If you’ve ever started a crowdfunding or fundraising campaign before, you likely know about the mid-campaign curse. Most crowdfunding and fundraising campaigns start strong only to struggle until the last few days, but that doesn’t have to happen to your campaign. Months of buildup and pre-launch buzz ensure good fundraising over the first couple of days and a sense of urgency can help boost pledges in the last few days, but those weeks in between can be excruciatingly slow.
For a lot of crowdfunders, the disappointment at the slowdown in raising money is too much and campaigns get cancelled without seeing the pick-up towards the end. The Kicktraq graph of daily pledges for the “Forced Change” campaign shows the curse all too well. The campaign got off to a roaring start in the first two days but then saw pledging almost disappear entirely. Beyond a few days when special events were held, the middle three weeks were a very disappointing time for the campaign owner.
It all comes down to keeping your community motivated and active throughout the campaign.
Follow these strategies to beat the curse and raise money the entire duration of your campaign. Use all three and you could find your campaign beating every stretch goal you’ve created.
Avoid the uncomfortable silence in crowdfunding
For most campaigns, all the communication from the campaign owner is either at the beginning in the pre-launch buzz or at the end as a last ditch plea. Crowdfunding and fundraising is about building a community around your idea or small business and you have to constantly interact with that community. Backers can’t see what you’re doing behind the scenes and won’t know how hard you’re working unless you tell them.
Update your campaign and communicate with the community frequently. Potential updates can include:
- Notes to thank a special contributor or a team member
- Reaching milestones in funding, i.e. 25% – 50% – 75%
- Feedback and testimonials on the product or service
- Any news related to your industry that might interest backers
Send your updates through emails and social networks as well as through the crowdfunding or fundraising platform. Be sure to answer any questions quickly and share Q&A’s with the group.
Make initial supporters part of the community
Another problem that leads to the mid-campaign curse is that people just don’t realize they can support the campaign beyond that initial monetary pledge. Besides persuading backers for that second or even third pledge, you need to motivate your community to support the campaign through sharing and their own outreach.
Reach out to your initial backers to tap into their emotional reasons for supporting the campaign. Let them know that they’re part of something bigger and what your project can mean to the community and the larger audience. Even a business product can have an emotional aspect in the needs it fulfills for customers.
Thank your special backers publicly on social media and through campaign updates. Make it a point of pride for backers that they have been a critical piece of the campaign. Announcing your largest backers of the week, with their permission, is a good way of persuading others to step up.
Give backers a reason to give more
Some of your backers may only be interested in the rewards offered and won’t feel the need to pledge beyond that one product they want.
Make stretch goals for your campaign and include special rewards that will go out to all backers if the campaign reaches these goals. Make the stretch goals challenging but achievable and promote them out to initial backers. It will help motivate your initial community to help find new backers and even to give a little extra themselves.
Crowdfunding isn’t just about raising money. The community you build through the three strategies above can help take your business to the next level. With a little planning and active engagement, you’ll avoid the mid-campaign curse and beat all your crowdfunding and fundraising goals.
About the author: Joseph Hogue is the founder of Crowd101, a crowdfunding blog for investors and campaigns. He combines his experience in investment analysis with years spent coaching crowdfunding campaigns for a unique view from both sides of the table.
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