Crowd funding is a hot topic. Websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo have created an incredible impact on the Internet: people and projects that need an extra boost in investments can now find the money they need with the click of a button. Consumers are empowered with the ability to browse projects and be selective in what they invest in, creating an emotional connection to a product and allowing them to say, “I was there, I was a part of making this happen.” However, not every project out there needs money. They are not all tangible products that can be paid for. Sometimes, they just need your time.
Welcome to Interluude. This platform, with roots at UWSA, has a very simple credo: Have some time? Find a project. Need a hand? Post a project. The service, completely free of charge, is a social network of volunteers. Interluude will revolutionize the way we find helping hands and the way we decide how to spend our spare time.
“There is no money involved with Interluude. We don’t raise money for projects and we don’t keep a commission. 100% ownership of the work belongs to the creator.”
Project creators set a goal of how many man-hours are needed and when they need them by, but that’s not the end. If the campaign meets its goal, volunteers are contacted and the project happens. If it doesn’t, it might not – that’s up to the organizer. The all-or-nothing mentality is amazingly effective at rallying people to pledge their time, but a lack of volunteers won’t necessarily stop a project from happening. The types of projects that can be posted on the site are totally up to the creator, as long as it benefits someone or something beyond themselves.
Have some spare time? Find something that interests you. That’s the beauty of Interluude: you choose what kinds of projects you help out with. Volunteers are what make projects happen, and within the global community that is already online, we can raise more awareness about a project than ever before. Being online allows anybody to post any project in any location, no matter the scale. Volunteering has many benefits: creator-assigned incentives (similar to Kickstarter), experience and résumé building, or the feeling of doing some good for your community are just a few of these.
The Interluude initiative was created by Sam Vickars and Andrew Cole as part of an RSA Student Design Awards brief. The brief, from a British design association, called for students to rethink how people donate to good causes, but has since gone further than expected. Within the first 36 hours of internet exposure, Interluude’s Facebook page had reached over 3000 people (and counting).
Facebook: facebook.com/interluude
Twitter: @Interluude (twitter.com/interluude)
Vimeo: vimeo.com/87505395
The website (interluu.de) is nearing completion, with a soft launch set within three weeks.
