Crowdfunding For Your Cause provides a concise overview of crowdfunding strategies for non-profits and causes. It outlines a 12-week crowdfunding timeline with phases for reconnaissance, preparation, ground assault, and air attack. Reconnaissance involves assessing the crowdfunding potential of a cause by surveying networks and choosing a platform. Preparation consists of organizing teams, rewards, and media outreach. The ground assault uses in-person meetings and calls to secure early donations. Air attack utilizes ongoing social and traditional media engagement. Following this process aims to maximize fundraising through crowdfunding.

1. Crowdfunding For Your Cause
Devin D. Thorpe
December 12, 2013
Orem, Utah

2. Thank You UNA
This training is made
possible by:
• The Utah Nonprofits
Association
• American Express
• Utah Division of Arts
and Museums
• Clear Horizons Academy
Chris
Bray
Paula
Abdul

3. Teton Dam

4. What is crowdfunding?
• Raising money from the crowd through thirdparty online platforms
– Donations
– Rewards or “Pretailing”
– Investments

5. SMAC! Monkeys

6. LiveMoreAwesome

7. Vivienne – Make a Stand

8. Crowdfunding Timeline
(Weeks)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Campaign Live
On Site 1 Day to
60 Days
Reconnaissance
Preparation
Ground Assault
Air Attack

9. Reconnaissance
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•
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•
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Assess your crowdfunding potential
Survey your team
Count your friends
Review platforms and choose one
Identify Media

10. Assessment
• Your cause
• Your team
• Your network

11. Assessing Your Cause
Score your cause on a 5-point scale for:
• Face
• Urgency
• Politics
• Geography
• Community
• Project or event

12. Face
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•
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The “Face” of your campaign: is it appealing?
Person or critter
Logos can’t be the face of your campaign
Words can’t be the face
Objects can’t be the face

13. Urgency
• The urgency: is there a native reason people
must act now?
• Boston Bombing v. American Cancer Society

14. Politics
• Is your cause potentially divisive?
• Cancer v. Marriage Equality

15. Geography
• Is your cause local?
• All else equal, local is better for crowdfunding

16. Community
• Is your cause tied to a larger
community, religion or club?
– Football fans
– Online gamers
– Methodists
– Rotarians

17. Project or Event
• Is there a specific project or event to be
funded?
– Construction project
– Service trip
– Love UT Give UT

18. Assessing Your Team
• How many partners?
• How many champions?
• How many boosters?
• Partners are worth an
average of $2,000 each.
• Champions are worth
about $1,000 each.
• Boosters are worth
about $500 each.

19. Assessing Your Network
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•
•
•
•
Friends you can call
Friends you can email
Friends you have on Facebook
Friends you have on Twitter
Friends on LinkedIn, Google+ and other social
networks

20. Estimating Your Potential
• Most common donation: $20
• Average donation is $75 (skewed by a few
large donations)
• Don’t expect more than 10% of your friends to
support you. The more “friends” you have, the
lower the percentage likely to support your
campaign.
• 1000 friends * $75 * 10% = $7,500

21. Going Viral
• If your cause scores below 10 points, be creative to find
ways to improve your score before crowdfunding.
• If you scored 11 to 20 points, expect little or no
out-of-network support.
• If you scored 21-25 points, expect up to 25% of your
money to come from outside your network. (If your
network is good for $7,500 you could raise $10,000.)
• If you scored 26 to 30 points, expect up to 75% of your
money to come from outside your network. (If your
network is good for $7,500 you could raise $30,000.)

22. Platforms
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Razoo: LoveUTGiveUT
Fundly: Biggest for nonprofits
StartSomeGood: Cause oriented
Indiegogo: Includes causes
Kickstarter: Excludes causes
Hundreds of others

23. Comparison
Razoo
Fundly
StartSomeG
ood
IndieGogo
Kickstarter
Rules
Keep What
You Raise
Keep What
You Raise
Tipping
Point
Choose
All-or-None
Fees
4.9%
4.9% + 3%
5% + CC
4% + 4% or
8% +4%
5% plus CC
Community
Nonprofits
and
Personal
Campaigns
Generally
nonprofits
Social
Absolutely
causes,
anything
typically not (legal)
501(c)(3)
Only
creative
projects

24. Identify Media
• Bloggers you know
• Traditional media:
relationships are key
• People who cover your
“space”

25. Preparation
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•
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Build and organize teams
Train your team
Organize lists
Design your rewards/recognition
Draft email messages, tweets and posts
Write a press release
Produce a video

26. Organize Your Team
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•
•
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Identify your partners
Identify and sign up your champions
Recruit Boosters
Create contests and incentives for Champions
and Boosters

27. Four Tiers of Rewards
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•
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Nonprofits that offer no tangible reward
Modest rewards for nonprofits
Perks for social ventures
Rewards for social ventures with consumer
products/services

28. Acknowledgements
•
•
•
•
Some platforms don’t allow rewards
Tax receipt
What you can do with the money
Recognition:
– Twitter posts
– “Mike Smith Day” (Traveling Stories: http://bit.ly/YTG94l)
– Naming rights to a project (Traveling Stories:
http://bit.ly/YTG94l)
– Name on website, annual report
– Inclusion in press announcements (we’ll quote you) (Free
the Information: http://bit.ly/YTECv3)

29. A Powerful Press Release
• Find an online template
• Remember who, what,
where, when, why and
how
• Provide one or two
good quotes
• Link to images
• Review, edit and polish

30. Targeting Media
Every partner and champion should:
• Identify bloggers you know personally
• Identify bloggers who write about relevant
topics—relevant to your cause
• Find individual reporters at newspapers, radio
and television who cover your space
• Don’t be shy, include national media
• Forbes and Huffington Post

31. Importance of the Video
• Most important element on the campaign
page; make an effort.
• Not the most important part of the campaign;
don’t break the bank.

32. Face
• Find an appealing or
compelling “face” for
your video and your
campaign
• Include yourself—or
your leader—in the
video.

33. Authenticity

34. Brevity
• 2 – 3 minutes
• 2:59 is better than 3:01
• Capture attention
quickly
• Cover the key points in
the first 30 seconds

35. Powerful Images
• Take full advantage of
the medium
• Not just talking heads
• Use stills to supplement
video
Photo credit: Sprengben [why not get a friend] / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

36. Tell a Story
• Create context
• Create a hope, a
goal, an aspiration
• Explain the challenge in
the goal
• Explain the solution
Photo credit: aye_shamus / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

37. Make an “Ask”
• Ask for a donation
• Ask for people to share
the video/campaign
with their friends

38. Don’t Forget Basics
•
•
•
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•
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Who
What
Where
When
Why
How

39. Quality
• For campaigns hoping to generate more than
$100,000, plan to spend some money on a
professional
• Less optimistic folks should find a friend who
can help or do it yourself
– Good lighting is most important for what you see
– A good microphone is most important for what
you hear

40. Let’s Make a Video
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•
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Interview style
What is the cause?
Why does this matter?
Who is the organization?
How does this money help?
Where does the money go?
When can people give?

41. Ground War
Before the campaign starts:
• Call out the big guns: meet face to face with
people who can give big money
• Sharp shooting: get on the phone with people
who will give good donations
• Machine Guns: Send personal, individual emails
to the people you know will support you simply
because you ask.
• “D-Day” invasion: Get commitments for 50% of
your goal before you launch!

42. D-Day Invasion
Each Partner, Champion and Booster Should
Participate!
• 3 to 5 Meetings yielding at least $500
• 10 to 25 Calls yielding an average of $100
• 30 to 100 Personal email messages averaging
$50
• $1,500 + $1,500 + $1,500 = $4,500 on D-Day
• Follow up after D-Day

43. Keep Track
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•
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Log all interactions
Track commitments
Follow up, follow up, follow up
Thank, thank, thank!

44. Launch Party
Host a big party or multiple, simultaneous
parties
• Connect using Google+ Hangout and
broadcast live
• Coordinate interaction during the party
• Announce rewards and contests
• Encourage social media
• Above all, be creative and have fun!

45. Air Attack
Before the campaign begins:
• Traditional Media
– Contact every blogger you know
– Send a press release to your local paper, TV and Radio
After the campaign begins:
• Social Media
– Daily posts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+
– Post everywhere you have an audience

46. Social Media
Each partner and champion should engage her own
social media audience
• During the campaign make daily tweets and daily
Facebook posts on the campaign
• Use the crowdfund campaign to launch a
Facebook page if you don’t have one
• Use Google+ even if you don’t yet have an
audience there
• Be sure to tweet and post about the things you
normally do

47. Social Media (Cont.)
• Emphasize the cause over the campaign
– NOT: We reached $5,000 today! Woot!
– YES: You’ve donated $5,000 so far to end hunger
in Africa/Educate Girls in Afghanistan/Provide
Equal Opportunity for underprivileged kids in our
community, thank you!
• Update, remind and thank!

48. Traditional Media
• Remember, the media love good causes!
• Reach out to all of these bloggers asking them to
write about your cause (first) and your campaign
(second)
• Consider PR Web for $80
• Distribute by personal email
• Read, flatter, subscribe
• Put the entire release in the email (not an
attachment)

49. Workshop
•
•
•
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Reconnaissance
Preparation
Ground Assault
Air Attack

50. Crowdfunding for Social Good
Return your feedback sheet
for free download
instructions!

51. Q&A

52. Mid-life Crisis

53. You Are the Cavalry