The ultimate checklist to tick off before you start crowdfunding

Are you thinking of starting a crowdfunding project? If so, it’s really important to have everything lined up and ready to go before launching. Here, Crowdfunder outlines the main checklist to tick off before diving into a project.

Messaging

Getting your messaging right will be the most important part of your project, as you want clear objectives and messages to translate throughout the whole lifespan of your project. You need to clearly plan out what you want to achieve from your Crowdfunding project, who you need to target, and give them a reason as to why they should fund you. 

Once the messaging has been agreed, you need to set up your Crowdfunding page. We strongly suggest also creating social media pages as these help drive lots of traffic to your Crowdfunder page and connect you with larger audiences. Streamlining your images, branding and content across all channels will let people know that they are all linked, and will give you a stronger online presence.

When writing your description, set out what it is you want from the project, and how you are planning on doing this with the money raised. A snappy title for your page will also let visitors know what the project is from the offset.

Visuals

Adding visuals to your page can really help tell the story, and even better, a video can provide information about the story in a quick clip.  Look around and see if there are any people you know who can help you with certain aspects. Things like video editing can be tricky, so if you know someone who is a whizz at video production, call in a favour and see if they can help! Make sure your video isn’t too long, and gets straight to the point. Planning your video will make it much easier to film.

Setting Up

Once the page is up and running, you need to work out how much you hope you raise and set a timeline for when you want to reach your target. You are also going to have to entice visitors to pledge their money to your cause. Think about the kind of rewards to want to give your pledgers and whether they can relate to your project. For example, if you’re restoring a community area for an event, you could offer tickets to the event so you do not have to spend lots of money. Branded products are also a nice touch. Having different tiers of rewards for each amount of money pledged may push donators to go for the next reward up if its exciting enough!

Identifying your Funders

Once you’ve decided on rewards you need to know who you want to target. Creating a network map will be the best way to look at groups you can tap into. Pledges usually come from friends and family first who we call the ‘Nurture Crowd’, but you also want to identify some super backers who have a real interest in your project and will want to put in a lot of funding to help. If possible you may also want to identify some influencers who can spread the message of your project to their wider audiences.

Go Go Go

Planning a launch for your event will give you the momentum and a goal to work towards. It also allows your pledgers to get excited with you. We recommend setting up your first 10 pledges, as will give you a good base fund, and allow new pledgers to see that there is already funding in your project. Send regular updates to those who have pledged so they can see the progress, and it will also warm up the crowd for the end result. Once you have everything set up, it’s time to go out and get funded!

What are you waiting for? Start crowdfunding today!