Want to have an awesome and successful campaign on LaunchGood? We want you to as well!
The following are the fundamental components of a crowdfunding campaign. If your team is interested in launching a campaign, don’t feel overwhelmed by the list. Need be, our team will coach you through all the components to set you up for the best chances of success.
Identify the amount of money that you need to raise. Be realistic of your network and what you can accomplish - it's not a question of how much LaunchGood can raise for you but how much you can raise on LaunchGood.
Perception is very important. If you set your goal at $20,000 and raise $10,000, you could look like a failure even though you raised a lot of money. However if your goal is $7,000 and you raise $10,000 you look like an incredible success! In both cases you raised the same amount, but the perception is very different.
Also don't forget to anticipate expenses. At a minimum you'll need to add ~3% to cover credit card fees. On top of that you may be giving out perks, for example shipping out t-shirts, that cost money to produce and mail. Do your best to estimate all of those expenses and add it to your goal. On average, we find campaigns should aim for 20% more than they need. So if you need $5,000, set your goal at $6,000.
Next you want to identify what type of campaign you want to run, for which there are two options:
We know what you're thinking - why would anyone want to do All-or-Nothing? Sounds stressful, right?
Well, because it's stressful that's why. Campaigns that choose the All-or-Nothing route tend to be 8x more successful in reaching their goal because the stakes are so high it forces you and your supporters to work harder, which means more money.
Ultimately, you should choose what's best for your campaign type. For example, if you're raising money to feed the homeless do Partial Funding, because even if you only reach 50% of your goal you can still feed a lot of people. But if you're raising money to make a movie do All-or-Nothing Funding, because if you only get 50% there you aren't stuck with not having enough money but still having a responsibility to supporters.
Campaigns around 30 days tend to perform best, but what really matters is when you start and finish your campaign by. 80% of funds are received in the first and last 3 days, so you want to start and finish your campaign strategically.
Beginning of the week is best, between Monday and Wednesday. Choose a week where you have a lot of free time and can pound the virtual pavement, sending lots of emails, posting to Facebook and Twitter, making phone calls and sending texts.
Finishing on Friday tends to work best but again it depends on your schedule. If you work fulltime during the week and the weekend is when you have free time, end on a Sunday night, because you'll need to spend those last 2-3 days working really hard to get people to support.
"We relate to you, [O Muhammad], the best of stories in what We have revealed to you of this Qur'an although you were, before it, among the unaware." Surat Yusuf, Verse 3
The pitch is critical - it's your chance to tell everyone what you're doing and why it matters. A great pitch doesn't guarantee success but without it you're guaranteed failure.
There are 3 keys to a successful pitch:
Your pitch isn't about "making sense" and being logical, it's about making an emotional connection. People give from their heart, not their brain. Really focus on why should someone care about your campaign, make them feel excited, intrigued, and inspired. Make it irresistible to support!
People give money to those they trust. How do you establish legitimacy in your campaign? Be transparent! Get personal and talk about who you and your team are, include pictures, share links to social media pages - remove any doubt that you are a legitimate person, organization or business.
People have very short attention spans, and most will just scan your pitch looking at the headers and images you use. Make sure to include a picture for every 1 to 2 paragraphs of text and those images should be unique and emotionally appealing (like people). Wherever you can convey thoughts in graphs and images instead of text. For headers, use catchy headers that again are unique and emotional, for example if you are from Detroit and trying to raise money to study Arabic in Doha, instead of "My Story" you can say "From Detroit to Doha".
Campaigns with videos tend to raise twice as much as campaigns without videos. Research shows that the most effective videos are under 1 minute, and the first 10 seconds are the most critical - they need to reel in the viewer!
What makes for an amazing crowdfunding video pitch?
If you're a funny person, make a funny video. If you're very thoughtful, be thoughtful. Every video is as unique as a fingerprint, so don't worry about trying to copy someone else's. Leave complicated details for your pitch (for example, specific perks for each giving level) and instead focus on building that emotional connection.
What is the purpose of your campaign? Better yet, who are you? The introduction should be brief, but it should answer these fundamental questions. It is recommended that you or your team appear in the video itself as well. Faceless organizations and professionals are sometimes hard to relate to — or even trust. For this reason, if you really want to tell a convincing story, show them who you are.
Don’t stall getting to this point. What do you wish to achieve with your product/idea? Is there a problem that you’ve identified and wish to solve using this product/service? What is special about your campaign? There are many different ways one can take this, but regardless of the approach, be specific and to-the-point. Mysteriousness is a hindrance in most cases.
Let your supporters know what their support counts for. If you’ve focused on a problem that your product/service solves, then really drill that point home. Similarly, if you are offering a perk, explain to your supporters what it is.
If you’ve incorporated all of the other basic components, it’s time to ask something of your audience. If you have been abundantly clear and transparent up until this point, this part will come naturally. Simply, what is it you want your supporters to now do? (hint: SUPPORT & SHARE!)
Giving levels provide options for supporters to choose from when contributing to your campaign. These can also take your campaign to the next level. There is no ‘ideal’ giving level; each campaign has something different to offer its supporters. Here are some points to consider:
80% of supporters will give less than $50, but more than half your money will come from big contributions. So you need a full range of small and big giving levels to get everyone involved. For example, you can have $10, $25, $50, $100, $250, $500, $1000, $2500, etc.
If you're making a product, like a music album, it's easy to offer perks that are structured around that product (e.g. $25 gets you a CD). But what if you're part of a non-profit building a mosque? In this case, focus on the impact of the contribution. So for $25 you don't get something, but you're helping pay for 1 square foot of construction.
Make sure your perks don’t end up costing you more money and headache than they're worth! LaunchGood is a global platform and you can get supporters from San Francisco to Singapore. Think of cool perks that don't require shipping, like listing someone on your website or the credits of your film or engraving their name into a wall if they ever come visit.