The University of Leeds, in collaboration with Local Partnerships and Abundance Investment, has launched a landmark report assessing the suitability of investment-based crowdfunding for the public sector.

Working with six public sector case studies, we found that a major barrier to local authorities capitalising upon new models of finance was under-capacity when trying to acquire the necessary knowledge and expertise to do so.

We would therefore like to invite you to participate in an active local authority training workshop, to be held in Leeds on Tuesday 18th June, at which you will:

• Hear from the research team and local authority case studies on how investment-based crowdfunding can be used to support public sector project delivery;
• Acquire advice on the legal and regulatory framework of local authority crowdfunding;
• Be introduced to the concept of Community Municipal Bonds, an innovative approach to local authority borrowing co-created by the research team and public sector partners that aims to raise money from the public at rates cheaper in both capital and administrative costs than the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB);
• Acquire also a better understanding of local donation-based crowdfunding, to explore the full range of additional finance options for your local authority; 
• Learn about future grant opportunities to pilot the use of investment-based crowdfunding in your region.

Please visit our Local Authority Guide to find out more about our research into investment-based crowdfunding for the public sector.

There are a limited number of spaces for this free workshop due to the focus on training and learning outcomes, so please register earlyusing this link: https://financingforsociety.eventbrite.co.uk

Download the full report and executive summary of Financing for Society:Assessing the Suitability of Crowdfunding for the Public Sector, by Mark Davis and Laura Cartwright.