A successful crowdfunding campaign strategy requires detailed planning. Once you’ve gone as far into creating your project as possible, it’s time to dive into this plan—but we didn’t want you to feel alone and lost! In this toolkit, we’ll take you through some steps you already know and some you might not have considered, with snippets of expert advice along the way.
Here’s what we’ll cover on how to create a successful crowdfunding campaign:
- Scope of work
- Choosing your goal amount
- Defining your audience
- Testing your likelihood of success
- Choosing a campaign type
- Creating rewards
- Crafting a campaign story
Scope of work
Consider this your campaign ‘Business Plan.’ A ‘scope of work’ (SOW) is the best place to begin, whether you have one project or many. A comprehensive SOW helps visualize the end goal and the steps needed to move toward it, including with what funds and under what timeline. The key focus is to prevent unhappy surprises that can throw your campaign off track.
We created a few examples here; however, modify them to fit what works for you and your project.
EXAMPLE 1: COMIC BOOK/GRAPHIC NOVEL/FICTION OR NON-FICTION NOVEL
| Project stage | Variables | Fixed cost | Unit cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| First-issue creation | Materials, illustrator fees, editor fees | $4000 | n/a |
| Marketing/promotion | Social ads, agency fees, media ads | $2000 | n/a |
| Production/printing | Printer fees | $1000 | $2/issue |
| Fulfillment | Packaging, returns/refunds/replacements | n/a | $3/issue |
| Shipping | Which countries | n/a | $3/issue USA; $7/issue UK |
EXAMPLE 2: FILM/TELEVISION
| Project stage | Variables | Fixed cost | Unit cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-production | Storyboarding, consulting fees, etc. | $10,000 | n/a |
| Marketing/promotion | Social ads, agency fees, media ads | $5,000 | n/a |
| Filming | Salaries, equipment, location fees, contingencies, etc. | $25,000 | n/a |
| Post-production | Editing, re-filming, etc. | $10,000 | n/a |
| Printing/Streaming | Stamping discs or streaming costs | $1000 | $2/issue |
| Fulfillment | Packaging, returns/refunds/replacements | $1000 | $2/item |
| Shipping | Which countries | n/a | $7/unit USA; $16/unit UK |
EXAMPLE 3: GENERAL PRODUCT
| Project stage | Variables | Fixed cost | Unit cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design/Prototype development | Materials, consulting fees, etc | $10,000 | n/a |
| Marketing/promotion | Social ads, agency fees, media ads | $5,000 | n/a |
| Manufacturing | Supplier costs, mold fees, etc. | $8,000 | $5/unit |
| Fulfillment | Packaging, returns/refunds/replacements | n/a | $3/unit |
| Shipping | Which countries | n/a | $7/unit USA; $16/unit UK |
Choosing a goal for a successful crowdfunding campaign
Crowdfunding campaign goals require thoughtful planning. They need to cover expected costs AND the possible unexpected costs that might crop up.
Due to the vast (but hopefully not huge enough to deter) scope of crowdfunding campaign goals, we have a separate toolkit dedicated to it, with its own workbook. Refer to that kit when choosing, but we’ll outline the key sections here.
Key elements of a goal
- Costs associated with creating the project itself
- Costs associated with the operational side of the project (customer support, third-party fees, crowdfunding fees, etc.)
- Marketing
- Your revenue expectations
- A buffer for incidentals
Check out the Crowdfunding Goal Toolkit for all the specifics.
Defining your audience
Crowdfunding campaign success comes from your audience. You must target enough of the right people to reach your goal – but how do you know:
How many is ‘enough’?
Who are the ‘right’ people?
1. HOW MANY IS ‘ENOUGH’ TO FUND A PROJECT?
Your target audience size depends on three things:
- Goal
- Conversion rate (number of supporters contributing to a campaign versus the total visitors to that campaign)
- Average contribution/reward price
Other factors come into play depending on each unique campaign, of course. However, to determine a general (very, very, very, very general) likelihood for your campaign’s success, use this equation:
Audience size = Goal _
(Conversion Rate x Average Contribution)
Goal:
We determined this in the last section.
Conversion rate:
You might know your own conversion rate if you’ve run campaigns before. For those who don’t, the average conversion rate for successful crowdfunding campaigns is between 1 and 5%. Seasoned crowdfunders with substantial, loyal followers will see closer to 3-5%. Newer crowdfunders building their reputation will likely see conversion rates below 1%.
Average contribution:
Your reward price or the average contribution to your campaign if you don’t have rewards.
You’ll likely offer more than one reward, so either determine the average price for each supporter or use the reward you expect most supporters will claim.
If you don’t have one reward you expect to be claimed more than others, or if your campaign doesn’t have rewards but you don’t know the average contribution, we recommend using $45 USD as a conservative value.
The resulting audience is who you need to target to reach your goal. Don’t let this number discourage you!!! This is the worst-case scenario; it assumes your conversion rate and average price are low. The point is to give you a general idea of what size an audience it takes to fund a project. Then, through this toolkit and others, we’ll show you how to grab that more extensive audience.
2. WHO ARE THE ‘RIGHT’ PEOPLE?
You have two audiences to target: the one you currently have and the one you don’t yet have but need to reach to make your goal. If your current audience is too small to fund your project, explore avenues to grow a bigger one.
First, let’s look at the audience you already have.
Social media
Gather your connections through Facebook, YouTube, X, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, WeChat, Snapchat, etc. Cross-examine to filter out duplicates and get a good idea of your total followers for the best results.
Email lists
The number of emails in your contact lists (e.g., from MailChimp, Constant Contact, or any other CRM).
Note: the quality of your list matters! Suppose you have been gathering this list for a few years with little to no communication. In that case, it’s possible the recipients will not remember who you are and report you as spam, thereby hurting your reputation! Go through your email list and clean it up to ensure a positive experience for all involved.
Other
Any other means of recurring communication you have. Collaborators networks, your grandma’s poker group, etcetera.
Now, let’s look at the audience you need.
Advertising everywhere to everyone is expensive, labour-intensive, and ineffective. You must market to the right people using the right avenues. To determine these, we use customer profiles.
Customer profiles outline your ideal supporters – those who will love your project the most. Ask yourself these questions (and any other relevant ones you think up):
- What age group(s) are you targeting?
- Where are they located?
- What are their living arrangements?
- What are their interests/hobbies?
- Do they work in a specific field?
- Do they own something in particular?
- Are they at a specific income level?
- Gender? Ethnicity?
- Education?
- Household type/composition?
- If you are trying to solve a problem, what characteristics generally face that problem?
- What are your project’s benefits/unique features, and who would be most interested in them?
- What are their goals?
- What are their values?
- Why would they be motivated to support your project?
Next, determine the best place to connect with these potential supporters:
- What social media platforms are they on?
- What groups (or types of groups) would they be part of?
- Who do they follow?
- Where might they currently make online purchases?
- What websites might they frequent?
- What forums might they participate in?
Finally, how should you target them? What is the best media?
- Videos?
- In-app banner ads?
- Email/newsletters?
- Website?
- Influencer/sponsor promotion?
- Physical print poster/ads?
Choosing a campaign type
Crowdfundr provides two options for campaign types: Keep-it-all and All-or-nothing. There are pros and cons to both:
| Keep-it-all | All-or-nothing | |
| Pros | You keep the funds raised, no matter whether you hit your campaign goal or not. Goals & deadlines are changeable after launch. | Comfort in knowing you’ll have all the funds you require for your project (if you reach your goal). Nobody is charged unless the goal is hit; therefore no need for refunds if you cannot move your project forward. |
| Cons | Risk of ending the campaign while being underfunded. May potentially have to refund donors and lose funds from processing fees | Funds cannot be collected unless the goal is reached within the specific deadline. Goals & deadlines are NOT changeable after launch. |
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON KEEP-IT-ALL VS ALL-OR-NOTHING CAMPAIGNS.
Which type you choose is up to you. However, you can NOT change your mind in the middle of a campaign. You would have to finish this campaign and restart using the opposite choice. You can run as many campaigns as you like, for as long as you like (keeping in mind the deadline in an AON campaign cannot be changed after launch. It will automatically convert over to a Keep-it-all after the initial goal has been reached and the campaign has funded).
If you require the entire goal before starting your project, choose AON. If you can fulfill your rewards as your supporters claim them, consider the KIA model.
Choosing a campaign layout
Crowdfundr provides a few options for your campaign layout. Most creators will likely choose the standard ‘Crowdfund’ layout; however, if you have larger campaigns with multiple parts or a plethora of rewards, you may wish to explore the other options:
| Standard crowdfunding campaign | Series based crowdfunding | Storefront |
|---|---|---|
| One campaign with the story/media highlighted. Rewards appear on the side. Best for campaigns with a strong story and need for supporters to understand why you are running this project and what it matters to you/your organization | Large goals and multiple rounds of campaigns are set under tiers (called ‘sub-campaigns’), with one overarching campaign showing the collective funds raised. Best for large projects that can be broken down into smaller asks | One campaign with the rewards highlighted. Best for campaigns with lots of reward options and less focus on the whys of the project |
SEE THIS ARTICLE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON CAMPAIGN LAYOUTS.
Plan your rewards (Optional)
Two things set Crowdfundr apart from other familiar platforms:
- Creators set rewards up with variant options in the reward itself (you don’t have to create one reward for each variant);
- Supporters may choose as many rewards – or as many of the same reward – in as many variants as they like (or up to a maximum if the creator chooses one). This means bundles and add-ons are not necessary.
Different projects find success in different ways. However, there are some best practices to consider:
- Put the low-balls lower on the list (or reconsider altogether)
- You might be tempted to throw in a ‘support me without reward’ or ‘buy me a coffee’ option to appeal to the widest range. You’ll find it more effective to put your core offer first – a single unit of the main product you wish to fund.
- Do not leave out the higher-priced options
- It’s possible no one will claim these, but they will make your core product stand out and look more appealing.
- Offer early-bird discounts
- We state this across all our platforms: the most successful campaigns are the ones that raise the biggest chunk on day 1. A general rule is to aim for 30% toward your goal in the first 24 hours (but don’t panic if you don’t!). These early discounts will drive those contributions and set you up for success
- Keep ‘surprise’ rewards or upsells in your back pocket for later
- You may need a bit of a boost as your deadline crops up to reach your goal or a stretch goal. Any extra rewards or packages you have but aren’t sure whether to include can give your campaign that extra kick of energy to reach your goal. Plus, they give something new for you and your supporters to share, attracting new eyes to your campaign.
Here’s an example of a reward plan for a comic book:
| Reward Item or perk/special offer | When to offer | How long to offer | Important Dates | What do you hope to achieve with this offer? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comic Book Issue #1 | Beginning of campaign | Entire duration | June 1 launch date | Main offering, brand recognition and loyalty |
| Mini-Issue | Halfway through campaign | Two weeks | June 29 = halfway point | Re-attract supporters and provide additional, shareable content for marketing |
| Signed illustration | Two weeks before the end of the campaign, if it looks like we’re falling short of the goal | Until end | Final day of campaign = July 27 | Provide extra opportunities for previous supporters to help reach our goal, or entice those on-the-fence with a smaller purchase |
For technical help on inserting rewards into your campaign, see our Help Centre.
Outline your pitch
Craft your crowdfunding story with care – attention spans are limited on the internet, and most people don’t want to read lengthy paragraphs. You should provide detailed information in other places where those who want it can find it (your website, extra tabs, videos, etc.); however, your core story should contain the most essential information.
Consider our guidelines for writing a rewards-based campaign below. For details with examples, we’ve written a blog post on campaign storytelling as well!
If your campaign doesn’t have rewards and is more ‘donation-based,’ the guidelines in our sister-site Fundraiser HUB might be more helpful.
| Catchy opening line | Focus more on the whys of the story rather than the hows. Tell supporters why you decided to embark on this project and what you hope to accomplish with it as a creator. |
| Background (Why did I/we create this?) | Focus more on the whys of the story, rather than the hows. Tell supporters the reasons why you decided to embark on this project and what you hope to accomplish with this project as a creator. |
| Project description | An in-depth description of the project and the rewards that you’re offering to supporters. |
| Identify your target audience | Every product has an audience – who is going to love your project? |
| Let supporters know how they’re helping | This should be a statement or rhetoric that will put the reader in the right frame of mind to want your creation. |
| What is going to happen? | Set proper expectations for how and when your supporters will receive their reward(s), plus how you will use their funds to bring the project to life and what will happen if/when challenges arise |
| Call To Action | Don’t forget to ask for the share as well as support! |
Successful Crowdfunding Campaign Strategy Workbook
We’re here to help!
Our Discord channel is a place to connect with other creators and the Crowdfundr team to ask questions, seek advice, and share strategies. But if you don’t do Discord or wish to schedule a demo, feel free to email us at support@crowdfundr.com.
