Five Best Practices forNonprofit Crowdfunding

Rob Wu, CEO of CauseVox

www.causevox.com@causevox

@robjwu

I Raised Over $125,000 In 10 daysvia social media and crowdfunding for the Red Cross

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What Is Crowdfunding?

CauseVox Examples

Recovering Economy

Consumer

Behavior

Ubiquitous Internet

Three Major Forces in Crowdfunding

30% of the $5 billion crowdfunded went to social causes in 2013.

Start With a Well-Defined Goal

Best Practice 1:

Use a Baseline How much have we raised online in the past

year? What is the average amount that we have

raised in a campaign or event? What is the average donation amount online

for us? (it’s $88 for in crowdfunding)

If You Don’t Have a Baseline, Think About… How much do I need to make an impact? How much does the product or service that I

want to create cost? How much did similar crowdfunding

campaigns raise?

Shift Your Perspective

Impact Unit Metric

Dollar Metric

Make Your Goals SMART

Rethink Rewards & Donation Tiers

Best Practice 2:

What Are Rewards/Premiums? Rewards are items, recognition, or a service

that you’ll get for contributing a crowdfunding campaign.

They are also known as perks or gifts, and are used as incentives to motivate people to support a campaign.

Rewards Actually Reduce Giving! You should focus on impact-focused rewards

instead.

Example: Hand-sewn scarves from a family who

started a local business as a result of your donor’s micro-finance loan

Personal letter from a child who you sponsored for her education.

Focus On Impact Tiers Instead

Create a Compelling StoryBest Practice 3:

Let’s look at Hollywood storylines to help you create a compelling story.

Overcoming The MonsterSimilar to James Bond, Batman, or the Avengers, you can show your organization overcoming a villain or some form of adversity.

Rags To RichesLike Chris Gardner in Pursuit of Happyness, showcase your organization or individual(s) transitioning from a low to a much better place.

The QuestTales of a dedicated group of people who encounter perils along the way to reach an ambitious (Lord Of The Rings).

TragedyIn Breaking Bad, Walter White dives into the world of making meth. He falls into something bad and gets more and more evil each day. You can focus on the negative as part of your storyline

Build A Tribe Of Champions

Best Practice 4:

Rely On The People You Know First

Rely On The People You Know First Promoters - People that will share your campaign

and updates via email, social media, etc. They’ll amplify your reach. Think of them as your own publicity team.

Fundraisers - People that will help solicit for donations via peer-to-peer fundraising. They’ll create a mini-crowdfunding campaign through personal fundraising pages. You’ll raise twice as much this way.

Donors - People that will contribute to your campaign.

Leverage Press For Your Campaign

Best Practice 5:

Not All Campaigns Should Focus On Publicity & Press

3 Steps To Get Press Target - Use free tools like Twitter Search to find

journalists that have an interest in your area. Jot down their contact info (Twitter handle and email address).

Prepare - Ask yourself, why is this newsworthy? Why would the journalist want to write about me? Why would her audience want to read the article? Come up with a press release and pitch materials based on your newsworthy story.

Pitch - Contact the journalists that you’ve identified, tell them your story, and give them more info about your campaign.

Best Practices Summary

1. Start with a well defined goal2. Rethink rewards and donation tiers3. Create a compelling story4. Build a tribe of champions5. Leverage press for your campaign

Additional Resources Introduction to Crowdfunding for Nonprofits How to Plan a Nonprofit Crowdfunding Camp

aign Hollywood Storylines for Nonprofit Crowdfun

ding Publicity for Online Fundraising Community for Online Fundraising

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