10 Powerful Steps to Crowdfunding Your Dreams (Lessons From Failure)
Last week I was sitting on a cement bench staring blankly at my failed crowdfunding campaign. “Goal: $1,000, Reached….? $11”.
The only thing running through my head was: “If only I had gotten into Facebook Groups sooner or reached out to those Instagram influencers sooner or posted that video sooner or…” you get the picture.
“Hindsight is always 20/20”
I love seeing and reading about amazing crowdfunding success stories, what they did to win, strategies, tips, techniques.
I had never really thought of or studied failed crowdfunding projects, or tried identifying their pitfalls. But that's exactly what I should have done had I wanted mine to be successful.
I’m going to show you 10 things I learned from my failed crowdfunding project and how you can find success by avoiding my mistakes.
My Crowdfunding Project
My original goal was a humanitarian scholarship for a university. I wanted to raise $1,000 to provide a scholarship to as many struggling students at BYU Hawaii as possible. I was planning on creating a photo contest with a $200 scholarship prize.
Students would apply for the scholarship by taking pictures of themselves studying in funny places around their campus. All photos would be compiled into a photobook to be sold to perpetuate future funds for the scholarship.
Cool Idea.
But cool wasn’t enough to make the money, it lacked some essential element every crowdfunding campaign needs.
At a whopping $11 this project obviously wasn’t a huge success but I think with a little tweaking this and any project could and can be a smashing hit.
Below I am going to list 10 tips and lessons I have learned that can help you not make my same mistakes:
1. Increase Urgency
The number one reason our project failed, was because there was no sense of urgency. Sure there where poor students but aren’t there always, what makes our project more urgent than anything else.
In your current or future projects tell people why they need to donate and why they need to donate NOW, show them the urgency.
2. Networking Before the Event
Another reason our project failed was because we did not adequately network before the event. Networking and making contacts with other similar groups or newspapers/reporters can be an invaluable form of crowdfunding promotion.
3. Facebook Groups
We did utilize Facebook groups but due to the previously mentioned urgency problem the success and engagement we received didn’t convert into backers.
4. Face to Face Sharing
One very successful method one of our team members employed was asking his friends and coworkers face to face to share our crowdfunding Video. We received thousands of views and a tons of shares though this. This was great for advertising and engagement but again it resulted in zero conversions.
5. Commitment is Essential
You have to be fully committed if you wish to be successful. When our campaign didn’t pan out as expected we lost motivation and commitment and missed a lot of opportunities that would have otherwise helped our campaign.
6. Cross Promote Through Facebook
Make a Facebook page and share all posts and content through it. It will increase legitimacy and drive traffic. We forgot to do this.
7. Approach Groups with The Same Interests
Our one successful action came from this tactic. We approached the Alumni Serviced department of the school we were fundraising for and asked them to post it on their Facebook page. After this we received 2 $5 donations and a bit of online buzz.
8. Find Relevant Blog Sponsors
Find bloggers who are interested in your niche or category and ask to be featured. This is easier if you have products or prototypes you can give away in exchange. Find these people and set up the agreement before you launch to increase your chance of success.
9. Online Advertising Works Wonders
If you have any sort of budget make some Facebook ads. $5 a day or even $2. Keep the ads running until they reach 500 people. (If you don’t see results by 500 change the ad something is wrong.)
10. Optimism is Key
Stay positive even when you see setbacks, this will increase the optimism and confidence of your team and backers. More confidence = More backers.
My final verdict is that crowdfunding is something social entrepreneurs can and should use. With social entrepreneurship, humanitarian projects or any other business I believe crowdfunding can be a powerful platform when done correctly.
Unfortunately, I didn’t do it correctly in this campaign but I hope you can learn from my mistakes and use them to make an amazing crowdfunding success.
Use a Checklist
If you are serious about cowdfunding and need a little help on the creativity side, I’ve created a free checklist for putting yourself into peak productivity & creativity. If you follow this daily, you’ll be able to prioritize your life and proactively create the business of your dreams.
