If you are here, you are probably planning on running a crowdfunding campaign, hence the reason why you are looking out for strategies that will enable you run a successful crowdfunding campaign. Welcome! You are in the right place.
However if you are new to crowdfunding and do not understand what crowdfunding means, the quoted text below will give you a head start.
“Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the Internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance –Wikipedia”
Crowdfunding is a very good way to raise funds for business ventures, personal Projects and social causes. In order to raise this funds, you will have to make a perfect pitch to your pool of online donors, proving that your Project is worth their penny; this is where many get it wrong. In order to run a successful crowdfunding campaign, you need to get following 3 factors right.
- Platform
- Pitch Deck (Mostly done online)
- Marketing (You are going to be your own sales man/woman)
PLATFORM
-CHOOSE THE RIGHT PLATFORM:
A couple of research on the internet will show you different crowdfunding platform and the type of audience they aim to attract.
If you are trying to raise funds for a Creative Project (film shoots, startups, artist recording), an Entrepreneurial Ventures (small scale farming) and For social causes, crowdfunding platforms like Elesarr , Kickstarter and Gofundme are a good way to start. If you are trying to gain your funds through equity base Crowdfunding, then you might be on the lookout for platforms like CircleUp and Fundable are a good option for you to choose.
PITCHDECK
-MAKING THE RIGHT PITCH:
You can’t ignore this point if you really plan on a running a successful crowdfunding campaign. Making a good pitch deck involves applying the following methods:
- Tell a Good Story:
The story behind your project is what moves donors into making a contributions. For example, if you are trying to set up a photography studio, you can share story narrating how passionate you are about photography and the real motivation (this could be you trying to send a message out to the world in pictures or trying to escape poverty) behind running a photography studio. I advise that your story depict your initial effort to where you are right now. Stories appeals to emotion
- Offer More than just a business or a Project idea:
People are more convinced when they see something tangible. Most crowdfunding platform like Elesarr offers you an opportunity to add a video to your pitch deck. Seize such opportunity to show your future donors a prototype of what you intend to do with the money they are donating. If you can’t get a prototype, show the previous event you have done (this for those crowdfunding for a social cause) or a 3d model of what you hope to achieve with the funds
- Open Up:
People are going to fund your crowdfunding campaign only when they feel like they have known you. All these occur within 2 minutes. You need to get personal with your pitch deck. Your Donors should feel like you are talking to them directly. Just like the way I am talking to you right now.
MARKETING
This is the driving force that ensures that your campaign gets to your target audience. Your campaign is not going to fund itself (The harsh truth!).You ought to do the dirty work in order to get it out there. If your Crowdfunding campaign is going to be successful, you are going to apply both conventional and unconventional marketing strategies which I am going to offer to you.
- Identify the right Audience: If you are photographer, your target audience might be people who share similar passion as you and deem it fit that your cause is worth donating to. Other audience might be creatives (musicians, artist, and creative agencies).
- Get 2 to 3 donors ready before Launching: This is quite unconventional but it works. Before you hit the launch button on your online campaign, it is quite advisable to have 2 to 3 persons whom you have convinced offline to donate to your project. The psychology behind this method is, when you finally drive other donors to your gig, they would see that some backer have already contributed to your campaign, this erases any form of doubt they might have and even trigger them to donate to your campaign.
Your family and friends might be this 2 to 3 persons
- Leverage on social media: Most of the successful campaign in the world are those that attracted the attention of the media. According to Forbes, Pebble was able to raise over $10 million from nearly 69,000 backers on Kickstarter, smashing its $100,000 goal early on the first day of the campaign. Pebble was able to gain this much because of the media attention they gained. You can share your links with some friends on social media or you can iron out a deal with some group of social media influencers who can help make your campaign go viral on social media platforms like twitter.
BONUS POINT:
Making sure you have a funding goal. Your crowdfunding goal should be attainable within the crowdfunding period. Don’t be greedy.
While there are no exact manual on how to run a successful crowdfunding campaign, the above stated steps have been applied by different individuals, most of whom their campaign have been successful. Funds shouldn’t be a barrier as to why you are not achieving your dreams. You should leverage on crowdfunding!
