In immediate answer to the inevitable question that we will be asked; ‘why are you crowdfunding as a worldwide crisis unfolds?’, we were crowdfunding privately well before COVID-19 began in Europe, and this is the final phase, going public with our plans.
Nevertheless, and it really is a testament to the movement that Robert Llewellyn has created with Fully Charged, that at the time of writing our campaign is already 89% funded. With your help, we can hit our target.
To those of you thinking; ‘but aren’t YouTubers all rich?’, the truth is, with the exception of those with millions of subscribers (Fully Charged has ~650,000), no, not at all.
In fact, while Robert would be too abashed to say it, Fully Charged has been an anxiety-inducing passion project for ten years, and even now as Fully Charged LIVE starts to make a big difference, it would be fair to describe ours as ‘a hand-to-mouth existence’.
We are absolutely not looking for sympathy, we are ‘working’ on something as extraordinary as it is enjoyable, but when we say that the episodes wouldn’t exist without those that contribute via Patreon.com, this is no exaggeration.
Fully Charged LIVE in the UK, the US and from next year in Europe, has enabled us to think bigger, and to demonstrate the scalability and repeatability across our broadcast, digital and events business.
Now, if this sounds like ‘corporate-speak’, I apologise; rest assured that we know that it’s the channel’s ‘Robertness’ – its humour, independence and intelligence – that has made Fully Charged such a success and we won’t mess with the magic formula.
But if Fully Charged can be both organic AND organised, we can make an even more positive difference in terms of putting people in Electric Vehicles of all shapes and sizes, from cargo bikes to cargo ships, and switching people on to clean energy too.
A successful crowdfunding campaign will enable us to do the following:
- Grow the channel: In addition to one-off episodes and car reviews, we are now able to deliver series, including: ‘Everything you need to know about Batteries’, ‘Maddie’s Electric Home’ and series on 2nd hand EVs, EV conversions, Electric Vans and more.
- Grow the audience: With more resources we can much more proactively grow the audience on YouTube, and start to actively target other broadcasting opportunities.
- Grow the team: In the last year we delivered >100 episodes, 50 podcasts, 2 major events and much more with a team of ~10; additionally stay tuned for some well-known new faces on-screen.
So if after reading all of this you are interested in supporting Fully Charged and protecting our independence, you can do so through the following platforms:
- SEEDRS CROWDFUNDING – IMPORTANT: the SEEDRS platform does not support investment from all countries – apologies – these funds will go directly into growing the channel, the audience and the team
- PATREON – you can contribute from $2 to $10 per month via Patreon.com and these funds go directly into the production of episodes
- YOUTUBE MEMBERSHIP– you will be able to contribute from ~£2.99 per month via YouTube from May 2020 and these funds go directly into the production of episodes
- FULLY CHARGED LIVE, FULLY CHARGED STORE etc: Profits from ticket sales, merchandise sales and so on, are reinvested in the future of Fully Charged
And whether you choose to contribute financially, or not, we know that these are times of unprecedented financial insecurity, and simply by watching and sharing Fully Charged with friends and family, you are supporting a cleaner, greener future.
With thanks from Dan Caesar and the Fully Charged Team
