Local Women Turn to Crowd Funding for Family Social Network Site

Two local moms, Megan Brown of Westfield and Kirsten Bischoff of Springfield, launched the website, Hatchedit.com in 2011 to create a free social network for families based on a calendar system. Now, the woman have turned to crowd funding website, indiegogo.com, to enhance the site, which is also an app, by building the community calendar function.

Hatchedit.com allows users to set up accounts for each person in their family. Then, a family calendar can be created so families know what’s going on for each member. Also, the members can share photos (privately to each other), to-do lists, events and more.

The site is also very private and unsearchable by Google, so it has been difficult for the site to grow, Bischoff explained.  The idea for a community calendar is a way the women plan to expand growth, while providing users with local events activities.

The goal for the funding is $7,750 to create the community calendar and if they raise any additional funds, they will go directly towards site improvements, according to Bischoff.

As of Jan. 9, the company had raised $480 towards its goal with 34 days left. View the video for the crowd funding campaign.

“We are completely bootstrapped so far, and provide the site to users for free,” she explained. “We have come a long way since our launch, but there are still many things we would like to add to the sites and the apps. Any funds that we receive through crowd funding or advertising always go right back into development and improvements.”

Bischoff also explained that crowd funding was a great opportunity for them to reach out to a small and supportive customer base to try something new and beneficial for their users.

“I think crowd funding is important for local businesses to experiment with.  The average person probably thinks about crowd funding for larger businesses or startups.  But I really think crowd-funding appeals mainly to the people that it affects,” she explained. “So, if you are a small local business and you have an idea for something - especially something that is an event or something that you believe will change your town for the better - then using the crowd funding platforms can be a good way to make it happen and to also see if people share your enthusiasm for it.“

Brown and Bischoff created Hatchedit.com as a family management tool and a way to better manage their own families.

The two are hoping the Community Calendar will serve as a way for users to organize their own calendars, as well as those hosting the events post and share them.

“We believe that the features in the Community Calendar will allow us to grow the membership of the site at a much higher pace,” Bischoff said. “Viral growth tools that we can build into the Community Calendar include Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest sharing of Public events.”

Since the launch, more than 20,000 people have signed up for Hatchedit accounts. The National Association of Professional Organizers named the start-up The Best Tech Tool in 2012. They also won the Most Promising Startup award y the NJTC, as well as being listed as a “Site to Surf” by Pregnancy & Newborn magazine.

Hatchedit.com is offering a variety of incentives to donors. View the Indiegogo campaign, here.