Stacey Williams — August 18, 2017 — August 18, 2017
ThiloBecker / Pixabay
In its basic form, crowdfunding is raising small amounts of money from a large number of individuals. To get started, fundraisers choose a platform, share their story and tell family and friends where to donate to the project. In theory, it really is just that simple. But reality is quite different.
Launching a successful crowdfunding campaign requires planning, persistence and work. Still, most campaigns fail. When they fail, the fundraiser can chalk it up to lessons learned and use the experience to launch a new project or choose to relaunch the unsuccessful project.
The first step to relaunching is correcting any obvious mistakes such as not having an active network. If there are no obvious mistakes, it’s time to take an in-depth look at the campaign.
Here are five quick tips to help you.
Update your plan
Even if you planned the first campaign, review the plan to see if you can make improvements. For example: Was your funding goal too high? Is your target audience the same? Is there a better way to reach them? How can you spread the word to a bigger audience?
Now that you’ve run the campaign, you should be able to see what can be improved to help reach your funding goals. Create a list then revise your plan to include these new insights.
Build interest before you launch
Although you are relaunching, you still need to know where the first dollar will come from. If you’ve exhausted donations from your network, use social media to expand your audience. Find influencers and tell them about your campaign. Update your email list. Use it to build interest from potential donors, especially those who may not have donated to the first campaign.
Every crowdfunding project needs an audience. Without it, failure is guaranteed. Spread the word before you launch. It’ll help get those first donations (again).
Update your story
Communication is vital in crowdfunding. Successful campaigns share in-depth details about who, what, when and where. These details help potential donors connect with you and your cause.
Take a look at your story. Update it with the latest information. If necessary, get someone to help you rewrite it. Make sure it resonates with potential donors.
Promote, promote, promote
Reinvigorate your marketing plan by removing tactics that didn’t work. Create new social media posts to share throughout the campaign. Update your media list and come up with new story angles to share with the media. Update your email list. Add new forums to the plan.
Also, there’s nothing like a community event to support a worthy cause so find different ways to promote off-line.
In essence, don’t relaunch until you’ve energized your marketing plan.
Update online visuals
New visuals will refresh the project. Visuals are just as important as good storytelling. Use your current visuals but also add new ones so that potential donors can see who or what they are supporting.
Always use photos and videos that tell your story in a relatable way.
There are many ways to relaunch a crowdfunding campaign. Use these five to get started.
This article originally appeared on FreeFunder’s blog.
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