Crowdfunding campaigns are mainly run in the Internet through platforms and digital media. Despite this digital nature of crowdfunding, live events can be very effective to boost the takings in a campaign.
The kind of in person events can be quite diverse. They can be planned:
- Before or at the beginning of the campaign to get feedback to ensure we meet the rule of 30-90-100.
- During the middle weeks of the campaign to mitigate the lull of that period, as indicated in the U rule of crowdfunding.
- At the end of the campaign, as a reward for the backers.
We used the three types in the Crumbs Brewing campaign. In the linked article I discuss what we got right and wrong with those events. We also used events on the Merstham Mix crowdfunding campaign.
Let’s see some live events for the 4 phases of a crowdfunding campaign: planning, pre-campaign, campaign and post-campaign.
Feedback meeting (planning phase)
You could organise a small meeting with your first two Fs of crowdfunding (family and friends and ask them feedback about the campaign: rewards, pricing, messages…
Rewards presentation (pre-campaign)
You can extend an invitation to the first 3Fs of crowdfunding (family, friends and fools) for an event where you present the rewards of the campaign. Ideally you’d want to have a prototype to show. It’s a very effective strategy to get commitments from your circles that guarantee the rule of 30-90-100.
Campaign presentation (campaign phase)
The first week of a campaign is crucial to guarantee the success of the project. Organising a campaign presentation is a great strategy. For Crumbs Brewing we did a countdown to launch the project and showed the progress in the first few hours of the campaign. If you organise a party a bit later after the launch, you should have some support so you have credibility and colder leads are more motivated to participate.
Meetings and events as a reward (post-campaign)
A great tool to motivate backers is to create rewards that grant you access to exclusive meetings or events after the campaign. The creator could be at the party and hand over the rewards. This kind of rewards tend to be on the higher end of the rewards scale and they’re designed to motivate the most involved backers to contribute a higher amount to the campaign.
Wrapping it up
Although crowdfunding is mainly an on-line activity, off-line events can support the campaign at each stage. If you want more details on how to organise a party or need support on your crowdfunding campaign, please do not hesitate to contact me.
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