Deciding on a target and applying for +Extra funding | Diaries of a crowdfunder

+Extra funding is what makes Crowdfunder a go-to fundraising platform for so many so when we were writing our project page and researching possible partners we could get on board, it felt exciting yet slightly overwhelming.

But before we can get applying for +Extra funding we have to decide on a target.

Choosing a target

If you haven’t already, I suggest going back and watching the interview I did with Phil who gave me lots of tips for deciding on your project target.

We have gone back and forth between £10,000 and £5,000 and even now the total amount might change if we get a match funding partner who can make meeting our target more realistic.

The reality is, £10,000 would be incredible and allow us to do so much more with The Shop but £5,000 is still a really great amount for us and is a huge difference to what we have now (£0).

After my conversation with Phil, we’ve decided to go for £5,000 and hopefully smash through to our stretch target, instead of not reaching £10,000 and missing out on the full potential of +Extra funding (if we are successful).

Applying for +Extra funding

Now I’ve decided on my target (which you can change once your page is live, ideally have it set before you apply for +Extra funding), it’s time to tackle my application for match funding.

I had five funds we were eligible for and after reading them all carefully and looking at the terms, we have decided to apply for the Cornwall Climate and Nature Fund from Cornwall Council.

This fund felt super aligned with what we were aiming to achieve with our project. They match 50% of your funding up to £5,000 so if we are successful and raise £2,500, our total will be doubled which makes a huge difference.

When applying there are some quite straightforward questions about how much money you want, why and what it will be spent on.

It’s likely you will already have documents from your project’s history, be that a business plan or previous grant applications. Be sure to use these to help you with your +Extra funding application.

It’s worth revisiting the conversation I had with Chloe who is in Crowdfunder’s Partners team where we discussed everything you need to know about applying for +Extra funding

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Update

We have just come off a call with Cornwall Council who have told us that we have been successful in our application for +Extra funding. This means that because we have already raised a quarter of our total target from more than 25 individual supporters, they are going to give us £2,500 (half of the total target) as part of the Climate and Nature Fund!

This is huge for us, it’s now appearing on our Crowdfunder page and has taken our total from £1,600 to a massive £4,100+. This makes our total target seem much more achievable and within reach.

If you’ve missed any of my previous diary entries, find links to everything I’ve covered so far on the Diaries of a crowdfunder page