Emily Collins, fundraising advisor, I.G. Advisors and Erin Niimi Longhurst, communications and social media advisor, Social Misfits Media Visit the CharityComms website to view slides from past events, see what events we have coming up and to check out what else we do: www.charitycomms.org.uk

1. Make It Rain! A Crowdfunding Masterclass
Charity Comms – Digital Conference

3. Who We Are

4. Who We Are

5. The Goal for Today
In this workshop, we want you to start thinking
strategically about your crowdfunding campaign,
and give you insights and tips into what you need
to do before, during and after in order to hit your
target!

6. Agenda
1. Let’s Get Social!
1. What Is Crowdfunding?
1. Pre-Campaign
2. Live Campaign
3. Post-Campaign
1. Q&A

7. Let’s Get Social!

8. What Is Crowdfunding?

9. What Does It Mean?
• Crowdfunding is a way of raising funds
by asking a large number of people to
fund a project
• The Internet and social media enables
you to appeal to hundreds and
thousands of potential funders for
support
• Projects that might have previously
depended on larger donations are now
able to secure backing by smaller
donations from a wider network of
supporters than ever before

10. 1. Donation or Reward-Based

11. 2. Debt-Based

12. 3. Equity-Based

13. Platforms

14. Three Stages of the Crowdfunding Cycle

16. Perfect Your Messaging
• Crowdfunding is a great way to raise your
profile, and do some market testing, too
• Examine what you are saying about yourself
online – and how you are saying it
• Keep it short and snappy
• Visual assets are important!
• Personalise rewards and perks to appeal to
your target audience
• Reach out to press and media partners

17. Perfect Your Messaging – Three Questions
1) What are your three core values? Keep
them one word each, if you can.
2) Who is your audience?
3) Why should they support you?
If you can’t answer these in a succinct way, you might
need to go back to the drawing board!

18. Visual Assets: Video
• Share a lot of information in very
little time
• Keep brief (Indiegogo recommends
no longer than 3 minutes)
• Rewards and perks
• Stick to the main points, and keep it
short and snappy – include a link to
your website for further details

19. Articulate Your Goals
• Justify your mission – and your
target – to your supporters
• Donors are savvy, and they want
to know that their money is going
where there will be the greatest
impact
• Break down the costs
• Most successful campaigns have
clearly defined goals

20. No One Wants to Be First to the Party
• Seeing zero next to ‘amount
raised’ might have prospective
donors thinking twice
• ‘Everyone wants to be on the
party boat – not the sinking ship’
• Consider a ‘soft launch’
• Reach out to people in your
network who already support you

21. Part One Exercise
For your organisation’s crowdfunding campaign,
think about the following questions. Compose
everything like an ‘elevator pitch’, and keep it brief.
1) What are your three core values? Keep them one
word each, if you can.
2) Who is your audience?
3) Why should they support you?

23. Constant Communication
• Stay proactive with your communications – who is
in your network?
• “If you build it, they will come” does NOT apply!
• Consider:
- Press
- Influencers
- Ads
- Offline
- Events
• Keep your supporters updated

24. Case Study: Royal Academy of Arts
• Ai WeiWei’s Exhibition: Target of
£100,000
• Raised: £123,577 in 5 weeks
• #AskAiWeiWei
• Constantly pushing new content
throughout the course of the campaign
• Stephen Fry video attracted a surge in
donations

25. Part Two Exercise
Using social media try to find the degrees of
separation between you and the person next to you.
How would you engage them online?

27. Acknowledgement
• Win or Lose:
Acknowledgement is key
• Transparency, particularly
for charities, is crucial. Keep
your donors updated on
developments – both good
and bad
• New donors – cultivate
them!
• Identification, cultivation and
soliticitation

28. Case Study: Doctors of the World
• Target: £5,000
• Raised: £59,945.67
• Re-contacted same donors
with Greece and Balkan appeal
– greater rate of response due
to already engaged audience
• Shared content after the
campaign (video of a doctor
from the camp)

29. What’s #Data Got to Do With It?
“Data is the most powerful
tool charities have to
understand who their
enthusiasts are and how
they can better
communicate with them, in
order to build more
meaningful relationships
that lead to loyalty and
increased giving over time.”

30. How are Charities using Data?

31. Analytics: Internalising Findings
• Start small and build incrementally
• Talk with your team openly about what your data tells
you
• Your strategy will be informed by what you learn
through data – always be A/B testing!
• A data-led digital culture is based on learning and
growing, and is flexible and evidence-based
• Use data to understand the wants and needs of your
supporters, and keep them connected with your
cause

32. Part Three Exercise
Using the text and the images provided in the
worksheet, map out how you would A/B test this
content for Twitter over a week-long period.

33. Should You Crowdfund?

34. Any Questions?

35. Our Publications
www.socialmisfitsmedia.com/publications

36. The Latest:
Make It Rain
Tips & Tricks for #Crowdfunding Success

37. www.socialmisfitsmedia.com
info@socialmisfitsmedia.com @MisfitsMedia

38. Visit the CharityComms website
to view slides from past events,
see what events we have
coming up and to check out
what else we do:
www.charitycomms.org.uk

39. 27 October 2016
London
#charitydigital
Digital
conference