Four projects reveal how they chose their target

Strangers Brewing Co.

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/strangersbrewing

I set an initial target of £15k and a stretch target of £20k, and reached the stretch target.

To be honest, it was a bit of guesswork to get to these targets; partly it was based on what I needed (I was aiming for 50% of funding for my project which is about £40k in total) and partly it was an extrapolation based on how many supporters I thought I could attract.

Whilst some of my rewards were straightforward ‘product’ rewards – which have a high cost to them – my aim was to drive supporters towards more holistic rewards that had less of a material cost. My ‘founder member’ reward was very popular; whilst founder members do get some beer and branded glasses etc., the broader appeal of the reward was about being part of something new, being able to input into the future of the business, give feedback on beer tasting, having their name on the ‘founder’s wall’ etc. Other rewards (such as ‘plant a tree’ or ‘wetland planting’) appealed to a different set of supporters and directly paid for work which we needed to do directly anyway.

In hindsight, I think I set the right target because we (just) hit the stretch target. I do wonder how much of that is self-fulfilling though – if I had set a higher target from the start, would we have pushed harder and made that?

One cost that I didn’t factor in was that the donations through crowdfunder are seen as ‘income’ in terms of my accounting – so for me these are taxable for corporation tax purposes. This is something which it might be worth highlighting to other crowdfunders, as this was not something I had considered.

WOLFPACK

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/wolfpack

Target was £3000 and yes we reached it. We chose an amount that felt possible to reach and a good chunk of the budget for the full project. We had the costs of the badges and VIP packs and postage which were rewards. Also complimentary tickets.

Yes I think it was the right target.

High Tide Festival

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/high-tide-festival-2021

This was our 2nd Crowdfunder project again to raise funds for a local community music festival – High Tide. The previous festival in 2019 had been a huge success and had a major impact on the area.

Having surpassed our £4000 target in 2019, we felt confident enough to double that for High Tide 2021. We pitched it exactly right, hitting the target on the final day of the appeal.

Having a range of unique rewards to offer people was really important to the success of the Crowdfunder appeal.

The crowdfunding income was one of a few income streams for High Tide. But we made it clear that money contributed to the Crowdfunder appeal would be used exclusively to pay the artists. This gave it focus. Other income streams were used to pay for stages, technical equipment, health and safety etc.

Having now hit our targets twice, we may well feel confident enough to raise the bar again in setting a target for High Tide 2022.

Board Cafe Bar

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/make-board-cafe-bar-covid-secure

Be honest and be realistic. We asked for the minimum amount we felt we needed. That gave us a more attainable target and also meant that others would benefit from the money we didn’t ask for. Could we have used £10k? Certainly! But we found ways of not needing that much so our target was a lot more achievable.

We were very detailed and specific about why we needed the funding, and what it was going to be used on, so anyone wanting to pledge could see where their hard earned money was going. We also made sure there was a wide range of pledge options – many people could only justify £5, but when we had a £250 pledge pop into our page we were ecstatic.

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