It seems like these days there are no shortage of crowdfunding sites to choose from: GoFundMe, Indiegogo, Kickstarter, and Events.com partner CrowdRise. With this deluge of options, it can be frustrating to know where to start in order to run an effective campaign.
During the Brighton Digital Festival held last September, Declan Cassidy, community manager of MakerClub and Sophie Giblin, founder and creative director of the Kollektiv Gallery gave crowdfunding tips to help alleviate the anxiety:
- Have a pre-existing loyal community of people who are genuinely engaged with what you’re doing.
- Build a simple website purely for capturing data.
- Ask for their feedback at the beginning when you’re designing to help give a sense of ownership.
- Use “Share or like to win ____” online campaigns to increase your reach.
- Raise 30 percent of your goal in the first week of your campaign.
- Be creative. Comb through other crowdfunding sites for ideas, but choose what is relevant to you, your project, and your backers.
- Do something bespoke and personal.
- Appeal to your community, family, and friends. Make sure they know your project is live.
- Make a press kit and start making valuable connections right away.
- Tell people about your campaign face-to-face and attend as many networking and public-facing events as possible to get the word out.
The duo also suggested that in general it’s best not to overthink things, to research the pros and cons of the crowdfunding sites you’re interested in, and to leave at least one month between campaigns so you can regroup and reflect.
Looking to increase involvement in your next event? Start setting up your event on Events.com and see the many ways we make it easier to communicate with your attendees.
