Although crowdfunding is a challenging process, it's also one that's incredibly rewarding if you get it right and hit your target. To ensure you do, it's important you get every element of your campaign in order! ARTS THREAD runs through some of our top tips for doing just that when it comes to crowdfunding a degree show.
Pick your Platform
Whether it’s Kickstarter, IndieGoGo or GoFundMe, choosing the right crowdfunding platform is an important first step. From project run times to whether you want to have an ‘all-or-nothing’ style campaign or not, it’s worth doing your research before going straight to the one you’ve heard most about.
Start Preparing As Early As Possible
Launching a crowdfunding campaign isn’t just a case of putting it live and hoping people will stumble across it. Almost all of the successful ones would have had a lot of thought and preparation put into the campaign’s delivery both before and after it’s live. Set up a social media plan and/or website, draw up a list of potential industry people you want to reach out to, allocate roles within your team so everybody knows who’s working on what and think about all of the gaps people may pick in these plans.
Tell Your Story
If people are going to be investing in you, and your idea, they’re going to want to know about you, your story and why it is you care. A video is probably the best and most effective way to do this, so it’s worth investing some time in. It’s this introduction more than anything that’ll make you stand out, so make it short, make it snappy but most of all, make it personal.
Know Your Audience
When you’re crowd-funding, it’s important you know who you’re talking to. If you’re trying to spread the net too wide, you’re going to struggle to get to the point quickly and effectively. Not only that, but if you do some research into who you’re going to be talking to, you’ll feel more confident knowing what you’re saying is reaching the right people.
Be Transparent
With something like crowd-finding, or any sort of funding, trust is an important part of the process. Be honest with what you’re doing, with how much money you’re going to need and where exactly that money is going to go. Make sure everything is clear, concise and doesn’t prompt lots of questions. Not only that, whilst the campaign is running, keep your backers up to date and informed of the project’s progress.
Presentation Is Everything
Whether it’s the video you put together, the images you produce or the words you write to go with it all, presentation is everything. Being sure to “brand” your campaign so that everything ties together not only makes you look professional, but that you know what you’re doing whilst being creative!
Make Your Incentives Great
If someone’s willing to invest some money into what you’re doing, there’s a good chance they’ll want something great in return. Put together a list of rewards that are realistic, enticing and of course, relate to the project. Remember, these don’t always have to be physical things, but could be experience based too. Be sure to keep in mind ‘early-bird’ rewards and, if you are rewarding physical things, take postage and packaging into account too.
Promote, Promote, Promote
When your campaign is live and open for the world to see, it’s time to start promoting. Don’t be ashamed and don’t hold back. Get everyone and anyone involved in your project to share the campaign on social media and reach out to both contacts you’re close to and ones you haven’t met but feel may be interested. Keep to the social media plan you’ve developed, but also think about other ways you could promote your cause, like events or collaborations.
Keep Your Campaign Under 30 Days
Statistically speaking, projects that give themselves the maximum amount of time to reach their goals do less well than other projects. Where most projects of 30 days have a success rate around the 50% mark, that goes down to as low as 24% if they last for 90. With that in mind, your planning should last 90 days, but think about the length the project is actually live for.
If you have a campaign you're running that you'd like us to promote, or a success story to share, get in touch and let us know. Best of luck!
Image credit: Kickstarter
Pick your Platform
Whether it’s Kickstarter, IndieGoGo or GoFundMe, choosing the right crowdfunding platform is an important first step. From project run times to whether you want to have an ‘all-or-nothing’ style campaign or not, it’s worth doing your research before going straight to the one you’ve heard most about.
Start Preparing As Early As Possible
Launching a crowdfunding campaign isn’t just a case of putting it live and hoping people will stumble across it. Almost all of the successful ones would have had a lot of thought and preparation put into the campaign’s delivery both before and after it’s live. Set up a social media plan and/or website, draw up a list of potential industry people you want to reach out to, allocate roles within your team so everybody knows who’s working on what and think about all of the gaps people may pick in these plans.
Tell Your Story
If people are going to be investing in you, and your idea, they’re going to want to know about you, your story and why it is you care. A video is probably the best and most effective way to do this, so it’s worth investing some time in. It’s this introduction more than anything that’ll make you stand out, so make it short, make it snappy but most of all, make it personal.
Know Your Audience
When you’re crowd-funding, it’s important you know who you’re talking to. If you’re trying to spread the net too wide, you’re going to struggle to get to the point quickly and effectively. Not only that, but if you do some research into who you’re going to be talking to, you’ll feel more confident knowing what you’re saying is reaching the right people.
Be Transparent
With something like crowd-finding, or any sort of funding, trust is an important part of the process. Be honest with what you’re doing, with how much money you’re going to need and where exactly that money is going to go. Make sure everything is clear, concise and doesn’t prompt lots of questions. Not only that, whilst the campaign is running, keep your backers up to date and informed of the project’s progress.
Presentation Is Everything
Whether it’s the video you put together, the images you produce or the words you write to go with it all, presentation is everything. Being sure to “brand” your campaign so that everything ties together not only makes you look professional, but that you know what you’re doing whilst being creative!
Make Your Incentives Great
If someone’s willing to invest some money into what you’re doing, there’s a good chance they’ll want something great in return. Put together a list of rewards that are realistic, enticing and of course, relate to the project. Remember, these don’t always have to be physical things, but could be experience based too. Be sure to keep in mind ‘early-bird’ rewards and, if you are rewarding physical things, take postage and packaging into account too.
Promote, Promote, Promote
When your campaign is live and open for the world to see, it’s time to start promoting. Don’t be ashamed and don’t hold back. Get everyone and anyone involved in your project to share the campaign on social media and reach out to both contacts you’re close to and ones you haven’t met but feel may be interested. Keep to the social media plan you’ve developed, but also think about other ways you could promote your cause, like events or collaborations.
Keep Your Campaign Under 30 Days
Statistically speaking, projects that give themselves the maximum amount of time to reach their goals do less well than other projects. Where most projects of 30 days have a success rate around the 50% mark, that goes down to as low as 24% if they last for 90. With that in mind, your planning should last 90 days, but think about the length the project is actually live for.
If you have a campaign you're running that you'd like us to promote, or a success story to share, get in touch and let us know. Best of luck!
Image credit: Kickstarter