8 lessons from crowdfunding the launch of a social venture in 2 days
$30,000. 30 days. 1 mission. What I learnt from running a Kickstarter campaign that was funded in 48 hours.
I’d always wanted to do a crowdfunding campaign. Having seen so many brilliant ideas come to life through the likes of Kickstarter and Indiegogo, I’d been drawn to the idea for years.
That being said, the conversations I had with experienced and crowdfunding-savvy friends all had one thread in common: crowdfunding is hard work.
Having heeded this warning, my co-founder and I cautiously embarked on our own campaign with a small team of eco-warriors and a delusional sense of optimism.
The experience was exhausting, exhilarating, and terrifying — but ultimately very rewarding, in so many ways. We hit our target of 1.5 million yen within 48 hours, finished with more than double that amount (3.3 million yen / $31,500), gained much-needed momentum through publicity, and met countless supporters and collaborators who became an integral part of our movement.
Here are 8 lessons I learnt from mymizu’s Kickstarter, for those thinking about embarking on their own crowdfunding crusades.
1. Firstly— crowdfunding is not JUST about money
Yes, crowdfunding on the surface is about gathering cash to make your big idea a reality.
But it’s also a massive opportunity to build your brand, your story, your team and — importantly — your base of ‘1,000 true fans’ who can help to propel you forward, well after your campaign comes to a close.
With the right attitude, you can walk away with advisors, evangelists, business partners, volunteers, media accolades, investors and many other things that can help you more holistically.
Keep this in mind when you make your ‘Call For Action’; it’s not JUST about the money. It’s about the mission.
2. When you launch, think NASA
When a rocket launches, people a) know about it, and b) come from far and wide to watch.
Your crowdfunding campaign should be the same.
Publicising your campaign should start long before launch day. In the months before, you should be building up hype so that EVERYONE knows exactly what day and time your creation is coming to life.
Proactively grow your mailing list and social media following, tell anyone who will listen about your project (without being annoying), and take any PR opportunities you can BEFORE you launch. This will help to ensure you start with a bang… just make sure you do the preparation so you can live up to the hype.
3. The power of a (short) video
According to Kickstarter, projects with a video succeed at a rate of 50%, as opposed to 30% for those without.
Similarly, Indiegogo reports that campaigns with a pitch video raise 4 times more funds than campaigns without one.
So having a good video is pretty important. That doesn’t mean that you have to hire an expensive agency or a videographer — an authentic, home-made video shot with your iPhone might actually be more charming and effective than a smooth, professionally cut video.
The important thing is to tell your story, engage the audience and clearly state why you need help — all in a relatively short time (generally speaking, 1–3 minutes videos seem to be the sweet spot).
4. Tell Your Story. And Make it Personal
“Marketing is no longer about the products we sell, but the stories we tell.” — Seth Godin.
Some things to communicate through your campaign include:
- Who are you? Who is your team?
- Why are you doing this project now? What’s the origin story?
- What exactly is your project (include sketches, prototypes, and other exciting details, if possible)
- What’s your plan: timeline and key milestones?
- Why exactly do you need help, and what you will do with the funding?
- How will you go on to change the world once this creation comes to life?
Remember: people invest in the person just as much — if not more — than they invest in the project. You may feel a little self-conscious putting yourself out there, but it will make all of the difference.
Also, make your campaign page as visually engaging as possible, with minimal text. Some people may only look at your page for a few seconds, so try to be as clear, concise and sincere as possible (ask yourself “can an eight-year-old understand the project from the header image and the title alone?”)
Try to align the style and tone of all of your storytelling materials, like your visual assets, copy, newsletters, and social media posts. Ideally, prepare the bulk of them in advance!
And be bold; sometimes the best stories use humour or are unexpected in some way. This Zero Co campaign is one of my favourites.
5. Set the Right Goal & Duration
Set the goal for how much you actually need.
On “all-or-nothing” platforms like Kickstarter, you could walk away with nothing, so shooting too high or being greedy could spell disaster.
You can always generate early momentum, hit your funding goal, and then raise more through stretch goals and add-ons.
Also, this sounds very obvious, but when setting your fundraising goal, remember to factor in every single one of your costs.
That includes, but is not limited to the rewards, postage, packaging, marketing, credit card and platform fees, taxes, snacks for volunteers — EVERYTHING! Make sure to capture a true projection of your ‘profit’ before setting the target, so that you are left with enough to invest in your creation.
As for duration: from what I’ve seen online, up to 30 days seems to be the ideal campaign length, since it’s hard to maintain a sense of urgency if it's any longer. This is what we tried, and it seemed about right.
6. Pick the Right Platform
A few things to consider when picking the platform for you include:
- The nature of your project
There are crowdfunding platforms for creatives, schools, nonprofits, and everything in between. Look into which is most suited to your project. - Commission / Fees
Each platform will charge a different commission and processing fee, ranging from 0-20% (even more in some cases). - Language / Customization
Some platforms may be more user-friendly or unusable depending on the language(s) you choose. Also, check if the platform can process payments from your target countries. - Trust
Do people in your target country know the platform? Are they happy to put in their credit card details, etc.? ReadyFor, Makuake & CampFire are some of the big names in Japan that may have a higher trust rating.
In the end, we went with Kickstarter because it was user-friendly in both English and Japanese, accepted payments from around the world, enjoys a strong reputation, and charges relatively modest fees.
The total fee (5% for Kickstarter and 4.5% processing fee) was comparatively low; other crowdfunding platforms can easily charge double that or more (some in Japan charge 20%+, though they come with support services), so do your research and choose wisely.
7. Give yourself LOTS of time to prepare and deliver
Pre-launch — planning, shooting the video, preparing visual assets, creating the storyline, choosing and managing rewards, etc.— will most likely take several months.
Post-campaign, there are a whole host of reasons why sending out rewards and closing out the campaign will take longer than anticipated, from supply chain disruptions to incomplete addresses.
Be generous with the time you set aside and with the reward delivery dates.
However long you think it will take to complete your project, double it.
There’s nothing worse than delayed rewards — remember that your crowdfunding campaign is about trust-building, so don’t shoot yourself in the foot with impossibly tight deadlines.
8. Start Strong, Finish Strong
The most important periods of your campaign will likely be the first 48 hours and the final 48 hours.
In the beginning, there’ll be a magical buzz and you’ll hopefully have built a strong base to accelerate quickly. According to Indiegogo,
“campaigns that reach 30% of their goal in the first 2 days are much more likely to exceed their ultimate crowdfunding goal.”
By racing quickly to 30%, you build momentum early on and give prospective backers confidence that your campaign is on track for success. So try to hit at least 30% as early as possible!
The middle can be nerve-wracking, as the notifications slow down, but try to keep up the PR machine and intensity. Towards the end, make a ‘final push’ to get all of the people who said they would support you to follow through, and try to generate some last-minute publicity as you enter the home stretch.
And most importantly, when you do finish, CELEBRATE. You and your team have just done something truly epic and are one step closer to bringing your idea to life :)
Get some well-deserved rest, deliver those rewards, and use the momentum you’ve worked so hard to build to create that beautiful thing of yours: the world will be a better place because of it.
Thanks for reading.
If you’ve had any experiences or reflections from your own crowdfunding campaign, please share in the comments below. Or feel free to just jot down any thoughts you’ve had while reading — I’d love to hear!
Also, if you’re interested in social impact in Japan, you can see some of my other posts here:
