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One of the iconic images of the riots of early August will no doubt be the burning Reeves furniture store in Croydon just south of London. The building had stood for nearly 150 years and its higgledy-piggledy shape dominated its part of Croydon. I'm based not so far from Croydon, and for me, and many others, the building was a local landmark.

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Crowdfunding can reach more people online

ÌýWhen the store was razed to the ground by fire many local people felt they'd lost something special, and many not so local people empathised. One person decided to do something about it. Blogger Mark Thompson set up a Pledge Bank page on which he pledged to give £10 in support of the owners' plan to rebuild their shop if 1,000 other people did the same.

doesn't just support projects that are about money. You could also pledge to take an action or give some time to a cause. You can pledge to do anything as long as a specified number of other people will help. The caveats are that nothing illegal is allowed, and the site managers reserve the right to remove pledges if they don't fit with the site's family friendly ethos. There's a time limit on pledges too, so that anyone setting up a pledge will know pretty quickly if they've met their goal.

The Reeves store Pledge Bank initiative is an example of crowdfunding, a way of generating relatively large sums of money from numerous people who are happy to put a small amount each into the pot.

Many people think of crowdfunding as an internet phenomenon, but in fact it is a much older concept. Look around your home town and you may see statues with inscriptions saying they were built by public subscription. One very famous example is Nelson's column in London. Built between 1840 and 1843 its cost was raised partly by public subscription.

In much more modern terms, there are plenty of charities and good causes that ask people to give a regular but relatively small donation of a few pounds a month. All these small amounts can add up to a very big pot indeed, and they are another example of crowdfunding which can take place without any use of the internet.

What the internet lends to crowdfunding is the ability to reach large numbers of people. This means a wide range of projects becomes available, and the chances of any project reaching its goal can be increased too. There are plenty of crowdfunding websites which bring together organisations and individuals looking for help with their chosen projects.

is one such web site. Anyone can sign up with their own idea, and if people like it, they'll put some money towards it. WhenÌýI visited the Crowdfunder website there were pitches from people wanting to make films, produce smartphone accessories, set up shops, do scientific projects, and more. You read the pitches at the site, and decide whether you want to contribute to the amount of money required by any pitch that captures your imagination.

The website offers an alternative way of financing good causes. Instead of encouraging small donations that add up to a larger sum, Kiva lets you make a small loan to an individual or group of people, and the loan is paid back over time. Loans are made to people in other countries who would otherwise have difficulty raising money. Loans are small in our terms, but they can change lives. Kiva was founded in 2005 and since then it has generated more than $200,000,000 in loans.

Crowdfunding, then, is a wide ranging activity that covers a lot of ground. The chances are that whatever your own interests you can find a way to make a small amount of money work hard and some good.

Read Helen Purves' blog 'On the money: making charity easier'.