A few tips for crowdfunding (Make a Wave Incubator Learning)

Check this crowdfunding tips and learning questions, based on Theresa Burton’s workshop during our Make a Wave Incubator Bootcamp for Women Social Entrepreneurs in Manchester.

So, what is crowdfunding? 

As you can read on Buzzbnk’s website: 

“Crowdfunding is exactly what it says on the tin: it’s funding for great ideas from a crowd of people who back those ideas. There’s a specific time frame for funding targets to be reached, and everyone who givesreceives something in return”.

Theresa Burton, Ceo and Co-founder of Buzzbnk, the first UK crowdfunding platform for social entrepreneurs, - and Make a Wave Incubator fellow in 2011- gave an introduction to crowdfunding to the Make a Wave Bootcamp’s participants. In a couple of hours, participants designed a mock crowdfunding campaign page!

Jay Diamond going through a crowfunding campaign pitch exercise.

So here are a few crowdsourced tips, based on the learning gathered during the session…

• If you have a milestone of e.g.: £1000 to raise in 3 months, work out how many pounds a day you need to make! (+/- £11 ) 
• Are you clear about managing expectations?
• For project based campaigns, you can include overheads (reasonable ones) in the overall milestones.
• Your page on-line has 3.5 seconds to impress, statistically.
• If you have a catchy video, people might stay another two minutes
• Remember the more hits you have on your page, the more likely you will get donations/loans in.
• Some people might not have money but they would make great volunteers. So how can you go about co-sourcing?
• Visitors will probably come back a few times before converting into donors or lenders.
• Not everybody who visits the page with donate, but they might talk about it. How can you help them do this?
• Campaigns need to be planned upfront (even the last minute rush!)
• Set aside for instance 30 minutes a day for an activity that will promote your campaign, a group session, a webinar, a phone call, social media calls, get volunteers in to relay your campaigns, write an article, a podcast or a blog, make a video.
• One of your rewards might be to be part of a select network, that helps co-design products or services.
• Campaigns don’t end when the money is in the bank.
• Make sure the money is in before your release the rewards (or benefits)
• How will you deliver the rewards your donors have bought?
• How will you inform your donors about the outcomes of your campaigns, keep them on board and keep them engaged?