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“I’m starting a new organisation. How do I run a crowdfunder to get it off the ground?
How does crowdfunding work?”
The headlines
If you’re not rolling in cash when you start your organisation and can’t find any friendly millionaires to help you out, crowdfunding can be a useful tool to generate income for your new organisation while spreading the word about it. It's a great fit for organisations that might not be eligible yet for traditional funding criteria.
However, launching a successful crowdfunding campaign requires more than just uploading your project to a platform and waiting for donations to roll in. The reality is that most of your funding will come from people you actively engage with.
To make your crowdfunder a success, you need to understand the mechanics of crowdfunding, build your audience well in advance, and promote your campaign.
How do I run a crowdfunder?
The basic principle is instead of finding one person to give you lots of money, you find lots of people (backers) to give you smaller amounts of money (pledges). You set up your project on a crowdfunding platform and set it live to the world.
All of the platforms charge you for hosting your crowdfunder (often 5% of money raised plus a % on each transaction). You’ll need to choose between running a campaign where you keep whatever you raise by the end of the campaign (flexible funding) or where you have a target you need to hit to get any of the money pledged (all-or-nothing campaign).
Obviously all-or-nothing campaigns are riskier but the average amount people pledge is usually higher and there’s an extra incentive for people to support and for you to make it work so they often end up being successful where a flexible funding campaign wouldn’t have been.
You will also need to make choices about your fundraising target amount and how long to run the campaign for. The platforms all have help pages on all of these topics which can help guide you through.
People often get obsessed with which platform to choose. If you ask “what is the best crowdfunding platform for my organisation?”, “what is the best crowdfunding platform for CICs?”, “what is the best crowdfunding platform for non profits?” you’ll get different answers depending on who you ask.
Please don’t lose any sleep over this. The success of your campaign depends on how you run it. Which platform you choose isn’t going to make or break your campaign. In lots of ways they’re all very similar.
Five ways to increase your chances of success
Get familiar with how crowdfunding works before launching your campaign
Spend some time hanging out in the crowdfunding world before you do anything. Back a few projects on platforms like Kickstarter, Crowdfunder, or Indiegogo to experience what it's like from a supporter’s perspective. (You can back projects from a low amount) Notice what draws you to a campaign, what makes you feel engaged and appreciated once you’ve backed it, and how straightforward the process is. Find projects and organisations similar to yours and take notes on what works. You can also take advantage of the platform resources available: each one has a tonne of help guides.
Crowdbuilding Before Crowdfunding
Way before your campaign goes live, start building your crowd. Identify who your potential backers are and focus on people who already have some connection to you or your work. Whether it’s your friends, family, or professional network, get them on board early. Grow your mailing list, engage with your social media followers, and reach out to micro influencers who can help spread the word. Joining online communities or attending networking events can also help you tap into new audiences. The key here is not to leave this step until your campaign is live—you need to have a ready-to-go crowd from day one.
Sticky-note planning tip:
Get everyone involved to share suggestions of where to find your crowd. Put them all on post-its and sort by type. Keen supporters could include mailing list, people who engage on your social, your community, friends and family. Connections could include networks you're part of, Facebook groups or partner organisations. General public could be through local press, publicity events, particular demographics on social etc.
When you're promoting your campaign, start with centre of your circle, your supporters, as they're most likely to give. Focus more energy here and spread your net wider as time and resources allow. You can also promote to your wider network and the general public but use your time wisely- warmest contacts first.
3. Plan how you’re going to spread the word
Effective promotion is crucial both before and during your campaign. By the time you launch, your potential backers should already know about your campaign and be primed with debit cards in hand ready to support it. Use the time leading up to launch day to build anticipation and make sure your most loyal supporters are ready to pledge as soon as you go live. Schedule your promotional content in advance, including emails and social media posts, to ensure that your message is consistent and persistent.
The first 48 hours of your campaign are important- people like to back a winner: aiming for 30% of your target in this window can significantly boost your chances of success. Brief your family, round up your friends and have your nearest and dearest ready to make those first pledges the second it goes live.
4. Think about your rewards
I’m going to be controversial here- for this kind of project I don’t think rewards matter that much. If this is about bringing your organisation to life, making your dream happen, people are likely to be backing you for one of two reasons: they know you and want to support you, OR they want your organisation to exist, they believe in it. They’re not backing you because they want a bookmark and a canvas bag with your organisation’s logo on it.
You want to make rewards manageable, both practically and financially. If you have 100 people backing you, think about the time to create, pack, post or organise your rewards. I have run crowdfunders in the past where no one bothered claiming the rewards because they were only backing it to make the project happen.
If you have something obvious, like free passes to activities run by your organisation or cakes in your cafe then go for it but otherwise focus on offering something special that will make your supporters feel appreciated. A personalised thank you message, their name on a wall, an invite to your launch party, a chance to meet the animals your organisation helps or a song created by your youth group. The goal is to make your backers feel involved in your project’s success.
5. Create your pitch
People back people, not just projects. Make sure your campaign tells a clear story about who your organisation will support and how it does this. What’s the problem your work addresses and how will people’s lives be improved by your work?
Your story and personal connection to the project are also vital. A heartfelt video on your phone where you directly ask for support and explain why this is so important to you and the people you work with, can be far more effective than a polished, impersonal presentation. Make sure to include yourself in your promotional content, sharing why this project matters to you and why you’re the right person to bring it to life.
What Next?
Now that you have a plan, it’s time to put it into action. Dive into platform guides, back a few projects to learn the ropes, and connect with potential supporters well before your launch.
If you’re looking for more detailed advice, many crowdfunding platforms offer extensive resources on everything from setting your fundraising goal to timing your campaign. Try the Crowdfunder guides here, Kickstarters’ here and Indiegogo here.
If you want help with other aspects of fundraising or running your organisation, join the squad and get a monthly dose of free support.
My main programme, Sticky-note Strategy will help you create the pitch for your organisation that you can use in your crowdfunding campaign, among many other things.
Good luck with your campaign!