10 Tips on How to Raise $12,430 in 5 Weeks for Your Startup
Julian B. Kiganda
Transformational Brand Strategist. Culturally Relevant Marketing. I help health, wellness, & purpose-driven brands grow through powerful storytelling & design. ? WBENC Certified #Branding #MentalHealth #CorporateWellness
In February of this year, I started working with Creative Grounds DC, a Washington area startup that is bringing art, community and coffee together in one innovative space. In my first #BehindtheBrand post about Creative Grounds, I began outlining my process for working with businesses to build profitable brands with soul. Before you ever start designing anything, it’s critical that you’re clear on: who you are, what makes you unique, your mission, your target audience, and your message.
Developing the messaging and getting clear on what we wanted the “personality” of the brand to be, informed the Branding Mood Board. The mood board provides a foundation for the look and feel of all your future collateral and is a guideline for design. Here’s a section of the one we developed for Creative Grounds over the course of several of weeks:
We distilled the heart of the Creative Grounds DC message down to the following:
“The mission of Creative Grounds DC is to provide a welcoming community space for teaching, producing and showcasing art while serving up some of the best coffee in DC. It’s a place where art lovers, creatives and coffee enthusiasts from all backgrounds and ages can connect, create and learn. We’re an independent, family-owned arts studio and coffee bar.”
Once we were clear on all the branding and messaging, we began developing the crowdfunding campaign on IndieGogo. The goal was to fund part of Creative Grounds DC’s mission to make art accessible to those with less financial means in the community.
When running an on online campaign, it’s important to understand that it’s actually a marketing campaign. As with all marketing, people have to see the message multiple times before they take any action. In addition, a crowdfunding campaign is a great way to grow awareness about your business and brand. By implementing the following nine tips, we were able to raise $12,430 in 5 weeks!
1. Start reaching out to your audience before the campaign to let them know it’s launching. The most important days of an online campaign are the first three and the last three. Make sure people know your goal ahead of time so they're more prepared to give at launch.
2. Have a clear message that tells your brand story. Keep it simple.
3. Include an engaging video. Video is now the most consumed content online. It's the best way to connect with your audience online and helps to tell your story more effectively than just text by itself.
4. Reach out to people you know individually and ask them to donate. E-mail newsletters and social media posts are great, but there's nothing like one-on-one correspondence and phone calls.
5. Give regular updates on your progress. Keep your community informed of progress so they can see the momentum building and be more likely to contribute to it.
6. Stay persistent in your outreach. It often takes reaching out to most people more than once before they're ready to donate.
7. Make your campaign page visually appealing. Your excitement about your mission should translate into your online messaging.
8. Make it personal: what’s your why? Most people are ready and willing to give to someone and something they believe in.
9. Have some great perks or incentives for giving. From getting a menu item named in their honor to receiving exclusive art cards featuring local DC artists, donors to Creative Grounds DC's campaign got to choose from a diverse menu of perks that inspired them to give.
10. Let your passion shine through!
There’s a little more to developing an effective crowdfunding campaign, but these tips are some of the most important ones. When raising money online, your branding, messaging and presentation are critical. In fact, they're just as important as having the right strategy, staying consistent in your outreach, and being very clear about your "why".
What additional tips would you give for raising funds for your business online?
?I hope you enjoyed this post! A little about me: I'm a designer and Transformational Brand Strategist who helps my clients build and transform brands with soul that grow their visibility and their bottom line. I help you identify what's unique about you, clarify your message, and create effective marketing strategies. Contact me to find out more about how I can help you transform and build your brand.
Find more great content on my blogs at www.julianbkiganda.com and www.boldandfearless.me, as well as on Twitter, Facebook, Periscope, and Instagram.
Other posts I've written:
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7 年Great tips. Thanks for sharing!