Online fundraising for creative projects, nonprofits, startups, and even individuals in need has gone mainstream in the last 2 years. With secure online payment platforms and fast-streaming video, it’s easier than ever to set up a campaign page and raise money from the crowd for just about anything.
However, it can be difficult to get started. Which platform should you choose? What’s the difference between “crowdfunding” “fundraising’ and “peer to peer fundraising?” Where should you go to have your questions answered?
To help you navigate this tangled web of new information, I’ve put together this guide to get you started. It has taken a while to put together this guide and I would appreciate any thoughts or questions that might have in the comments section after this article. Also, if you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter! Now, let’s get down to business.
I’ve put together a new GUIDE that’s packed with science-backed nonprofit fundraising methods, resources, strategies, and killer marketing methods.
You should check it out if you want to get more donations and you want to fast-track the entire process.
Step 1: What are you raising money for?
What you are raising money for, whether it’s an individuals medical bills, a nonprofit’s startup costs, a film, or to finance the initial production of a new invention, will determine which fundraising platform is best for you or your organization.
In our previous article, we helped you create a checklist of some factors you should consider if you are deciding on a crowdfunding platform. This is a great place to start. However, if you don’t want to go through the process of evaluating the options, I’ve made a short list below of some of the top platforms for different fundraising categories.
NonProfit Projects – If you’re considering raising money for a project related to your nonprofit or your nonprofit itself, this is a great list of some of the sites available. Using these platforms, you can engage your existing donor base and new potential supporters.
Personal Causes – Personal causes can include raising money for medical bills, disasters, in-need individuals, pets, funerals, traveling, disasters, and more.
College Tuition & School Related – This massive list of 16 websites offers a lot of options to choose from when fundraising for education-related costs.
Debt Crowdfunding (Peer to Peer Lending/Getting a Loan) – Debt Crowdfunding is a newer concept. This is a good option if you’d like to finance a project or initiative and rather than seeking donations, pre-selling product, or giving away equity, you want to take on debt.
Real Estate Crowdfunding Websites – If you haven’t heard of real estate crowdfunding, it’s time to learn! Using these online portals, you can invest in or finance real estate deals. Be sure to read through the requirements and rules of each of the platforms.
Equity Crowdfunding for Startups – Finding initial funding to start a business is tough! You’re not always able to solicit donations or pre-sell your product to get the ball rolling. In these cases, it may be time to consider giving away equity in return for capital. These sites are a good place to get started if you’re looking to bring on an angel investor.
Film Financing Platforms – Films projects are some of the post popular crowdfunding initiatives. Begin your search for the best website to host your film fundraiser with this list.
Game Development Fundraising Sites – New games are undisputedly in the top 3 of popular crowdfunding projects. While the juggernauts exist like Kickstarter, this article also explores some of the niche platforms.
Musicians, Bands, and Artists – Music lends itself well to online fundraising because musicians already have fans who are passionate about their art, buy merchandise, and show up at concerts. If you are a musician, these sites will help you narrow down the best platform to host your online fundraiser.
Step 2: Do you understand how online fundraisers work?
Online fundraisers are a little bit different than in-person fundraisers in terms of preparation, getting the word out, and racking up support. With regards to preparation, it’s important to understand that when browsing online, videos, images, faces, and a sense of community dominates. In this section, I’ll be focusing on online fundraisers for individuals and nonprofits. For more tips on how to raise money for a creative project on a platform like Kickstarter, check out my ebook!
By some estimates, including a video on your campaign page can help you raise 100% more funds than had you not used a video to communicate your message. I highly recommend checking out these ways to boost donor engagement online through images and videos. In addition, Beth Kanter, an expert on nonprofits and social media, has some great tips for using video as a medium to raise funds.
It’s also easy to underestimate the power of social media, online news sites, and social bookmarking websites when planning how to promote your online fundraiser. Perhaps in the past, you could rely on traditional mail, phone calls, and bulletin boards around town to spread the news about a fundraiser.
However, some studies have found that the average person spends 23 hours a week emailing, texting and using social media and other forms of online communication. Other studies claim that 61 percent of American cell phone owners were using smartphones in 2013, up from 21 percent in 2010, according to Nielsen and “Adults in the United States will spend more than five hours each day on “nonvoice mobile activities,” including Internet use on phones and tablets, and about four-and-a-half hours watching.”
It’s no secret – you need to go where the people are if you want to be heard!
Along with creating a social media and PR strategy, it’s also important to understand how non-traditional donors find out about new projects. I’m sure you’re familiar with the ALS ice bucket challenge.
“The Ice Bucket Challenge, sometimes called the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, is an activity involving dumping a bucket of ice water on someone’s head to promote awareness of the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and encourage donations to research.
The challenge dares nominated participants to be filmed having a bucket of ice water poured on their heads and then nominating others to do the same. A common stipulation is that nominated participants have 24 hours to comply or forfeit by way of a charitable financial donation.” – Wikipedia.
Since going viral (July 29 – Aug 21), the ice bucket challenge brought in more than 739,000 new donors, which is double the $19.4 million in contributions received the year prior. The total donations since July 29 exceed $100 million.
A key component of this fundraising marketing technique was the use of Facebook and incentives as a way to spread the word about the challenge. Similar to BuzzFeed’s marketing techniques, this fundraiser grew virally through mentions, newsfeed, and shares.
How can you incentivize others to share your online fundraiser?
Step 3: Setting up a timeline.
Creating a video, compelling donor tiers, copywriting, images, and an outreach plan takes time. I recommend to begin planning at least 3 months before your fundraising campaign.
This will give you enough time to sort out your strategy, set up social media accounts if you don’t have them already, and begin reaching out to influencers who can help promote your campaign.
If you’re going to be working with a team to set up the fundraiser, it’s important that everyone is held accountable to deadlines and that your “to-do” checklist is coordinated. This list of tools is a good place to start if you don’t already have any processes in place to manage a team in a joint effort. Some of these software tools can help you make communication easier or plan out social media postings.
Finally, a timeline for both your proposed project and your team will help show donors that you are taking the fundraising effort seriously and will put their hard-earned dollars to use effectively and efficiently.
Step 4: Constructing the fundraising page.
I’ve already put together a checklist of items to include and avoid when constructing a fundraising page. If you’re having trouble coming up with rewards, I suggest looking through this list of possible cause-related rewards and this and this list of project reward ideas.
Whenever uncertain about crafting your story, it’s best to default to the “who, what, when, where, and why” approach. In addition, just because you are serious about the fundraising effort doesn’t mean that emotion, humor, and passion should be absent from your pitch. This article by WiredImpact referenced research on younger donors indicating that “85% reported that a compelling mission or cause motivates them to financially support an organization. This was more than 50% higher than any other motivating factor. Potential donors want to feel a sense of connection to the cause prior to giving their financial support.”
Also, “77% indicated they’d be somewhat or very likely to stop donating to a nonprofit that didn’t tell them how their donation was making an impact.”
The takeaway is that you need to convey both passion and transparency when creating your project page. Go back to the values that your nonprofit or organization was founded on and explain how this project is an extension of that beginning.
Before you consider your page finalized, be sure to show it to a few friends and ideally strangers to get feedback on the project. Do they understand what you are trying to accomplish? Did they watch the entire video on the page? Which reward tier seemed more interesting? How did they feel after reading through the campaign text? Exited or bored?
Step 5: Launching the fundraiser.
After going through all that work to get the fundraiser together, you must think it’s time to sit back and relax. Think again!
The first seven days of your campaign are crucial. You need to get your social network, family, and your employees’ social network backing the project ASAP. You don’t want people coming to the page seeing that your ‘donation jar’ is empty. You will lose all social proof.
After you have some initial supporters, you can then release the fundraiser to your existing donor base. Be sure to give them a specific set of instructions as to how to support (ideally with screenshots if they are less familiar with technology), and how to spread the word.
Finally, the next step is to move beyond your donor base and to begin approaching online news outlets with your story, asking donors to submit your project to social bookmarking sites like Reddit, having your organization start a Facebook challenge, and even doing promoted Facebook posts if your organization has the budget.
I recommend reading through some of these PR tips to get the word out about your fundraiser. You’re also welcome to let us know about it in the nonprofit section of the CrowdfundingForum.
Step 7: Staying in touch or re-tooling.
One of the most overlooked parts of an online fundraising campaign is the ability to turn new supporters into long-term donors. Rather than saying “thank you” and disappearing to work on your new project, you need to keep up to date with your donors. You can do this is with a blog, updates, or weekly newsletters.
Remember that every positive interaction that a new donor has with you, your org, or your cause increases the chance that they will support your next project.
If you were unsuccessful with your online fundraising campaign, it’s time to sit down and take a hard look at why. Was your message not broadcasted to enough people or were people not interested in your cause or rewards?
Were backers afraid of using an online portal and did they not understand how to support your project?
Gather as much data as you can about the campaign before you decide whether or not to launch another. You can also get my opinion by leaving a comment on this article and explaining your situation!
I’ve put together a new GUIDE that’s packed with science-backed nonprofit fundraising methods, resources, strategies, and killer marketing methods.
You should check it out if you want to get more donations and you want to fast-track the entire process.
Conclusion
Did you find this guide to be helpful? Let me know in a comment below and don’t forget to share your fundraising plans on CrowdfundingForum.com.
