Crowdfunding

Success

Crowdfunding

Success Guide

Crowdfunding

Guide

Pre-Launch

Creating a campaign is quick and easy, but it is important to utilize all the

tools available for you to optimise your results. Remember, people are

motivated by the goals not the money it takes to achieve it.

1) Title. Motivate people with your title: show the urgency and

importance of the cause.

2) Description. Make sure the ‘who’, ‘what’ and ‘why’ are addressed in

the first 2-3 sentences of your story. Focus on how your supporters

can make a difference for your cause.

3) Image. Add an interesting image that identifies your cause. People

respond to visuals and helps supporters get emotionally engaged in

your project or cause.

4) Video. Add a video to your campaign. Campaigns with a video get

more attention and on average double their donation. (*hint – even a

video taken on your cell phone will do the trick).

5) Deadline. Set a deadline for your campaign. The deadline creates a

sense of urgency, motivating supporters to donate sooner rather than

late.

6) Perks. For certain campaigns, perks are great to include. Perks are

something you offer in return for their donation. They are not just for

projects, they can be personal.

Launch

Promoting your campaign is the key to success. A common misconception

is that money will fall from the sky, but crowdfunding requires the

following steps to secure both the trust and donations of strangers.

1. Social Equity: Reach out to close friends and family to receive the

first crucial donations to your campaign. People are far more likely to

donate once donations have already been made. Initial donations

legitimize your campaign for the rest of the world.

TIP: Jumpstart your campaign by making a personal donation.

2. Emailing: Send an email to your contacts with campaign details and

the link to your campaign and encourage them to support and share

it to their friends and networks.

3. Facebook Promotion: Facebook is the proven way to spread the

word and reach your goals.

• Regularly share your campaign – At least 3x per week.

Include images, links to media stories and blog posts.

• Post images with links rather than plain links to ensure you get

more reach and engagement.

• Send a Facebook “Tell A Friend” request from your

campaign page. Your friends will get a Facebook notification

that drives them to your campaign. It’s a great way to remind

them about your campaign, and ask for help.

4. Twitter Promotion. Tweet your campaign at least 1x/day, include

relevant hashtags (e.g. #crowdfunding, #charity), images and some

compelling details of your cause. Ask your followers to retweet.

5. Share on Google+. Share your Fund4Crowd campaign on Google+.

Don’t forget to include names, circles, or email addresses. Be sure to

engage with people and post regularly.

6. Pin It. Post your Fund4Crowd campaign on Pinterest. ‘Pin’ the

campaign photo, add hashtags and story details for friends and

others to discover.

7. Fund4Crowd Widget. Host your campaign widget on your, or

friend’s website or blog to create more visibility and build a

community on your website.

8. Comments & Thank you. Engage with your donors by emailing,

commenting and thanking them for their donations. This activity gets

more people talking about Fund4Crowd page.

Boost

When excitement for a campaign slows down, as do the donations. Give

your campaign a boost during this lull by creating a sense of urgency and

letting your supporters know time is running out.

1. Story Updates – Story updates will notify anyone who has

previously donated and this will keep the ball rolling.

2. Outreach to Local Media – Once you’ve tapped into your ‘social

equity’ (close friends and family) and received donations from their

networks, it is a good time to reach out to local media for extra

attention.

3. Outreach to Bloggers – Contact local bloggers or blogger that covers

topics similar to your campaign. You can ask them to host a widget on

their website or blog as a powerful way to create more visuality and

build a community.

4. Send a Facebook Notification – Send a ‘Tell A Friend’ notification

from your campaign page. This will send a notification to your

Facebook friends who may have wanted to donate but haven’t yet.

It’s a great subtle reminder to let them know time is running out.

5. Take it Offline – Reach out to your community by holding

fundraising offline. You can add offline donations to your

Fund4Crowd so people know how close you are to your goal. Plus

more donations = more attention!

6. Add A Perk – Is there a donation level that is most popular on your

campaign? Consider reaching out to local businesses to offer a perk. A

perk can really add excitement to your campaign and give it that

much needed boost.

Post

Your donations have come to end and you’ve finished collecting donations.

Whether you reached your goal or not, your contributors want to be

updated on your next steps.

1. Thank everyone – Thanking everyone will ensure that their

donations made a difference.

2. Provide An Update – Providing an update on how your campaign

went and photos of where the money was used, will engage your

donors.

3. Transparency – Donors would like to know how much was raised at

the end of the campaign and how it will be used. Be open and honest.

4. Fulfilment – If you had perks for your campaign, you now have to go

through and fulfil those orders. All their contact information is made

available to them.

5. Timeline – If you plan to do another campaign let your donors know

the general timeline so they can stay up to date.