FonPop Press Release  |  By Yannick Lacoste  posted on Jul 4, 2013

Montreal, July 4, 2013 - While Quebec suffers from a lack of funding for culture, the Quebec government announced yesterday the establishment of a tax credit for cultural philanthropy. However, this tax credit totally ignores new trends and funding practices on the Web, especially those related to the financing of cultural projects through crowdfunding.

Crowdfunding donation is booming all around the world: 2.7 billion were funded in 2012 in nearly 1 million campaigns over 500 platforms, among which already 15 in Quebec.  Crowdfunding cannot be excluded anymore from reflections on cultural philanthropy, especially since the amount of money raised by this new means of financing doubles each year. According to figures released by the Canada Media Fund on July 2, 2013 during the "CrowdFund Night" in Montreal, more than 21% of crowdfunding projects directly concern cultural activities.

Fonpop regrets that no crowdfunding stakeholder has been consulted by either the Ministry of Culture of Quebec, or by the Committee of philanthropy created by Mrs. Marois.  Fonpop has yet sought to contribute to the Committee, but the call is still unanswered to this day.

The Committee’s conclusions and the measures announced of a tax credit for donations above $ 5,000 will only touch a very small part of the population and do not take into account the public’s contribution into small donations.

"We are simply asking the government to consider a reality that has totally changed within the last five years. The average donation amount for culture is 25 $ in crowdfunding.  Excluding small donations on websites from the tax credit is equivalent to staying blind about the ongoing crowdfunding revolution" says Yannick Lacoste, president of Fonpop.

Fonpop hopes to be heard promptly to enable implementation of measures that will have a real impact with a wider audience. If 40,000 people donate $ 25, it contributes to culture for $ 1 million, but no one today encourages these small philanthropists to do so.

About Fonpop
Fund projects in your community! Fonpop.com is a worldwide crowdfunding website.  Fonpop believes that every creator should get a chance to achieve its innovative projects with the support of his or her community! Fonpop helps fund projects with your community, in exchange of rewards you offer to your support.

Media contact:
Adèle Mauthès   -  phone: 514-288-3888 ext. 252, info@fonpop.com

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