Blog: Hitting the ground bouncing

So, you’ve pitched at RSA Bounce in three minutes, done the Q&A, chatted over pizza and wine, and collected contacts, anecdotes, and business cards; what happens next? Six months on from my RSA Bounce talk, Jolabokaflod is coming of age with its first ever crowdfunding project, 'The Icelanders Cometh'.

Iceland is a land in love with books and literature. Ever since the country gained independence from Denmark at the end of World War II, the Icelandic tradition of Jólabókaflóð (Christmas Book Flood) has encouraged citizens to buy books to give to family and friends for reading at Christmas.

Endorsed by senior Icelandic diplomats and by literature organisations in Iceland and the UK, I launched Jolabokaflod Book Campaign at the RSA in November 2015, to extend the reach of the Icelandic literary tradition to the UK and the rest of the world. The Jolabokaflod Book Campaign encourages people everywhere to buy books to give as gifts to be read at, or after, festive occasions.

The Icelanders Cometh

The Jolabokaflod Book Campaign has teamed up with CrowdPatch, the social enterprise crowdfunding platform that allows projects to keep all the money they raise, to offer anyone in the world with a great idea for championing the buying, giving and reading of books the chance to run a book-related crowdfunding project to benefit their local and/or online communities.

Founded and run by RSA Fellow and social entrepreneur, Simon Krystman, CrowdPatch offers projects opportunities for supporters to contribute money in exchange for Rewards, volunteer skills, expertise, ideas, contact introductions, and updates to blogs and websites, and share news via social media. When a project reaches 25%, it can be hosted within other interest-area ‘patches’ at CrowdPatch. The CrowdPatch platform is a great way of raising money and marketplace profile for you and your RSA Bounce project. 

The Icelanders Cometh is raising money for UK librarians to purchase books in English by chosen Icelandic authors to add to their lending stock. Already live, the target figure is £2304.16 (the date of World Book Night), but the more money raised, the more books can be bought for library collections. Every penny raised by the project will be spent by UK libraries on the featured books; CrowdPatch does not take a percentage fee.

The Icelanders Cometh is an opportunity for everyone on LinkedIn to get involved right now in the following ways:

Contribute: By donating to the project, you will receive a reward that will benefit you and/or your projects and businesses (e.g. many types of digital marketing promotion are on offer).

Volunteer: You can help the project to reach its goals by committing to spread the word face-to-face and online with people in your networks (e.g. engage with schools, libraries, friends, family, bloggers, and avid book readers).

Share: Tell friends and followers in your social media networks about the project and raise awareness.

Get in touch

The Icelanders Cometh is just the beginning; starting from now, the Jolabokaflod Book Campaign will champion many literary crowdfunding projects and will publicise as many book-related marketing and reading initiatives as possible.

CrowdPatch comprises patches that match the scope of interests held by RSA Fellows, so there are bound to be areas that match your passion and vision. There is even a patch for the RSA at CrowdPatch, which hosts RSA Fellows’ crowdfunding projects.

If you would like to contact me with ideas, suggestions, questions and/or contact leads for Jolabokaflod – or you would like more information about running a crowdfunding initiative at CrowdPatch – please do so in one of the following ways:

• RSA Find a Fellow You can send me a message via the intranet comment facility on My RSA profile page. (Note: you will only be able to access this if you are a Fellow and have set up your My RSA profile).

• Email  You can reach me at jolabokaflod@gmail.com

• Websites Jolabokaflod.org is an online hub that celebrates Icelandic literary and cultural heritage; Jolabokaflod.com reports on the commercial aspects of the campaign.

• Social media Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr

New content will be uploaded regularly at the websites supported by an integrated digital marketing campaign. You can also subscribe to a regular Jolabokaflod Book Campaign newsletter comprising news, opinions, events, training opportunities and job vacancies: register here.

Welcome aboard! 

Interested in RSA Bounce?

Find out about the upcoming event on the 21st April