Reflections from a Chronic Crowdfunder (part 4)

It seems that every other month Avery Book is crowdfunding. Whether it's a run to raise money for his favorite non-profits, or his latest singing or travel project, Avery has successfully raised thousands of dollars from the crowd, in the form of lots of small donations. What's his secret?  Read on.  - Val

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Successful crowdfunding is storytelling. Like effective short story writing, I’ve found I’ve been most effective when I was personal about my connection to the cause I’m raising money for, vivid in the multi-sensory and emotional details of some of my memories of and feelings about that cause, and most importantly, cast my network as characters in the story. I draw on my history and connection with that friend, relative, or colleague, highlighting shared experiences and worldview formation. I acknowledge and affirm people who’ve already given, to model the ways in which they’ve become part of the story, part of making it happen. I emphasize how essential their support is.

It’s important to establish a good flow in terms of frequency and type of ask. The first thing I’ll do at the beginning of any crowdfunding campaign (after creating my online profile) is to put together my list of potential supporters. Make this list as broad as possible, including people who’ve supported you in the past and people who’ve never given. In the first email, express a few key things: what you’re raising money for, why it’s important to you, and why their support is important to the cause and to you. After sending out the initial mass email, create a plan for individual follow up emails. It’s fine to copy and paste some content, but it’s really worth the time it takes to personalize it, and to engage the real relationship you have with that person. Over time, you’ll get a sense of what medium is the best for making the ask to particular friends and relations: some people respond to an email, others to a chat, others to a social media contact. Remember that unless someone explicitly tells you that can’t or won’t give, it’s worth contacting them until they do respond. If possible, wait until a few people have given before sending another mass email (then you can build a sense of momentum and excitement).

The ask needs to be very direct: “Can you support this campaign?” People are most likely to feel compelled to respond if they’re actually asked, rather than just implying the ask. Be smart about your targeting: if it’s a mass email, I’ll always emphasize that ANY amount will help, and that no donation is too small. Sometimes, people feel embarrassed about giving a small amount, but most of my successful crowdfunding campaigns have been built of dozens of small donations($10, $25, $50).  I just raised $1,078 from 45 donors--with an average donation of $23.96 and only one donation over $50.

Be sure to promptly thank people after they donate. I usually send a personal email (to communicate that I really do care and that our relationship is worth a private thank you note) and post a thank you on Facebook (so they can get the public recognition). A very important piece of the thank you is the Second Ask: "Thanks again! Also, could you please forward this to friends you think would be supportive, or post and tag on Facebook? That would be a really helpful way to spread it beyond my immediate network." 

- Avery Book

Thanks to Avery for his guest blog post.  He's still $122 short of his goal for his latest crowdfunding effort -- want to help him tell the story of migrant workers? You can learn more about the project and give at http://www.gofundme.com/3wvi0s