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 “There’s a ton of talented people out there and all they need is a shot, a platform, a chance.”

-Spike Lee

Do you care infinitely about this project? Enough to put all of your heart into bringing it to life? If the answer’s “no,” you may want to avoid crowdfunding. This will take work, time, and effort.

Whether your project is a film, album, book, or startup, you have to love your cause to climb this mountain. The outcome can be grand: crowdfunding not only supplies financial support, but it also allows you to connect with your customers, fans, and supporters in a personal way.

Best of all, if you grab backers with your genuine passion, they will never let you go!

CHOOSING YOUR PLATFORM

There are a host of crowdfunding platforms, and many more will continue to sprout up.

Ultimately, the platform you choose will have little to do with whether or not you succeed. Someone with a following of 7,000 engaged individuals could crowdfund with a single email to their fans, and a PayPal account.

Platforms are there to streamline the process and lend a credible package to your project. Having a reputable label on your campaign makes you a bit more trustworthy to those who don’t already know you.

Hosting your project on Kickstarter or IndieGoGo will not make your campaign successful; success is the result of your (and your team’s) hard work and dedication!

Click here and look over Kickstarter’s page that will likely address any of your curiosities about their platform.

Click here and look over IndieGoGo’s page that will likely address any of your curiosities about their platform.

Pick the platform that works best for you and your needs.

CORE PRINCIPLES TO START WITH

1. Why do you love this project?
2. What does it mean to you?
3. Who else will care?

Once you’ve answered these questions, the idea for your project can slowly become a fully fleshed-out and realized campaign. Write these answers down from the outset so in moments of darkness or unclarity, you’ll always have a defined mission statement and answers.

STRUCTURING YOUR PROJECT

For the purposes of this outline, there are three stages to crowdfunding your project: Pre-Funding, Funding, and Post-funding.

It helps to break your campaign into stages because the process will become pretty overwhelming—there are many things to do and a lot of reactive decisions that need to be made, moment to moment.

These stages are a roadmap for your time, clarifying where you are and where you should be at a given point in the process.

From here on out, I’ll take you through each stage, what you can plan for, what you can expect, and how you can maximize every move!

PRE-FUNDING: PREPARATION

The preparation period contains two primary facets: Your World, and The Platform.

“Your World” consists of your friends, family, close acquaintances, and collaborators.

“The Platform” refers to the site you chose to host your campaign.

The bulk of your preparation work will happen within Your World, and On The Platform of your choosing.

IN YOUR WORLD:

Compile your first list of phone numbers, emails, and direct contacts: friends and close family who you can notify two weeks in advance of your project’s launch. You want this group prepared to contribute on the first day. Be respectful and appreciative of their time and support.

Here is a key point you want to include in your emails, calls, and outreach:

“90% of crowdfunded projects that reach 30% of their goal in the first week will fund. The most important part of this process is the initial momentum.”

This statistic is accurate and has stood the test of time. I’ve found it helpful to relay it to those closest to you, so they don’t simply wait until the last minute, knowing that you know they’ll eventually contribute.

That early 30% is about proving to outsiders that your project is viable.

Be sure to also ask them:

“Please share the link to the project with as many people as you want or feel comfortable with, in the early days of launching. We need all the help and momentum we can get, early on!”

Put together your second outreach list, comprised of more distant contacts who have a vested interest in you. These would be outer-circle friends and acquaintances who you can contact directly via email, message, wall-post, Tweet, etc. This includes distant relatives, friends of friends, clients, past bosses, co-workers, acquaintances, etc. Have this put together well in advance.

Draft a basic message to send out the day you launch. It can be retailored for some individuals, but do yourself a favor: make a template to work from. It will speed up your launch-day process.

Build anticipation on your personal social networks. Constantly upload pictures of you and your team working on the Kickstarter project. Engage your followers and friends with questions and small posts relating to your project.

You want no secretiveness: people should be aware that this is coming and anticipating the day you launch. Start this as early as possible. Don’t beat them over the head though. No one likes a pest.

Think of the primary promotional outlets for your project.

Play to your strengths: if you have a huge email list and not a lot of Facebook friends, focus on emails and don’t spend as much time on Facebook. If you have huge Twitter presence, leverage that and do as much Twitter outreach as possible, aiming for re-Tweets.

Don’t attempt to learn how to maximize every single platform at once. Stick with those that will generate the best results for your campaign.

Think of professional networks: Who else in your line of work cares about what you’re doing?

What do you actively read that relates to your project?  Where do you go for information? Go there, look around, and investigate how your campaign can possibly be featured there.

Make a list of blogs, news sites, forums, and niche communities that relate to your project’s topic. Aim for 100 or more locations on this list. It helps to use a spreadsheet, arranged like this:

Blog/Site/Forum/Group URL

Contact Email

Contact Phone #

Contact Name (optional)

Are there any related industry events occurring during your funding period? These could be expos or conferences relating to your project’s topic.

If you’re making a film on humane treatment of animals, and your local humane society is having a benefit during your campaign, it would be beneficial to be in attendance. Pay your support to the cause and discuss your project with other attendees to bring awareness.

It may even be worth contacting the event coordinators in advance and seeing if they’d be willing to showcase your endeavor in exchange for some credit in your film. Either way, plan to be there with promotional materials to pass around (cards, pamphlets, etc.)

For these in-person promotional assets, include your project name, project URL, and the funding end-date, so those who receive them have a clear call-to-action with a sense of urgency.

IMPORTANT: Prepare a way to collect email addresses at in person events. This way you can directly reach out to those interested, as your campaign winds down.

Put together all additional promotional materials: Press release, a website for your project (can be very simple, and should feature your crowdfunding project on the homepage), and any other assets you need.

If you have extra time and bandwidth, prepare a plan for Social Media posts, and/or some sort of theme for how you’ll approach Social.

I managed a campaign to fund a custom boom box called The Jammy. Its slogan was, “I Pulled out My Jammy!” For every day of the one month funding period, we Tweeted a suggestive or funny story about someone pulling out their Jammy. We wrote them all a month in advance, typed them, and copy-pasted them into Twitter, daily.

This saved a lot of time during funding. You could also use @ mentions in a plan like this to further the reach of themed posts. Example: “@JaneDoe… …and pulled out her Jammy.”

Once you’ve made all the essential preparations, you’re ready to hit the crowdfunding site!

ON THE PLATFORM

To properly prepare your project page, you’ll need some fundamentals. They take time and effort, so plan accordingly and get as much help as possible!

Your Video:

It’s one of the most important components affecting your campaign’s success. While having a video is optional, not having one almost guarantees your project will not fund.

Most crowdfunding platforms contain descriptions of what a good video does and does not have, and those descriptions are generally pretty accurate. Learning to construct a great video is easier than most other parts of a crowdfunding project, as there are so many out there to replicate.

There are few types of projects that have not funded through crowdfunding—everything from board games and tech accessories, to larger indie films and whole companies—so, project creators have a multitude of sources to draw from.

Here are just a few tips I have when drafting your campaign video:

1. Review lots of videos for successful projects. Get a taste for what you like and dislike, what works and doesn’t work, and things you think can be applied to your own campaign. Think from a craft perspective, and a messaging perspective.
2. Look at videos for unsuccessful projects. This is a quick way to learn how you can avoid certain pitfalls.
3. Find your voice. If your campaign is lighthearted, you’ll want to focus on touching people’s hearts and/or making them laugh. If you’re making a serious film, you’ll want your production to reflect that. If you’re crowdfunding a slick piece of technology, you’ll want a slick, technical video that showcases the product (think Apple ads).
4. Be personal and personable. You, or whomever is on screen representing your campaign should be approachable, likeable, and should reflect the overall tone of your video. Don’t try to make a super-serious person funny. It’ll come off forced, or be funny for the wrong reasons.
5. Aim for the heart. Look back at your core principles and identify what is at the heart of this project for you, the creator. Then draw a connection between that, and what makes your core demographic care so much about projects like yours?
6. Be natural. Try and avoid stiffness or the appearance of reading off a teleprompter or notes. Be conversational.
7. Address viewers directly and ask for what you need. Let the video be a reminder of why they’re watching. More often than not, it’s good to break down your rewards and why you need the money within your video. You can do this however briefly or in-depth is comfortable, but I definitely recommend including it near the end, with a clear and heartfelt call to action.
8. Introduce yourself. In some way, shape, or form, viewers need to know who you are, what you’re about, and why you’re there. They need to see this instantly. If you want to make a commercial for what you’re doing, make one! But, be sure to have an intro and outro where you introduce yourself, your credentials, and what you’re here for.
9. Keep it short. In my opinion, 2.5 minutes should be enough time for most projects. Sure, there are exceptions, but they are not the rule. Keep your pitch video as short as you possibly can.

The Money:

Choose the amount you wish to raise very, very carefully. Most projects I’ve seen fail were asking for an amount of money that was wishful or unreasonable. My rule of thumb:

Realistically look at your social circle—in person, and online. Think about the amount you want to raise, and answer this question: could I raise 50% of that overall number, with just the people close to me?

If not, drop the number. It’s far better to aim low and overfund than to overask and only raise 50%. Trust me, I’ve been affiliated with both types of project. You have to be brutally honest about your social sphere, and always raise the absolute bare minimum it would take to get your project off the ground. Crowdfunding is no place for dream budgets, especially on your first campaign.

If you want to test your social circle before landing on a number, one good thing to try is testing a “Small Ask.”

A Small Ask is a request from an individual(s) that takes the smallest amount of time possible to deliver, but compels people to be involved. For instance, write a Facebook status like this:

“Quick question for an informal study: how much change is in your pocket, right now? Any answers are greatly appreciated, including $0. Thanks. If you answer, I owe you a wink and a smile!”

Replicate this on Instagram with a picture of loose change in your palm, or on Twitter, or via email with a little more formality. Even shoot texts to friends and family if you really want a comprehensive view.

Once all the answers are in, tally them, and that’s a good indication of who may or may not respond to your crowdfunding project with an actual contribution. Add to that estimations of how much each person could afford to part with, and you’ve done a solid audience case study. I would probably be cautious and cut that number of people in half.

The key is to be as reasonable as possible in your funding goal, and as honest as you can about your circle of friends, family, fans, and supporters.

The Rest of Your Project Page:

Your written project synopsis should be concise. It should echo the sentiments conveyed in your project’s video, and vice versa.  

Include lots of relevant photos. People don’t like to read.  Most people back based on the video and the rewards. So give people something to see when they scroll down your page. Don’t make them work.  Pictures relevant to your rewards are a plus/a must.

Rewards:

Structure your rewards wisely. Here are some Important things to remember, when it comes to rewarding backers’ contributions:

1. Services go a long way. If there’s a service you can provide in exchange for monetary contribution, it can be worth a lot. Time is money, so use it.
2. Don’t underestimate the power of a handwritten thank-you note.
3. Parties are great. People love celebrating and being celebrated, so throw a party for your backers and factor that cost into how much you charge for the reward. Just make sure to restrict parties to a specific geographic location, and clarify that those who don’t live there will need to cover their own travel.
4. Rewards should be less about “cost” and geared to provide an opportunity for uniting and connecting with your fans/customers/supporters. Personal touches, or Lovemarks are key.
5. Don’t forget to budget the cost of delivering rewards. Each reward has to be valuable to a backer, but you can’t diminish your ability to deliver what you say you will. If the reward is really appealing, but takes away from the time you’ll need to execute your goals, or is not cost effective to deliver, it’s not worth it. If you promise to deliver a poster at the $10 reward level, but printing said poster is $8.50, did you really gain anything?
6. MOST IMPORTANT: the most common contribution level is almost always in the $25-$35 dollar range. The only exceptions are products that people could view as life-altering that are valued at more, like tech gear or accessories. Put a great value at the $25-$35 dollar range and you’ll increase the odds of success by a landslide.

On The Back-End:

Outline your Updates in advance. In a four-week funding period, you should have no less than one update a week. Depending on how things are going, you may want to have two per week, and it helps to have a plan. Updates serve three purposes:

1. Rally the troops: they keep your backers informed, making them feel appreciated. With that appreciation, you’re able to remind them that they are essential. If you make backers feel recognized, they’ll spread the word further for you.
2. Provide extra information: a written sample or video update telling a bit more of your story can deepen your relationship with backers. Bring people in on your process and keep them involved in your journey. Tell them your plans, your intentions, and what you’ll be doing once the project is complete.
3. Provide benchmarks: highlight where your project is currently at in the funding process, where you aim to be, and thank backers for their ongoing support. A polite sense of urgency is key.

If you write out four updates that fit these parameters before even launching, all you’ll need to do is fill in status-specific blanks before posting, and you’re freed up to focus on the day-to-day, and any extra updates you want to add later.

Prepare a Thank-You message to send backers upon contribution. You, the

project creator, get an email notification every time a new backer comes aboard.

You should send each backer a thank-you message as quickly as possible, so write it up in advance. You’ll only have to specialize it for those closest to you, but cross that bridge when you get there.

Ask a few friends to write comments on your campaign page when it launches. This may start comment traffic, which looks good to outsiders.

Back a few projects: this is important to demonstrate your involvement within the crowdfunding world, prior to having your own motives. People see you are invested in the community, and respond with the same care.

Backing is also a form of networking Don’t back projects you don’t care about; back a few that interest you. This means you are backing like-minded individuals and they may either back you in return, or—if they respond to your project—promote you within their own circles.

Aside from those utilitarian goals, it really feels good to help and it’s uncool to exploit a community without giving back.

GET YOUR PROJECT APPROVED AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE!!!!!  KICKSTARTER SUBMISSIONS ARE REVIEWED MORE AND MORE CLOSELY EVERY DAY. They may ask you to submit more info or complete something you missed before they approve it.

You don’t want to have to do this 24 hours before launch, especially if you’ve already announced you’re launching in 24 hours. Avoid delays and don’t procrastinate! Give yourself at least a 7 day window.

So, you’re now completely prepared, all your ducks are in order, and there’s nothing left to do but take some deep breaths and launch. Jump in, the water’s warm!

FUNDING: EXECUTION

If you’ve done your homework, your work is simple (in theory): stay stay tuned in, execute on the plan, and listen.

Here’s a weekly breakdown of your campaign, assuming you’ve set a 30 day finding period. It is meant to illustrate what you can expect, and what you’ll need to do to keep the ball rolling and reach success!

LAUNCH DAY (BEGINNING WEEK 1)

Hit the launch button!

Contact your launch-day email/call/message list: contact everyone you reached out to two weeks prior, and any others you left out. Send them an excited announcement of your launch, a reminder of early-backing importance, a call to action, and the link to your project page!

Post on your social media. Engage people to check out your project and contribute if they can. Push them toward your company’s social media pages—if you have any. If your social accounts are mostly people you know, it’s definitely acceptable to prompt them with the 30% quote.

Make other calls, texts, and contacts. Leave no stone un-turned and make sure everyone you know is in the loop. The ultimate goal is to see a rapid spike in backers within the first day or two.

Next Step: observe. If something is missing, you’ll hear about it. If people make requests, take these days to assess whether it’s necessary and provide anything extra. Just listen and be responsive. Don’t be afraid to ask your close relationships for critiques or pointers.

Reply to those who email back, reply to those who Facebook you, reply to all comments/messages on the campaign page, send out thank-you’s to each backer, and just pay attention.

Keep people informed and feeling appreciated, stay active on Social Media, and still, never spam or bombard.

3-4 DAYS IN

Hopefully at this point you’ve seen a spike. Ideally, you’re sitting at or around 30%. This is the point to incorporate your promotional plan and materials.

Pull out that spreadsheet of publications, blogs, press, etc. Once your inner circle has spoken and provided momentum, penetrate the outer circle.  

Reach out to everyone on the list with a complement to them and their site, a brief introduction to you and what you do, and a link to your project. Relate your project to the interests of their readership. Then thank them for their time. Keep this very short. For example:

“Dear ______

I’m a huge fan of your blog. I really love your post on ______. I wanted to send you my crowdfuding project. I think your readers will really respond well to it! Thank you so much for your time, and keep up the great work!

Link to your project

Best, ________”

I’ve had great luck with this, and sometimes the sites themselves even contribute!

Continue staying clued in to your existing audience and backers, (this is where the preparation really pays off).

END OF WEEK 1

Hopefully you’re at 30% funded, and feeling positive. If you’re at 50% or more, you’re an anomaly. You should be between 30-40% to be truly comfortable, but there’s definitely still hope if you’re a few points below 30%.

Take an inventory of the first week: spot things you can do next week to make life easier. Did you accomplish everything you needed to?  Do you have time for extra?

Send Update #1: thank everyone and rally for more support and awareness.  Nothing elaborate, just very appreciative. An accompanying video thank-you is a great addition! This could be produced simply from your webcam or phone.

WEEK 2

This is the beginning of the Dip, or as I’ve heard most people refer to it, “The Well.” During the middle of most campaigns, traffic will slow and creators’ inner circles will drop out. Those closest to you may continue promoting your project, but this is when the outreach you did during Week 1 pulls through.  

By now, you should be hearing back regarding some press releases and outreach emails you sent.  

On The Jammy! project, we sent out emails  to an average of 40-60 blogs and design sites, per day for about two weeks straight. Roughly 2 of every 10 replied and featured us. By the middle of week two we had postings in Australia and Paris, with two Australian backers and one French.  

If you get blog or website write-ups, link to them at the top of your project page. This shows potential backers you have some online credit, and returns those sites’ favors by promoting them!

Continue reaching out to press and other outlets.

If you have any events to attend and promote at, do so.

Keep replying to people, and sending thank-yous. Stay tapped in and keep listening.

Keep at Social Media.

Don’t freak out when things slow down! That’s how The Well goes. If you really push it or you’re really lucky, you won’t see as dramatic a halt, but things always slow down.  People like to sit and watch until the end.

END OF WEEK 2

Hopefully you’ve climbed a bit: a great place to be is just above 50%.

Take another inventory and assess: Good? Good!

Send Update #2: Another thank you and rally. More appreciation. This time, add something a little more involved: a preview of your plans. If your project’s execution involves a team, introduce them to your backers in a video, photos, or with written quotes. Let the backers in a little more on the process.

WEEK 3

The middle of The Well. If you’re comfortably sitting between 55-65%, don’t force a square peg into a round hole. It will be slow here, no matter what, but try and keep the traffic up as much as possible.  

Hopefully you’re still hearing back from some Week 1 and 2 outreach. Keep interfacing and thanking them.  

Continue keeping up with your backers: social media, emails, comments, and messages.  

Keep posting promotions you get on the project page.

Your main job this week is to entertain and pander to those who are already interested. Keep them feeling good. This is probably the most relaxed week in the Funding period. Keep up the good work!

With the extra time, you may consider doing the following:

1. Prepping another spreadsheet for more outreach to online publications.
2. Compiling a list of relevant social media groups (Facebook, Linkedin groups, particularly) to post your project in.
3. Finishing any content or assets you’re running behind on.

END OF WEEK 3

Your campaign probably hasn’t moved much.

Take your usual inventory.

Send Update #3: same style as #2, plus a spirited call to action! Prepare people for the final week, call out to them, asking for more promotion, and as always, say thanks.

Prepare for the madness of week 4!!!!!!

WEEK 4

When it rains it pours. If you’re funding is behind, you’re going to stress. If you’re on schedule, you’re still going to stress. If you’re lucky and overfunded already (never everexpect this), you’ll be excited but stressed out thinking about delivering rewards.

You will have a lot to do for the final seven days, SO HIT IT HARD! As the week progresses, backers will come from every angle. You’ll have more traffic.

Keep up with the thank-yous, the emails, and Social Networks! People will be checking back in after having set your project aside for three weeks, waiting to see where you’d be.

Do more outreach to promotional web outlets, and press. Focus on your core markets and the places you’ve already had interest from, but who may not have posted your project yet. Re-approach those who already promoted you, who responded particularly warmly to your project.  

Re-approach anyone in your inner circle who hasn’t thrown support your way yet.

Keep up with people’s questions, concerns, excitement, and curiosity.

Stay engaged and show your own excitement, publicly.

This is the week to improvise. Maybe you’ll want to add an extra Update?  Maybe you’ll want to hit Facebook groups a little harder, or throw together an additional outreach spreadsheet and send some more emails?  Maybe you’ll want to send out extra thank-yous?

The most important thing is to be public about everything! Show people your excitement and they’ll respond with the same!

ENDING WEEK 4

Hopefully you’re just about funded at this point. Keep up with the emails, thank-yous, etc.

You may want to do an UPDATE 24 to 48 hours before the project ends, rallying for the last push. If backers are piling up quickly, and you’re pretty free and clear, share that thanks and anticipation.

Final Update: When the campaign is complete, whether you’ve funded or not, be sure to thank your backers, friends, family, and all your supporters. Again, be excited to have gained their trust and backing. Videos are best if you’ve succeeded, because your excitement will be very visible.

POST-FUNDING (ASSUMING SUCCESS): DELIVERY

This section is mostly built on personal advice, having seen and been affiliated with both funded, and non-funded projects. It also comes from observing a variety of projects after their goals are met.

Many campaigns that fund never complete their actual projects, and even more campaigns never deliver their rewards. These are two cornerstones of Kickstarter success, and should be your only priorities after funding successfully!

Fulfill your rewards. This should be your first priority. If you foster trusting and happy backers, you create an indispensable and supportive fan base—which you built in a month—that will remain supportive and trusting through future projects, or until you drop the ball.  

So don’t drop it! Reward them for their kindness and you’ll be much better off in the long run.

Complete your funded project! Do the thing that you raised money to do. And, if you can, use your Kickstarter page to continue the backer relationship. Post pictures of your progress over time. Your completed project page can and should become another hub for your project’s network. It would be wasteful not to use your platform—which emails your backers every time you post an update!

Once your final project is done, you can convert your project page into a promotional page, directing people to your finished film’s website or sales platforms. It will live forever online, so use it!

DON’T FORGET TO CELEBRATE! YOU MADE IT!

A lot of people see crowdfunding as an easy alternative to equity finance, or any other fundraising method. Well, it isn’t. It involves maintenance of many relationships at once.  

But, you made it. The rewards you have earned are huge, so welcome to the rest of your life!