Last week we wrote on a couple of successful Canadian crowdsourcing campaigns that raised money through Kickstarter—and a couple that failed to obtain even one measly pledge. Following that we’ve compiled our own list of tips on how to run a successful crowdfunding campaign.
1. First and foremost, choose which crowdfunding website is best for you—here’s a selection of some of the more popular sites:
Kickstarter
Kickstarter is by far the most prominent crowdfunding website, serving as financing platform for countless projects. The more notable ones include: Tik Tok + Luna Tik Multi-touch watch kits—an Ipod Nano wristband—which raked in almost $950,000 at the beginning of the year (not too shabby considering their funding target was only $15,000); and Diaspora—an open source social network site—which received over $200,000 of funding in 2010, one of its high profile pledges coming from none other than Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.
The site is based on an “all or nothing” funding principle—projects get their money only if they hit their set target, though Kickstarter takes five percent of the money raised.
Canadian writer/director, Sarah Goodman, whose Kickstarter fuelled film project Hidden Driveway recently previewed at TIFF, chose the site because among other things, she believed it was the most efficient way of obtaining funding fast.
“I didn’t want to spend a long time waiting for grants to come through, so Kickstarter was really attractive as I could implement it immediately,” she says. “I have a number of friends who are filmmakers in the US and I’d seen how they had success with their campaigns on Kickstarter and so I realised it was the way to go.”
One glitch for Canadians hoping to use Kickstarter, however, is that the site requires funding aspirants to have a US bank account.
Indiegogo
Indiegogo has a similar set-up to Kickstarter but it places more emphasis on “what you can give back to your supporters”—whether it be mentioning their name in the credits of your film or giving them a free t-shirt. Perks are a must.
In contrast to Kickstarter’s “all or nothing” rule, you can keep what money you raise even if you don’t meet your funding goal. Though in that instance you’ll have to pay a 9 percent fee on the money you raise instead of the typical 4 percent fee had you met your target.
It’s debatable whether giving a creator half of his or her funding is a good idea for either them or their backers; some may argue that removes incentive for the creator to make an effort with his or her campaign, as fails to inspire backers. Either way, the fact remains that every contribution helps toward getting the project of its feet.
Indiegogo is more lenient when it comes to payment methods—they accept any valid bank account or credit card, which makes life a bit easier for creators from countries other than the U.S.
Rockethub
Like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, Rockethub focuses its attention on arts-orientated projects. The website uses an “all or more” fundraising system; the “all” is similar to Indiegogo in that you get to keep everything your campaign raises (Rockethub will charge a 4 percent fee if you reach your target and 8 percent if you don’t); and “the more” is if you reach or surpass your funding goal.
2. Set a funding target and time limit for your funding campaign.
A realistic funding target is the key for a successful campaign. Ask for too much money and people may be dissuaded from pledging; ask for too little and your project may not even reach lift-off.
Goodman realied the importance of aiming for a realistic target. “I was conservative when it came to making my funding target… I was afraid,” she says. “The kickstarter system is all or nothing so I wanted to be realistic, and luckily, it turned out to be accurate in the end.”
She ended up raising $4,755 out of her $4,600 funding target for Hidden Driveway.
A sufficient time limit is also vital. If it’s too short you risk missing out on interested parties and if it’s too long then your campaign can lose momentum. Kickstarter may have it right with its 60 day time limit to reach your funding target, while Indiegogo doubles that window to 120 days.
3. Produce a video for the campaign.
Statistics show that projects accompanied by videos outperform those without videos by 125 percent. The personal touch is always a plus—people like to see the face behind the project and more importantly, a clear and concise explanation of what the project is about, and why the funding will give you an edge.
Toronto company, SurfEasy ,who created a USB device that enables you to access blocked websites, produced a video for their campaign on Kickstarter which is a case in point; Firstly, Houston the creator introduces himself, then he explains by demonstration how the product works and what it does and finally, he provides you with a personal story on how he came up with the idea. It’s clear, concise and to the point.
4. Give rewards to your supporters.
People like getting rewards for their efforts and many crowdfunding sites encourage you to offer them. Think of something that is relatively inexpensive for you to produce but yet meaningful for the backer. Such as, if it’s a film, the opportunity to be an extra, or being given on of the first product samples. Or having a character in a play named after you, though, admittedly, you may not actually like how your character behaves.
5. Reach out to your inner circle of friends and family first.
The best strategy for a successful crowdfunding project is to first spread the word among your nearest and dearest. Get them to share links about your project on Facebook; if they’re bloggers get them blogging about; and, of course, utilise Twitter.
Once you have friends and family onboard then concentrate on taping into social media; set up a dedicated Facebook site for the campaign, get tweeting about the project and contact some bloggers that you reckon may be interested in your project.
6. Provide updates on your funding campaign on a regular basis.
As soon as the campaign is up and running, your main concern should be keeping up interest and momentum in the campaign. For example, in the case of Tik Tok + Luna Tik’s highly impressive Kickstarter campaign, the creators filmed themselves on a trip to the factory in China where the watch kits were being made.
