By now, you’ve probably heard of Indiegogo in the news with some of the amazing campaigns that have been run on its platform, like the Axent Wear “Cat Ear Headphones,” which raised $3,428,041, “The World’s Smartest Motorcycle Helmet” which raised $2,446,824, or Luna, which raised over $1 million through the InDemand program for a smart bed.
If you haven’t, Indiegogo is an online crowdfunding platform where you can raise money for technology-related, artistic, fashion, or comic book projects. They also have project categories on the platform like design, dance, film, food, gaming, music, and more.
Although Indiegogo is similar to Kickstarter, it also has a variety of functionality that sets it apart, like the “Indiegogo Life” section, where individuals can raise money for personal or charitable causes, and the “InDemand” program, which allows campaigns to continue to accept pledges even after the campaign has finished.
In this article, we’re going to go over how to raise money on Indiegogo and avoid some of the common pitfalls of first-time crowdfunders. If you have any questions, leave a comment below.
1. What type of campaign do you want to run?
You have a variety of options when it comes to choosing the type of crowdfunding campaign to publish on Indiegogo. Depending on what you want to raise money for, you might choose to go with flexible over fixed funding or you might decide to run an Indiegogo life project over a traditional crowdfunding project. Consider some of the following items below before proceeding.
- Flexible vs Fixed Funding: Flexible funding is a “keep what you raise” model, where if you set a $10,000 goal, but only raise $5,000 over the course of your 30 day campaign, you will still be able to keep those funds. Fixed funding is an “all or nothing” model. When choosing this type of campaign, you must hit your goal before the timer runs out. There are benefits and drawbacks to both, which I’ve outlined here.
- Indiegogo vs Indiegogo Life: If you are planning to secure funds to make a creative project (album, book, game, film), or mass-produce a gadget, then Indiegogo is for you. However, if you are raising funds for a personal cause like medical, education, or funeral expenses, then Indiegogo Life would be a better fit. For 501(c)(3)non-profit campaigns, Indiegogo offers a 25% reduction off their platform fees.
- Indiegogo InDemand: This is a newer program that you can opt into from your campaign editor. Once your campaign has concluded, you will still be able to accept pledges from your Indiegogo page. Keep in mind that you will still need to fulfill rewards as new pledges come in.
2. How big is your crowd?
Indiegogo has a few key statistics regarding campaigns that launch on the platform, which I’ve gathered here.
Most campaigns will raise about 30% of their crowdfunding goal from their immediate social network. This amount is required to build up some social proof and get 2nd degree connections or strangers interested in the campaign. However, this varies from category to category.
In my experience from having worked with creators, interacted with many on our forum, and interviewed a slew through the podcast and blog, the gaming, design, and technology categories see the most pledges from “strangers” and the film and music categories see a lot of pledges from the creator’s fanbase, or from strangers if the story really resonates.
Projects in other categories like publishing, art, dance, small business, etc. require much more marketing and thought put into the actual promotion of the campaign. That’s not to say that projects in the other categories will be “magically funded.” They also require a lot of work and interesting rewards to attract backers.
Therefore, the size of your crowd or the social network you bring to the table is going to be a big determinant as to how much you’ll be able to raise on Indiegogo. Don’t set a super high goal if you aren’t confident you can raise at least 20-30% in the first few days. Set a low goal and if you end up hitting it, you can always raise more! The percentage that you’ve raised also factors into the gogo algorithm.
If you’re new to marketing, I highly recommend you read our other article on this topic, or join our free crowdfunding course. Finally, if you’re trying to raise money via Indiegogo Life, we did an extremely in-depth webinar with an online charity fundraising expert, which you can access here.
3. Can you pull together these items?
These items are not optional! Well, they are, but not including some of the items that I’m going to list out below will seriously hinder your chances of being successful on Indiegogo or any other crowdfunding platform.
- Pitch Video: Your pitch video is meant to introduce strangers and members of your social network to your new Indiegogo campaign. It should be used to tell the story of your product or project, explain who you are, and highlight some of the awesome rewards that people can claim. Ideally, the video should be no more than 5 minutes. That’s another way of saying that there should be no opportunities “get bored” or “tune out” when someone is watching it.
- Interesting Rewards: The rewards are the bread and butter of any crowdfunding campaign. They are the incentive to get people to back your project. Some rewards are meant to function as a “pre-order” of the product. Others are meant to involve the backer in the creation of the project in some way, like naming a comic book character after them. The most frequently claimed perk on Indiegogo is $25 and $100 perks make up 30% of all funds raised on Indiegogo (source). You can see some of our reward ideas here.
- Visually Appealing Page: You can have the coolest invention in the world, but if you just drone on in a monotone voice, people are going to quickly get bored. Similarly, you can have a great product, cause, project, or initiative, but unless the campaign page is interesting, visitors will be more inclined to click off the page or skim it. Using graphics to split up sections of the page, eye-catching titles, and easily readable text will make it easier for backers to get excited about your project.
There is nothing harder than trying to develop trust online and nothing worse than failing to take advantage of some serendipitous success. These are two reasons why you need to have a website before launching!
There have been a few scammy projects on the Indiegogo platform. As a creator, the best way to set backers’ minds at ease is to “check all the boxes” in terms of having a website with contact information, social media channels, and to make an effort to have authentic communication with your target market.
If you’re planning on setting up an ecommerce store later, I recommend checking out the Shopify platform for your website (or woocommerce + wordpress). If it’s more of a standalone website, I think that SquareSpace or Wix is a good choice. Finally, if you aren’t intimidated by learning about an admin console and want more flexibility and functionality in your website, then a WordPress-based website hosted on BlueHost is the way to go! WordPress and BlueHost power most of my websites.
After you set up a website, I’d recommend beginning to build up your email list as soon as possible. Even a simple form that allows visitors to opt-in if they want to get emailed when you launch will do wonders! Although you will be communicating with backers via comments and updates, an email list is also an awesome way to keep in touch with them. You can use one of the free or paid email providers I’ve listed out here.
5. Hit Launch and Start Grinding
If there’s one common theme that I’ve taken away from crowdfunding projects, it’s that crowdfunding is a lot of work. You have to promote intelligently, communicate enthusiasm, and experience rapidly trial and error learning.
Although our other forum is specific to Kickstarter (with some Indiegogo projects), you can get an idea of how many hours campaigners spend each week on their project. Yea, it’s a grind!
Really, there aren’t any shortcuts, aside from learning quickly and being willing to grow from your mistakes. Whether it’s pitching journalists, courting influencers, or engaging in online and in-person communities, you have to put in the hours.
The great news is that all of this knowledge will stay with you and you can use it to launch new products in your business or get other projects up off the ground!
What is your passion?
I’d love to hear what you’re passionate about and are raising money for below! Let me know if the article was helpful as you progress on your journey.
