This is the presentation I gave at BarCamp Canberra 2014 about my experience setting up a crowdfunding campaign. I launched my Kickstarter at the end of the presentation. Learn more about it at: www.kickstarter.com/projects/socialmediaplanner/social-media-planner

1. Setting up a crowdfunding
campaign
(from my personal
experience)
By Craig Thomler
@ BarCamp Canberra 15/3/14

2. What is crowdfunding and why use it?
Getting lots of people to each contribute a small
amount of money to meet a large expensive goal
It’s not new -
• charities essentially crowdfund
• And so do governments (taxation)

3. Why use crowdfunding?
To raise money and build support for…
• creating a work of art
• developing news stories
• funding an FOI request
• creating a product or service...
• and more!
But WHY?
• It is a way to raise money that doesn’t ‘cost’
equity or require hard to get loans

4. The language of crowdfunding
• Campaign / project – what is being
crowdfunded
• Goal – the target amount of money to raise
• Back – the act of supporting a project with
money (contributors are often called backers)
• Pledge / contribution – the money a
contributor promises to give to a project
• Reward – what the contributor gets for their
pledge (Reward Tier – a set of rewards)

5. What can contributors get?
• Involved in creating something new
• An actual product or service
• Exclusive access to limited edition material
• Right a wrong / fill a gap
• A good feeling helping someone

6. Some examples of crowdfunding

7. Some examples of crowdfunding

8. Some examples of crowdfunding

9. My experience…

10. Developed into this…

11. Choosing a crowdfunding platform
• Many are out there
Australian:

12. Consult people who’ve been there!
• People can be generous in sharing their
experience…
• Thanks Andrew (LifX), Josh (Motion Synth),
Saskia (KidsGoMobile), Kate (Moore’s Cloud) &
Rob (BuildAR)

13. Supports your jurisdiction
• Local currency
• Meets local legal requirements
• Understands the country’s culture

14. What type of product / service?
Choose crowdfunding platforms which have
large communities & support for your type of
product/service
• Artwork
• Movie
• Game
• Product
• Service

15. How do you want to raise money?
• All or nothing (must meet a goal amount)
• Take what you can get (can take whatever is
contributed)
• Capped (project closes at set amount)
• Uncapped (as much money as you can get)

16. Reasonable cost for cash
• Many crowdfunding platforms take a % of the
money raised to cover their costs (and profit)
• A few have a set cost (depending on your raising
amount)
• A few have no charges (usually for not-for-profit
projects)
• FINANCIAL PROVIDERS WILL CHARGE YOU TOO!
(Paypal, banks, credit card providers, etc)

17. My choice:

18. Legal entity
• Personal – Personal tax implications
Requires personal bank account
• Company – Costs $$ to set up and operate
Easier to register domains & protect
product names
More paperwork
I chose company – cost me $570 to set up online:
(Social Media Planner Pty Ltd)

19. Prepare your ‘offer’
• Need to write your offer – what are you
creating and why should people back it.
• Needs to be clear, punchy and engaging.
• Images a BIG plus

20. Develop rewards
• What amounts do you want people to
contribute?
• Need to know your costs well (DO YOUR
RESEARCH!!!)
• Remember currency conversion & fulfilment
costs (postage, storage, etc)
• Include a contingency for cost overruns

21. Rewards should follow psychology
• Entry level ‘tasters’ for people who wish to get
involved but not commit
• Cheap early bird ‘teasers’ to get money in fast
& encourage more backers to get on board
• Mid-level ‘stayers’ for people who support
what you’re doing / want the product
• High level ‘bonuses’ for those who want
special treatment

22. BUT NOT TOO MANY!
• There’s no set maximum (or minimum) number,
but can be hard to manage 20+ tiers
• Also people may be confused by too much choice
Veronica Mars movie had 32 reward tiers & raised
$5.7m, LifX had 7 and raised $1.3m (then closed it).
• Consider ‘stretch’ goals and extra reward tiers if
initial tiers get full & you want to raise more cash
(games commonly use stretch goals – extra
content and features)

23. Choose your fund raising time period
• Usually 30 or 60 days (depends on platform)
• How long do you want to let it run / drag out
the agony?
• There’s normally an option to close early if
goal is reached (as LifX did).

24. Develop a video!
• On Kickstarter only 30% of projects without a
video get fully funded, vs 50% with a video.
• Ergo videos almost double your chance of
funding.

25. Here’s mine…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RlqCtG8PcA

26. Submit & pray
• Some crowdfunding sites don’t review projects – which
probably means lots of low quality projects….
• The ones that review can take days or weeks to
approve them.
• Kickstarter: Up to 3 days EXCEPT Tech & Products,
which can take a week or more (one person I know had
it take three weeks!)
• Approval isn’t automatic – may be asked for more info,
to make changes or simply be rejected.

27. My experience…

28. Build your community
• Identify super influencers
• Prepare emails/tweets/posts
• Engage friends & colleagues
• Consider a PR professional
• Prepare media releases & blog updates
• Getting backers early = more likely success

29. Launch and hope!

30. Follow up actively!
• Tell people you’ve launched
• Ask people to share when they back it
• Update backers regularly
Just don’t overwhelm the Interwebs with
messages about your project!

31. Please tell people you know about my
Kickstarter & back it if you can

32. Thanks!
Kickstarter:
kickstarter.com/projects/socialmediaplanner/social-
media-planner
Web: socialmediaplanner.com.au
Facebook: facebook.com/SocMedPlanner
Twitter: @socmedplanner
YouTube: youtube.com/user/SocMedPlanner
Flickr: flickr.com/photos/socmedplanner/
Hashtags: #socmedplanner or #socialmediaplanner