.

Let me give a real practical example:

Imagine setting aside N6500 (money which would barely take care of just one outing with the girls/guys) monthly from your earnings to pre-order a ton of raw cashew nuts from a crowdfunding platform, and when your full payment is complete and your produce due, you get to sell it stress-free for N550,000 ( which is 2017 price. It could be more in 2018).

You would have paid yourself first every month, at zero stress, bringing out N6500 at a time, while reaping over half a million Naira in lump sum.



THE CHALLENGE

What's that? No crowdfunding website will fund most of Nigerian businesses? Well, to some extent, you are right. No FOREIGN crowdfunding site will put out and support most Nigerian businesses. Not kickstarter, not gofundme, not fundrazr nor indiegogo will achieve funding success for up to 10% of Nigerians who dare to seek for funds on their platform, so you will find it impossible to monthly put in N6500 of your own funds in support of any such business.

Yet a few years ago someone came on kickstarter with a project saying he wanted to make vegetable salad, and he needed just $10. Funny project, right?

Well, the funds rolled in, and kept rolling in, until he had raised over $55,000! For a dream to make a bowl of vegetable salad!

So, why is it so easy for the westerners, and difficult for Africans/Nigerians to raise funds for bigger projects?

Well, each time some misguided "yo-yo" (no pun intended) cheats anyone from anywhere in the world in the course of doing business, or regarding matters of the heart, he almost completely wipes out trust for his compatriots in the eyes of a few more citizens of the world, and this makes it difficult for the rest of us.

Trust, which is naturally a scarce commodity, has become more difficult to come about in Nigeria than it is to find N999,999 while walking on the streets, so much so that we do not trust ourselves anymore, and with good reason. Many have got their fingers burnt while dealing with others in the past.

This is just one of the challenges I have highlighted. There are so many more.

Many motivational speakers always harp on the fact that "you should pay yourself first" at the end of every month, before paying all others - your internet service provider, your gsm service provider, your cable tv provider, your vendor, your brewer (especially your brewer), your mama put, etc.

The problem is that most of these speakers are not close to Nigerians and really do not understand how the Nigerian system works. They, for example, will find it difficult to understand that:

i. We do not own credit cards in Nigeria (most people don't), so it makes zero sense to advise someone resident in Nigeria to cut his credit cards and avoid debts.

ii. When it comes to providing amenities, the people are a government to themselves. For example, we provide our own security, potable water and power in addition to so many basic amenities, most of the time.

iii. The average Nigerian not only takes care of his nuclear family, but is expected to take care of his extended family because there is nothing like a practical social welfare program for the elderly, nor council flats, nor any enduring social commitment from the government in any way. This makes the salaries of many-a-worker inadequate ab-initio.

iv. Even when you manage to keep something aside, and set up a business by the side, dishonest Staff are more likely to turn your dream into a conduit which will drain future salaries the more, hence most people prefer to only go into business when they disengage from paid employment.

www.fundscheap.com/project/do-you-have-the-guts

An2elect2:
Please where did Jesus preach tithing? There are so many threads here that have been created to debunk the tithing lie why don't you check them out and stop this manipulation of God's word to say what you want it to say. Nawa ooo

Thanks for your contribution. Pls go through what you have written again - you are elevating threads on nairaland above the Bible. You should not be quick to accuse one of manipulating God's word if you do not even know God's word and the verse where Christ talked about the subject matter.

Mathew 23:23 - Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

In this verse, Christ talked about two things - tithes and the weightier matter of the law. For the avoidance of doubt, He went ahead to say the scribes and Pharisees should have done one, and not left the other undone.

Except anyone says he knows the spiritual things more than Christ, then you will recognize than Christ taught them that they ought to tithe and ought to observe the weightier matters of the law. He tells you that law, judgement, mercy and faith are weightier than tithing, yet you should tithe.

If you have gone through my earlier posts on this thread, what I am against is the twisting of the practice of tithing to favor a certain few to the detriment of others.

In my view, tithes, which is just 10% of farm produce is even minuscule compared to the widow's mite or what you can do for someone you love. If a family member needs help, you can give him your entire salary and even borrow simply because you love him, yet Christ has said the summary of the gospel are to love the Lord with all your heart, soul and might, and secondly, love your neighbor as yourself.

Talking about the anomalous way tithe is preached nowadays does not preclude the fact that God loves a cheerful giver.

bloodofthelamb:
WHEN DID THE NEW TESTAMENT BEGAN? IS IT BEFORE THE CROSS{DEATH} OF JESUS OR AFTER THE CROSS?

What I do know is that everything Christ said is law and will come to pass. Christ supported tithing of farm produce as well as selfless giving like the widow who gave all. The substance of my write up is that some have abused the spirit and letter of the law on tithing for personal gain, while conveniently sidelining some of the legitimate beneficiaries of tithe.

An2elect2:
The tithing Christ endorsed here was the tenth of their farm produce to the Levites and this was still binding until His death. Christ's death put an end to the law. No more do this and do that to blessed. It is now Christ living in us How simple

And now who would not want to help the needy cheerfully? Who would not want to assist genuine ministers of the gospel? Who would see a brother or sister in need and turn his back?

When we put the horse before the cart, the gospel first we would not worry about who is not giving because we would always have people moved by God's Spirit to give

While we are in agreement concerning ministers feeding the congregation with the raw word, I do not accept that tithing is redundant. It was preached by Jesus and serves as an avenue for farmers to honor God. Offering on the other hand is a great way for others to honor God. Remember the widow's mite?

An2elect2:
If you did not condemn the practice of giving tithe in this dispensation you said nothing. Is it so hard to accept we are no longer under the law? And tell people so? Why should they tithe at all?

Thank you for your contribution. Inasmuch as you may feel a certain way concerning tithes, let us not be quick to assume that we know it all. Let us see what the Bible has to say concerning this issue.

In the new testament, Matthew 23:23, Christ Himself said -

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone."

Christ spoke about two things - Tithing and weightier matters of the law ( which are judgement, mercy and faith), and He insisted that the scribes and pharisees ought to have done both, meaning Christ endorsed tithing, so we cannot discard tithing.

Now what was being "tithed" is up for discussion, as none of the disciples was recorded paying tithes, not even Peter when he had his record-breaking catch, probably because none of them were farmers. Besides, there seems to be no proof that employees were ever mandated to pay tithes.


That said, giving offering towards the work of God is very important and pleases God when it is done with a cheerful heart. Members of the early church even sold everything they had and brought to the church, and it was distributed to each member as each needed, such that there was no difference between those who did not have and those who had. This was done out of love for the gospel and respect for God. It was far more than the little 10% many complain about.

The way one gives should be dictated by the way he loves his God and wants to honor the Almighty. Also if it is argued that the modern day tithing should be accepted as it is and we accept that from the ministers, then we must accept it fully and also include the tithes for the Levites, strangers, fatherless and widows in the equation. They must also be allowed to benefit from everyone's tithe throughout the year of the tithe which is the third year of tithing.

Before I begin, I would like to state the following:

1. God manifests Himself in three forms - the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. One God; three manifestations. Carnal man can never understand this mystery because God's ways are not man's ways.

2. Christ has been on the earth from the beginning as illustrated by the encounter between Abraham and Melchizedek; and also the fourth being seen and recognized as the Son of man in the fiery furnace by king Nebucadnezzer, who himself had some encounters with God, even though he did not know God. There are a few other illustrations to back this up.

Christ even told the Israelites that even their father Abraham was happy when he met Christ. Some pharisees attempted to do Him harm when He said this, saying how could someone who was barely 30 years old claim to be greater than Abraham.

If you believe Jesus is of God, then you must believe His words concerning being omnipresent


3. Abraham recognized His divinity and paid tithes to Him as a mark of honor even when tithing was not a law. Giving Him a tithe of the spoils was a mark of honor, love and respect.

4. The love of money makes people want to hold tight to cash, will ensure that they find it difficult to give, and is characterized by giving grudgingly. The Bible is totally against the love of money.



WHY THE PREAMBLE

We need to be very clear that the ability to give is a sign of the honor and love you have for God. A tithe is only a small fraction of what love for God will drive you to give.

People will give with joy, according to their level of understanding only, and will not feel constrained for God loves a cheerful giver. Building the faith of the congregation will ensure that they get to a level where every amount given comes from depths of joy.



IS THERE DELIBERATE DECEIT IN THE WAY TITHING IS PREACHED?

Firstly every three years, your tithe is meant to be given to Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled. Deut. 26:12.

I have never heard any preacher ask his congregation to give the tithes to these recipients in the third year. Is it that the pastors do not know this verse of the Bible, or is it simply convenient to deprive these recipients of the little joy which should have been set aside for them? These are poor helpless people whom the Bible has provided for, yet they are being robbed blindly.


Secondly, there were many classes of workers in biblical times, yet no field worker was ever asked to bring tithes. Field workers get paid salaries, so there was money in those days, yet God did not request their money as tithes. Rather, farmers were the primary target of tithing.

Thirdly, Christ lambasted the Pharisees who were very faithful in tithing farm produce while ignoring weightier matters of the law. It seems we still have Pharisees in our midst, though in this context, they don't care much for farm produce; they prefer the raw cash. And of course every class of worker has been drafted into the tithe bracket; even new born babies. The weightier matters of the law? Modern day Pharisees simply gloss over these.


Fourthly, Ezekiel 34:2 says "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock?"

Let Ministers of the word dwell on this in all good conscience. Note that this verse of the Bible is also rarely preached about.



CONCLUSION

If ministers teach the congregation and build their faith, more members will give offerings acceptable unto God, and not the offering of Cain. People do not need to be cajoled to pay tithes as many of these tithes will be rejected since they are not given with a cheerful heart. Let the people mature to the extent of eating the meat of the word and doing the needful, then the fear of God will prevent people from bringing any tainted offering or the proceed of crime into the house of God.

To show you how much God abhors tainted offerings, the Bible even says when you bring your offering unto God, and you remember that you have issues with your neighbor, you should first go and settle with your neighbor before coming back to present your offering. Nowadays unfortunately, many do not follow this word and some people even go as far as bringing embezzled money to church, and this is contrary to the word of God.

God loves a cheerful giver, so give according to your understanding. The more you know, the more money becomes a servant to you.

Dirtiness at its peak! I am very sure the religion tells them the implication of praying in filth and also asks them to wash before prayers, but do they listen? No. To the mire, where there is an abundance of excrement; to the mire they make haste. To the streets where some of them have deposited their pee and sundry waste; to the streets they stray. Draping yourselves in overalls of dirt while practicing your piety, in the belief that you gain an advantage over others by constituting a nuisance, and be rest assured your prayers are not pleasing to God.

banito1:
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prudentkolly:
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IWillSucceed:
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EUGENE4GOO:
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grabdbull:
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Mightyguy:
Alrt bro, gonna mak an offer soon.

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IWillSucceed:
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Gabreal1:
Ymodulus, will it be available later?

The stock is probably exhausted. Ymodulus, this was some real clearance sales. Kudos

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Mightyguy:
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Thank you for the question.

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prudentkolly:
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