What: By serving the Hispanic entrepreneurial marketplace, Crowdismo is a relatively new startup that is taking a fresh approach towards the already crowded crowd-funding market.

Why is it important: New media ventures targeting the Latino market are learning that culture, and not language, is the binding substance that Hispanics have in common. Online and offline strategies are equally important so as to build engagement, particularly if businesses want to be perceived as community-relevant.

As commented by Forbes’ Giovanni Rodriguez back in September, Hispanics are beginning to understand that startups from a wide range of creative disciplines -technology, media, arts and design- have massive impact on local economies. They can help create jobs. They can help create tax revenue. Best of all, they can help create a new identity for the entire Hispanic community.

Or as Vista Hispano said in February, the power and influence of the U.S. Latino collective is undeniable: if the U.S. Hispanic market were a nation, it would boast one of the largest economies in the world, with spending power of US $1.2 trillion. The realities of today’s Hispanic market are that of opportunity, motivation, aspiration, altruism and hustle.

Crowdismo is a Latino crowdfunding platform founded by José Huitrón and José Guevarra, aimed at powering creativity and innovation within the Latino community through crowdfunding. Crowdismo is a digital destination and site for individuals to join a groundswell of people driven by the will to help power the prolific.

Here’s how it works:
1. Pitch your project to an online community of early adopters and believers.
2. Incentivize backers to pledge to your project with unique rewards.
3. Hit project’s funding goal.

The belief is that Crowdismo will have an enormous impact on the Central Coast, among other communities with thriving Latino populations. Huitrón believes that not only tech companies but also the whole Hispanic creative economy deserve funding, and that Crowdismo could be the way to do it by creating jobs, tax revenue, and even help reshape the identity of the entire Latino communities.

Huitron is quite optimistic about Hispanic philanthropy statistics. According to Ex-perian Simmons data, 47% of Hispanics living in the United States donated to a charity or nonprofit philanthropic organization in 2011. According to a Forbes study released last year, 69% of Hispanic survey respondents ranked the importance of helping people in need very highly. So, Crowdismo capitalizes on the philanthropic attitudes and creative energy of the Hispanic community.