I love my artist and creator-entrepreneur-activist friends and acquaintances that are going hard to make their projects come to life. Y’all inspire me. If not for y’all I’d still think dancing and filmmaking were hobbies and I’d be creating some business that I thought was more likely to succeed. It seemed so long ago, that I realized I’m an artist and creator. Oh, 2017😂. Anyways, from time to time I will see a crowdfunding campaign, support it, or consider supporting it, and of course as a psych nerd who is unreasonably excited about words and communication, I’ve been noticing some things that are making us less effective. So these are things I’ve noticed about our crowdfunding efforts:
We think people will donate just because of Facebook shares. If you have a tiny or nonexistent following like me, you must must must must must ask people one-on-one to donate to your project. We are underestimating the necessity to ASK people one on one. In summary, it is scary and uncomfortable but it is worth it for your vision to come to life in this world. In terms of giving based on public announcements, closest family and best friends may give based on a link share but for the most part, people need to be prodded and directly asked. If we would have relied on link shares I think we could have raised maybe $2,000 – that’s how much direct asking we did. I know, it’s not glamorous but crowdfunding isn’t glamorous. It’s WAR. No its not. It’s literally just asking the people you love a question.
We keep launching campaigns with zero money on the first day. On your first day (launch), many people will probably click your campaign link. You do not want them to click on your link and see that no one has given. It is demoralizing and people don’t like to give to unsuccessful campaigns. To avoid this, directly call/message friends and family before the launch and have at least 5-10 people who are confirmed donors who will give on the first day.
We are waiting too long to directly message people. Do not, I repeat do not, wait until the last week of your campaign to directly call, e-mail, text, and Facebook message people. If your campaign is four weeks (which is optimal), by the middle of the second week you should have contacted everyone you know and by everyone you know, I actually mean everyone you know. And by everyone you know, I mean everyone you know. If you wait until the last few days of your campaign, you’re not giving people enough time to mull things over. Many many people forget to give or forget to respond to messages so they need breathing room and enough time to go by so that you can message them again to follow up.
We are cherry-picking who we ask to give. If you do not have a raving fanbase, you cannot afford to only choose the people who you think will give. In my campaign, I learned I was horrible at guessing who would actually give. And that is a good thing because more people will give than you think (assuming the vision of the project is community-oriented; see my beastly crowdfunding post for more). I legit recommend that you go down the list of your Facebook friends, IG followers, e-mail contacts, and message everyone. Yes, it sounds crazy. But it worked for us. We wouldn’t have been able to raise $18K if we only messaged the people we thought liked us! I used to be way way way way more shy, awkward, and sarcastic and could only guess who I had offended or thought I was a weirdo.
We assume people will read (anything). It’s 2018. Nobody f%&&ing reads. Kidding.No but for real, you probably didn’t even read that. You probably are skimming this. Why am I even writing? Nobody wants to read your crap, even your grandma. She wants to see your pretty face pouring your heart out about what you’re doing and she wants to experience what it is you are actually doing. In short, people care about photos and videos. You don’t need to be all Hemingway, or Shakespeare, or a Black author I probably should have read by now.
We provide too many details about the projects in the video. Sounds counter to the last one but nobody cares about every logistic of your project. People, especially if you have no solid fan base, care about what it means to you and what it will create that they think is needed. Instead of having a 4-minute video with a lot of details on WHAT you’re doing, create a 60-90 second video where you share something deep and meaningful about yourself, preferably in the form of a concrete story and then talk about what the project will create that doesn’t already exist. Are you creating community, inspiration, love, etc. and for whom? Of course a sneak peek, mockup, or drawing of the final creation is very important but no need for a lot of details. A recent hypothetical survey found that 99.9% of Americans will be diagnosed with ADD in 2018.
We aren’t being vulnerable. As covered above, we are all tired of seeing robots and perfect people on TV and online. Be a human. That’s all I ask. Share what this really means to you. Be honest, be imperfect, be nervous, and be yourself, however you are in this campaign right now. Cry, scream, laugh, bite your nails, pause, breathe, dance, say how you really feel. Be a human. You’re good at that!
We make it about ourselves as artists/creators. Yes, people who are giving to you are giving to YOU but moreso they are giving to what you represent and what you are creating. Of course, it is possible to raise a lot of money by focusing on yourself. If you are well-known, your talent speaks for itself, etc. but I have a hunch that you, like me, don’t have a reputation quite yet. So be clear to frame what you are doing in terms of what it represents for you and what it offers for others (most powerful, if you do both!).
We contact people ONCE. Most people that I messaged I had to message 2-3 times until they actually gave. This means I messaged them once and they did not respond so I followed up and asked if I could speak with them. It also means that there were people who promised to give and did not do so until I followed up with them 2 or three times. People NEED follow up because they probably aren’t going to write down on their todo list to give you money (i mean, they might, but hey).If people like, comment, or share your campaign, follow up with them and make sure you ask them to give. If people say they will give, follow up until they do. If people don’t respond to your first message within 1.5 weeks, follow up. Your campaign unfortunately is no one’s priority but yours so you must follow up. I’d estimate at least half of the people i contacted for Black Man in America only gave after I followed up with them.
We ask people for money on first contact. Ah! I do not advise you to beat around the bush if you are intending to ask for a donation. However, if the first time you are contacting someone in 2 years is to ask for money they may want to know how you are doing or share whats new with them. For closer folks to us, asking on first contact might be okay but generally people don’t want to bothered with donation requests that come out of nowhere. They file it in a different part of their brain – part called, ignore at all costs. But if you provide meaningful context, people love to give.
now you know lots of things NOT to do; learn what TO do in my step-by-step guide on how we raised $18K
To read my beastly step-by-step guide explaining how we crowdfunded $18K with no following or fanbase, click to view this awesomely detailed post I wrote 🙂
a little backstory
It was a chilly January 2018 day in the current dimension when 30-year-old unnecessarily educated Justina, queer artist child of black Panamanian immigrants, learned she had three months until her cushy job would let her go. Stunned that her comfortable safety net had broken, she stared at the email for 60 seconds before she resumed binge-watching Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee. Two weeks later, she had a nervous break down. BUT. Finally, she will play. She will create. And hopefully never work again. Oh, and now she has a journal. More on her/me here.
my money journal: crowdfunding edition
This, my money journal, is a reflection on my successes & failures to make money doing what I actually love. I want to share it with you cuz… I bet you’re on this journey too. In the first series of my money journal, I’m sharing my first big success as an artist. At the end of 2016, I was listening to my boyfriend’s song Black Man in America when a vision for a dance film struck me. Five Black men seated at a white table with guns. Don’t worry. It is nuanced. By January 2017, I was storyboarding. By June, my boyfriend was on board, we determined we needed $16,000 to bring it to life, and we launched our crowdfunding campaign. With no fan base and no real fundraising experience. On August 6th, we filmed. I was freaking out. I had opened a credit card just for this project, was $4,000 in debt and owed our cast and crew $7,000 more. I was all in. By August 20th, 400 backers had given a total of $18,000 for Black Man in America to come to life, exceeding our goal. In this crowdfunding series of my money journal, I’m going to share how we did it, because – imagine what you could do with $5K ,$10K, $20K to bring your visions to life. It’s our tiiiiiiiiime. (Shine bright, shine far…)
