Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising small amounts of money from a large number of people via the Internet. Crowdfunding is a form of alternative finance. In 2015, over US$34 billion was raised worldwide by crowdfunding. Although similar concepts can be executed through mail-order subscriptions, benefit events, other methods, the term crowdfunding refers to Internet-mediated registries; this modern crowdfunding model is based on three types of actors: the project initiator who proposes the idea or project to be funded, individuals or groups who support the idea, a moderating organization that brings the parties together to launch the idea. Crowdfunding has been used to fund a wide range of for-profit, entrepreneurial ventures such as artistic and creative projects, medical expenses and community-oriented social entrepreneurship projects, its use has been criticised for funding quackery costly and fraudulent cancer treatments. Crowdfunding has a long history with several roots.

Books have been crowdfunded for centuries: authors and publishers would advertise book projects in praenumeration or subscription schemes. The book would be written and published if enough subscribers signaled their readiness to buy the book once it was out; the subscription business model is not crowdfunding, since the actual flow of money only begins with the arrival of the product. The list of subscribers has, the power to create the necessary confidence among investors, needed to risk the publication. War bonds are theoretically a form of crowdfunding military conflicts. London's mercantile community saved the Bank of England in the 1730s when customers demanded their pounds to be converted into gold - they supported the currency until confidence in the pound was restored, thus crowdfunded their own money. A clearer case of modern crowdfunding is Auguste Comte's scheme to issue notes for the public support of his further work as a philosopher; the "Première Circulaire Annuelle adressée par l'auteur du Système de Philosophie Positive" was published on 14 March 1850, several of these notes and with sums have survived.

The cooperative movement of the 19th and 20th centuries is a broader precursor. It generated collective groups, such as community or interest-based groups, pooling subscribed funds to develop new concepts and means of distribution and production in rural areas of Western Europe and North America. In 1885, when government sources failed to provide funding to build a monumental base for the Statue of Liberty, a newspaper-led campaign attracted small donations from 160,000 donors. Crowdfunding on the internet first gained popular and mainstream use in the arts and music communities; the first noteworthy instance of online crowdfunding in the music industry was in 1997, when fans underwrote an entire U. S. tour for the British rock band Marillion, raising US$60,000 in donations by means of a fan-based Internet campaign. They subsequently used this method to fund their studio albums; this built on the success of crowdfunding via magazines, such as the 1992 campaign by the Vegan Society that crowdfunded the production of the "Truth or Dairy" video documentary.

In the film industry, independent writer/director Mark Tapio Kines designed a website in 1997 for his then-unfinished first feature film Foreign Correspondents. By early 1999, he had raised more than US$125,000 on the Internet from at least 25 fans, providing him with the funds to complete his film. In 2002, the "Free Blender" campaign was an early software crowdfunding precursor; the campaign aimed for open-sourcing the Blender 3D computer graphics software by collecting €100,000 from the community while offering additional benefits for donating members. The first company to engage in this business model was the U. S. website ArtistShare. As the model matured, more crowdfunding sites started to appear on the web such as Kiva, IndieGoGo, Kickstarter, GoFundMe, YouCaring; the phenomenon of crowdfunding is older than the term "crowdfunding". According to wordspy.com, the earliest recorded use of the word was in August 2006. The Crowdfunding Centre's May 2014 report identified two primary types of crowdfunding: Rewards crowdfunding: entrepreneurs presell a product or service to launch a business concept without incurring debt or sacrificing equity/shares.

Equity crowdfunding: the backer receives shares of a company in its early stages, in exchange for the money pledged. Reward-based crowdfunding has been used for a wide range of purposes, including motion picture promotion, free software development, inventions development, scientific research, civic projects. Many characteristics of rewards-based crowdfunding called non-equity crowdfunding, have been identified by research studies. In rewards-based crowdfunding, funding does not rely on location; the distance between creators and investors on Sellaband was about 3,000 miles when the platform introduced royalty sharing. The funding for these projects is distributed unevenly, with a few projects accounting for the majority of overall funding. Additionally, funding increases as a project nears its goal, encouraging what is called "herding behavior". Research shows that friends and family account for a large, or majority, portion of early fundraising; this capital may encourage subsequent funders to invest in the project.

While funding does not depend on location, observation shows that funding is tied to the locations of traditional financing options. In reward-based crowdfunding, funders are too hopeful about project returns and must revise expectations when returns are not met. Equity crowdfunding is the collective

The Saginaw City Historic Business District is a commercial historic district located between Michigan Avenue and the Saginaw River, from Cleveland to Van Buren Avenues, in Saginaw, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982; the first development in this area was the establishment of Fort Saginaw in 1822, located near what is now the intersection of Court and Hamilton Streets. The fort was abandoned in 1823. Between 1830 and 1850, development spread out along the river bank, with commercial and residential structures along with small lumber mills. By this time, much of the available land on the west side of the river had been developed, businesses looking for larger parcels turned to the east side; the west side remained the home of smaller businesses, as well as saloons and restaurants serving the lumberjacks and other area laborers. Shopkeepers included a heavy concentration of Germanic immigrants; the earliest structures in the district were rough wood buildings with Greek Revival.

However, a series of fires in the nineteenth century periodically destroyed these wooden buildings, by 1860 replacement structures were brick, three- or four-story Italianate blocks. The structures in the district maintained easy access to the river, as most goods coming to and from Saginaw were transported on the river until nearly 1890; the Saginaw City Historic Business District contains 86 structures, of which 71 contribute to the historic character of the neighborhood. The buildings are commercial in usage, with light industrial buildings located near the river in the southern section of the district. Most of the structures date from the nineteenth century, reflect the Italianate style popular at the time. Other architectural styles in the district include Queen Anne, Georgian Revival, Chicago School. Significant structures in the district include: Fordney Hotel: Built in 1868 at the site of the old fort, this four story hotel was the Taylor House; the hotel closed in 1895, reopened in 1912 under the name Hotel Fordney after Congressman Joseph W. Fordney.

Schuch Hotel: Built in 1868, the Schuch Hotel is a three story brick Italianate structure. It was the Brockway House, was renamed the Benson House, the Crowley House. Benjamin Stable: Built in 1882, this was a brick Queen Anne structure that housed a stable and carriage rental facilities at the first floor level and a mortuary at the second. Merrill Building: Built in 1892, the Merrill building was a three-story Italianate building. Ippels Department Store moved into the building in 1905 and purchased the building in 1980. Bank of Saginaw Building: Built in 1911, this Neo-Classical Revival-style bank was erected by the Bank of Saginaw, founded in 1888; the Bank of Saginaw folded during the Great Depression, the Second National Bank moved into the building

Ima Sugu Oniichan ni Imōto da tte Iitai! known as Imaimo for short, with the tagline "I wanna say that I'm not your brother right now!", is a Japanese visual novel developed by Fairys, a sister brand of Sprite, the creators of Love, Elections & Chocolate. It is rated all ages; the game takes place before the events of Love, Elections & Chocolate, features two of the heroines from that game: Chisato Sumiyoshi and Satsuki Shinonome. The story revolves around the protagonist Rikuto Mitani, whose father remarried a woman who has a daughter. There is a manga adaptation of the game published in Dengeki Daioh. Imaimo and Love, Elections & Chocolate were both featured at the 2012 Anime Contents Expo. A PlayStation Vita version will be released in Japan on 24 April 2014. Kanade Mori Voiced by: Yūko Gibu She is the homeroom teacher in charge of Year 1 Class 8 at Asaoka Academy. Kimika Haida Voiced by: Yōko Hikasa She is Rikuto's classmate and Class 8's chairman as of chapter 6 in the manga, she is a quiet girl.

The first time spoke loud and is in chapter 16 in the manga. She attends the same class as Rikuto, she was a supporting character. Rikuto Mitani Voiced by: Nobunaga Shimazaki He is the protagonist who attends Asaoka Academy as a first year, he is Class 8's vice chairman as of chapter 6 in the manga. He fell in love with Ayumu in her female form without knowing. Rikuto had his doubts when it comes to knowing Ayumu's true gender, so it wasn't until chapter 11 that his thoughts were confirmed. At first, he didn't accept having a new family but he accepted them, he didn't call Ryouko "mom". He would not let Ryouko cook his favorite meal, because, what his deceased mother used to make, he let Ryouko cook him some oyakodon. He calls Ryouko "mom" in chapter 16 of the manga, he crushed Ryuugo at soccer in middle school. Since Ryuugo tried to get him to join the soccer club, although Rikuto said it was a one time coincidence, he carries a wristwatch but because it is for girls, he carries it on his belt. After what happened to his father, he swore never to forgive anyone who would steal someone else's happiness.

He and Ayumu confessed their feelings for one another, not as brother and sister, but as boy and girl. They became a couple, he does not remember but he met Ayumu when they were only three years old. Ayumu Mitani Voiced by: Minori Chihara She is Rikuto's step-sister. Due to her mother, she always dresses like a boy at home; when she is at school, she wears a female uniform. She attends the same class as Rikuto; when she was younger, she always wanted a kind older brother. When she sleeps, she dreams of a kind older brother spoiling her; that was her first love. She and Rikuto confessed their feelings for one another, not as brother and sister, but as boy and girl, they became a couple. She doesn't remember but she met Rikuto when they were only three years old; the older brother in her dream is Rikuto. Matsuri Nanase Voiced by: Kanae Itō Nanase has been Rikuto's "ally" since they were in middle school, she attends the same class as Rikuto. She knows Ayumu's real gender, she is popular amongst boys and gets confessed to a lot though she rejects them just as much.

Mao Shigemori Voiced by: Ai Kayano Due to her grandfather, she wears a male uniform at school, because of this, she is popular among the female students. She wears male underwear, she attends the same class as Rikuto. She likes cute things. Shōsuke Yokoyama Voiced by: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka He is Rikuto's classmate, he likes to act like a gentleman. Naoma Mitani Voiced by: Kazuya Nakai He is Rikuto's father, he only lets Ryouko call him Nao-tan. He works as a chief at a store. Rikuto and his friends sometimes visit; because he can't wear a ring at work, he wears a same one Ikumi wore, instead. He took off his "ring" in chapter 14, saying that he has moved on and Rikuto should too; when Rikuto was young, he let an old friend take care of the expenses in the "new" store. He lost contact with his friend and never saw him since. With most of the money gone, he couldn't pay for Ikumi's surgery that she needed and died. Ikumi Mitani She is Rikuto's deceased mother, she died when he was young. Rikuto has her wristwatch, used as a wedding ring.

Ryouko Mitani Voiced by: Yui Horie She is Ayumu's mother. She is a 35-year-old professional make-up artist. Miku Kanzaki Voiced by: Ayana Taketatsu She is a 12-year-old girl who lives next door to the Mitani family's apartment. Ryuugo Kobayashi Voiced by: Megumi Ogata He is the sophomore of Asaoka Academy and the ace striker of soccer club, he and Rikuto were junior since middle school. Chisato Sumiyoshi Voiced by: Eriko Nakamura She is Ayumu's cousin, she is from Love, Elections & Chocolate. Satsuki Shinonome Voiced by: Yū Asakawa She is Matsuri's childhood friend, she is from Love, Elections & Chocolate. Kōzō Shigemori Voiced by: Yōsuke Akimoto He is Mao's father. In an interview with ASCII Media Works, the game's producer Akira Sakamoto said that there had been requests from "young users" for all ag