The crowdfunding ebook for success

Pre launch

  • The first step to successful crowdfunding is –Ideation! Crowdfunding is no easy feat and now that you are planning a campaign to fund your cause, make sure to check out our FAQs page, How It Works page, and Ebook to learn everything you need to know to have a successful campaign!
Pre launch
  • Still have more questions? Reach out to our Crowdfunding Champion for advice and to sort all of your doubts. We will respond promptly with advice specific to your campaign!
  • If this is your first campaign, research some similar campaigns to gain inspiration to write your story and type of perks to offer.
  • Constantly refer to our Crowdfunding questionnaire if you are looking for help. Remember to be your own critic as well as your own mentor.

Setting it up

Setting it up
  • We recommend running your campaign for no less than 30 days. It takes time to engage your audience and gain insights about your contributors. If needed, you can utilize our flexible deadline to extend your campaign, but don't let your campaign drag on for too long
  • As most crowd funders come from within your social media outlets, email lists, friends and family, make sure to set your goal with your network in mind. Break your campaign down into pieces based off of the size of your network. For example, if you have a smaller network, try structuring your campaign into more attainable pieces suitable for your audience.
  • Invite team members to join you in your mission. With teams, you can divide your goals and efforts while strengthening each part of the campaign. Create a healthy competition amongst the teams as an extra mean of motivation.

Setting it up

  • Get creative with your perks. Think outside of the box and add a personal touch to your perks. While basic perks such as organization t-shirts are great incentives, rewards that are more unique can engage your crowd well.
  • Creating a campaign is just the beginning; running the campaign is all the hard work! It can be time consuming to maintain a campaign, so make sure you are prepared to spend a couple of hours every day promoting and tweaking it to perfection. Don't be afraid to make any big changes to your content if you believe what you currently have posted does not reflect your campaign progress!
  • Make sure your contributors get all the information they need to make their decision about supporting your mission. This includes: the specifics of your crowdfunding goal, what is it you are trying to accomplish, and where will the funds be used.
Setting it up

Project Description

Project Description
  • Your title should be impactful and memorable, portraying the essence of your campaign.
  • Tell your story in a clear and concise manner while showing your energy and enthusiasm! Make sure your readers remain engaged throughout the entirety of your story. The average campaign's total word count is 609; you don't want to make your text excessively long as people will just begin to lose attention and interest.
  • The vital information about your campaign should be put across first. People want to know why this campaign is important to you and what it is that you are crowdfunding for. Don't make them hunt for this information; serve it on a silver platter.

Perks

Perks
  • Don't offer too many or too few perks. On average, 8 to 10 perks is enough. Make sure to offer different denominations, starting from as little as $10. Make your perks interesting so you can engage your contributors
  • We can't emphasize enough on creativity of perks. Let them be unique and diverse, spend some time thinking about the perks you want to offer and make sure they align with your campaign's story and your organization. For example, if your campaign is about providing kids educational opportunities, one perk can be having a handwritten thank you card with a $10 donation.

Videos

Launch Img
  • People want to hear your ideas, one way to connect with them directly is to star in your video and have a pitch and ask.
  • Express yourself with a heartfelt message! Don't look animated and serious: make your audience laugh and try to ignite their feelings.
  • Keep your video 2 to 3 minutes long, if possible. Just long enough to get your message across. Using regional languages is helpful if you have a global audience but be sure to add subtitles for supporters who aren't familiar with that language!
  • Your video can also be placed within the story. Utilize this functionality if you have more than one video to share.
Launching the campaign
Launching the campaign
  • The first couple of days post launch are crucial. Once your campaign is off to a great start, all you need to do is maintain the momentum. You can achieve this by continuing to post on your social media and updating the campaign progress to your supporters.
  • We highly recommend informing all your supporters about your launch date and sharing the campaign with them, so that your campaign has a catalyst to start off well - even if the initial crowd is just family and friends!
  • If you plan your campaign in advance, you get the opportunity to build your network. Whichever social media platform you are comfortable with, be it Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram or just building on your email lists and blogs, dedicate time to these efforts and grow your network before the launch.
  • Treat your crowdfunding campaign as a product launch and create a buzz around it. Generate excitement around it with an online teaser, webinar or by holding a local event. Your aim is to spread the word and create anticipation for your campaign.

Social media

Social Media
  • Keep a stack of images that you want to share on your social media outlets once your campaign is live. Make sure these images are different from the ones you have shared on your campaign.
  • Not all your Social Media posts should ask people to contribute. Maintain diversity in your posts but make sure to include a link to your crowdfunding campaign at the end of the post.
  • Post regularly! People who know you and have liked your individual or organization page are interested in what you are doing. They support your mission and want to hear from you.
  • We recommend planning your social media posts in advance. Spend some to put together some ideas and strategy around your social media sharing. Keep a calendar to schedule your posts and updates.

PR and Promotion

PR and Promotion
  • Reach out to build a network of media and bloggers. Write a press release for the campaign or send a brief to bloggers who will be interested in sharing your story. Remember, it's for a commendable cause and most people will oblige. Get as much coverage as possible from various channels.
  • Focus your PR to specific journalist and publications whose readers you believe will be interested in your campaign. There are many non-profit and social good publications you can target. Start early and build connections.
  • Quality over quantity. That rule applies to journalists as well. Reach out to the journalists that have replied back and given you attention to build a consistent relationship with to boost your PR. It is more effective to consistently target 5 journalists rather than mass emailing the entirety of a publication.
  • Don't forget to send an image with your PR. Images capture attention and increase the likelihood of your article to be picked up.

Creativity

Creativity
  • Let your creativity flow! Let each element of your campaign and everything associated with it be imaginative and engaging.
  • It is a tough job to keep people engaged throughout your campaign but nonetheless an important one. Try to stay motivated even if progress slow down and you have patchy contributions coming in. Maintain communication with your contributors and target audience at this time.
  • Come up with innovative ideas to maintain engagement. You can post a thank you post on social media each day tagging a contributor or tweeting to them. Keep adding videos to your campaign as updates.
  • Keep adding Team Members. You can phase out adding team members at different stages of your campaign to make sure your campaign doesn't lose momentum at any point of time.

Post Campaigns

Perks-Delivery

  • Be sure to prepare your perks before the campaign begins so that you can send them out on time. Its imperative that you honor the commitment you made to your contributors to build up their trust and loyalty. Don't forget x% of contributors are repeat contributors; they will are the ones who will support your next campaign.
  • Incase you cannot fulfill the perks on time, reach out to your contributors and acknowledge the delay. Communication is key. Anytime that you lose contact with your contributors, especially over a delay, then you will lose supporters and brand loyalty.

Post Campaigns

Stay Connected with your supporters

Post Campaign
  • You can get the emails of your contributors from your campaign dashboard, make sure you use the details to stay connected with them about your project and organization even after your campaign is over.
  • These are the people who believe in your cause and will be interested in supporting you for life. Build the relationship.
  • Keep your supporters updated at least weekly with your campaign's progress and what you can do so far with the funds received.
  • Use your updates to get your supporters to bring in people from their own networks to.