Tuesday Tips for Crowdfunding: What Works, What Doesn’t

To start the New Year right, we asked some of our incredible project creators to share their top crowdfunding tips for those who are thinking about starting a campaign. We’ll share all of their responses over the next few weeks, with a different theme on each post. This week we asked project creators that have run successful campaigns to focus on what they thought they did well during their campaigns, and what they wish they’d done differently.

What was the most important thing you or your team did that contributed to your campaign’s success?

NOTE: Not every tip fits every project. Don’t assume that following each of these tips will automatically make you successful, or that by not following them you’ll be set-up to fail. Each campaign is unique, each project is unique, and each community is unique. The biggest tip WE have: consider carefully the campaign tactics that will work best for YOUR project and community.

Tip 1: Use internal teams and outside partners to help get the word out and build support

• “Everyone was committed to telling every person they talked to about it. It takes a team to do that, it can’t be just one person.” — Wendy Blake, #DistinctivePlace, Greensburg IN

The #DistinctivePlace team celebrates one of three murals in Greensburg IN.

• “[We] leveraged support from Patronicity to connect varying stakeholders for our project, including artists, patrons, members, and Lansing businesses. Our long list of collaborators and partners included Downtown Lansing, Inc, the City of Lansing, Lansing Economic Development Corporation, Lansing Economic Area Partnership, Arts Council of Greater Lansing, Lansing State Journal, and more.” — Barb Whitney, Pop Up Art: Special Edition II, Lansing MI
• “We had two parties and invited community partners to come speak about the impact this project would have in the community… It’s one thing for staff members to get up and talk about the many benefits this project will bring, but it’s more meaningful to have an outside person tell stories and testimonials to promote the project. A lot of donations came from those parties and we did a lot of follow up with attendees afterwards to talk one on one and get larger donations than what you might receive if you ask attendees to make donations on the spot.” — Megan Hutchison, Lotus Global Arts Center, Bloomington IN
• “It’s important to get local leadership — City Hall, Mainstreet, and civil groups — behind your project. If everyone believes in the project and is singing the same song, the funding will come.” Jordan Tandy, Riverfront Plaza, Wabash IN

Tip 2: Use multiple methods for outreach during the campaign

• “[We got] the word out in any means possible — via social media, print etc.” — Amanda Hill, Beyond Walls, Lynn MA

Work gets started in the Bedford Community Garden.

• “Bedford, Indiana is in a rural part of the state. Internet access and engagement is not universal here, so we had a lot of success reaching out to donors with regular paper! We made some professional, hardcopy fundraising packets that we sent out via USPS to a wide variety of community businesses and community organizations and a lot of folks responded to this by mailing in checks or dropping them off at the Bedford Parks Department.” — Rachel Beyer, Bedford Community Garden, Bedford IN

Tip 3: Focus your efforts (and donor attention) on this campaign as much as possible

• “We had this be our main campaign for the year — not just one of many.” — Jim Walker, Garfield Park Creative Community by Big Car, Indianapolis IN

Tip 4: Create new or double matching opportunities

• “[We had] donor match days in the middle of the campaign when contributions slow down. Between 2 donor match days we got well over half of our campaign goal. They really help to nudge people over the line to donate.” — Chris Corr, Craig Kids Memorial Park, Indianapolis IN

Lots of community love in Anderson, IN

Tip 5: Show how you feel about your community!

• “Our compassion and genuine love for our downtown and city [made us successful].” — Sonia Caldwell, A Town Arts, Anderson IN

What was the one thing you wish you’d done differently, to make your campaign even more successful?

Tip 6: Lay the groundwork before your campaign begins.

• “[Develop] teasers to build up support, curiosity, and interest [and] an email contact list.” — Amanda Hill, Beyond Walls, Lynn MA
• “Have flyers printed earlier and distribute at the start of the campaign.” — Jim Walker, Garfield Park Creative Community by Big Car, Indianapolis IN
• “Lay the groundwork with area businesses earlier.” — Chris Corr, Craig Kids Memorial Park, Indianapolis IN

Pop -up art event in Lansing MI gets people excited!

• “I think we could have reached more community members if we would have begun talking about the public art project even sooner, just as soon as our staff became inspired by the project. This year, we are generating buzz and building momentum with our summer 2018 public art project by sharing our excitement with stakeholders during the planning process and before the details have been made public.” —Barb Whitney, Pop Up Art: Special Edition II, Lansing MI

Tip 7: Make sure you ask for the right amount from your community — not too big OR too little

• “[We could have] originally made our goal for more money LOL.” — Sonia Caldwell, A Town Arts, Anderson IN (their project raised over twice their original goal)

Tip 8: Create unique giving and recognition opportunities

• “I think if our project would have had different pieces that could be sponsored that could have made it easier to get some donations. For example, the [campaign] in Wabash had canoes [as a giving level] that businesses could put their name on.” — Wendy Blake, #DistinctivePlace, Greensburg IN
• “I wish we would have set up a text to donate campaign during our large music Festival that took place during the match campaign. We could have gotten a lot of donations that way (I think), but we didn’t have enough capacity at the time to set something like that up.” — Megan Hutchison, Lotus Global Arts Center, Bloomington IN
• “We could have done a better job of recognizing contributions as they came in. Giving due credit to donors on social media could have helped build more momentum for the project.” — Jordan Tandy, Riverfront Plaza, Wabash IN

Tip 9: Plan We could have done a better job of recognizing contributions as they came in. Giving due credit to donors on social media could have helped build more momentum for the project. a celebration for your team and your donors

• “If we could do it over, I would probably organize some sort of end of campaign, celebratory festival at our garden site. Unfortunately, there were some other community events going on around that time that made it difficult to schedule such an event for our group.” —Rachel Beyer, Bedford Community Garden, Bedford IN

Remember, each campaign is unique and every community will have different keys to a successful campaign. This is what Patronicity Coaches are for! We’re there for you every step of the way and will help you determine what tips and tricks may best fit your community.