Unsure if crowdfunding is the right path for your next passion project? We’ve put together a handy checklist to help you out.
Crowdfunding is an incredible tool for getting that project or product you’ve been dreaming of off the ground. Whilst anything can be crowdfunded, our checklist can help you decide if crowdfunding is right for you.
So let’s see if you’re campaign ready, shall we?
Is my idea suited to crowdfunding?
‘Is my idea suited to crowdfunding?’ — is definitely one of the most common questions we receive at Pozible. The short answer is ‘Yes!’ — almost anything can be crowdfunded but it does depend on how you frame your campaign and what your objectives are.
Here at Pozible we accept an incredibly diverse range of campaigns (as you can see from the above categories!) however not all campaigns suit an All-or-Nothing or Donations rewards-based structure. We absolutely recommend doing your research and planning out your goals for your project before launching into a campaign.
A good rule of thumb is:
All-or-Nothing: Best suited to project-based outcomes etc. a new food or beverage product, a live music gig or album preorder, book launch or a community project with a clear budget goal.
Donations: Whereas, if your organisation has DGR (Deductible Gift Recipient) status, you can use our donations based campaign for your project and issue a tax-deductible receipt to your supporters. These campaigns generally focus on supporting a cause or social justice issue that can accept all supporter contributions.
Keep in mind that whilst you may see a lot of potential in an idea, other people may not so why not do a bit of market research beforehand?
✅ Is the vision for my project clear?
It is important to note that half-formed ideas are not the best for crowdfunding. You should be able to sum up your idea clearly and concisely in one to two sentences — if not, it may be worth heading back to the drawing board to work out exactly what you want to accomplish from the project.
Always answer the ‘who, what, when, where and how’ of your project's vision in the first paragraph of your campaign.
Otherwise, supporters will be discouraged to pledge if a campaign isn’t looking fully formed and fully thought out. Remember that people are giving you their own money to support your project and will be more likely to pledge if they can see a clear vision and trust you know what you’re doing.
✅ Is my network notified?
In no doubt, your network or your access to networks is what is going to push your crowdfunding campaign over the line. The foundation of a successful crowdfunding campaign ultimately depends on having an extensive database of loyal supporters both pre-existing, as well as newly sourced.
If your network isn’t where you want it to be, it may be best to work on this before launching your campaign, but the good news is this can be quite easy to do. Whether it be via social media, attending events, joining meet up groups or simply talking to those in your community — there are so many ways you can expand your network and even if your project does not relate to these people, chances are they know someone who would be interested. We’ve broken this down a little bit in a previous post which can hopefully give you a few more pointers.
Although accessibility is key, please just keep in mind that a large social following doesn’t necessarily guarantee pledges. It certainly helps and makes it easy for people to share the campaign for you, but don’t bank on just this. For any campaign to succeed, there must be regular and consistent updates shared throughout the duration of the campaign.
✅ Are you ready to be hands-on?
A common misconception is that once you set up a crowdfunding campaign page, that’s it in terms of promotional activity. This is not the case. Whilst there may be people who find your project via crowdfunding sites, the majority of people need to be told about your campaign and where to find it.
There is a list of required promotional tasks that you will have to keep on top of, such as:
- Social media posting and content creation
- Generating leads
- Organising well-timed cash bombs to keep up the momentum
- Partnerships and event appearances
- Pitching to press and other PR tasks
The work doesn’t stop there either as you still have to complete the actual project and get the rewards to all of your supporters.
If you put the work in though it’s absolutely worth it to be supported by an incredible community who only want you to succeed!
✅ Ok, I am ready, so what’s next?
To see the final result of these ideas- we’ve put a couple of campaigns together that really put our checklist into motion:
All-or-Nothing: Climb Tasmania Guide
A creative project worth noting on how to run a successful All-or-Nothing campaign is the ‘Climb Tasmania Guide’. This guidebook aimed to feature the best climbing tracks within Tasmania. Continuing their third edition of the ‘Climb Tasmania’ guidebook series, this campaign impressively gained the support of over 358 pledgers, raising a total of $23,773! Almost $8,000 over their original goal!
This was thanks to their extensive networking activity, the unique rewards structure and aesthetically pleasing graphics of the campaign.
Donations based:
Bob Brown — Koalas need native forests
The Bob Brown Foundation is an excellent example of ticking all the boxes for a Donation-based campaign. Their ‘Koalas Need Native Forests’ project was to campaign for the immediate end to all Australian native forest logging.
To achieve their goal, the campaign was split into two stretch target goals and continuously cross-promoted via their campaign page and social media throughout the duration of the campaign. As a result, 1193 supporters pledged and they finished with an astounding $117,409.
The donations collected help fund their ongoing efforts, including endangered species research, direct frontline action and national advertising campaigns to continue to spread awareness of the cause.
✅ The next steps
One of the best parts about crowdfunding is that this is your project and your passion so get excited! If your passion is shining through then your supporters will see this and it becomes a bit infectious.
So, keeping that all in mind if you feel you are ready then start your draft today with Pozible! Or even better, speak to one of our friendly team about ways we can help you reach your crowdfunding goals.
Is Crowdfunding Right For Me? was originally published in The Pozible Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
