in Crowdfunding Strategies

It is the last few days of your campaign and you are far from your target. Mentally, you are demotivated and you feel like giving up.

If you can relate to the above paragraph, we want you to throw that thought far far away. If you don’t throw that away, you can stop reading here. We can’t help you if you have given up and have ran out of spirit.

If you still have a lot of spirit in you, if you really wish to raise 100% of your target, continue reading. It is definitely possible with a lot of work.

Many Have Done It Before

We have seen student campaigners raising from RM1,000 to RM 8,000 in one day on Skolafund.com.

We have also seen a few students that raised those amounts on the very last day of their campaign.

Sounds crazy, but it is definitely possible.

Based on our experience and observation, how well a crowdfunding campaign does is largely dependent on how you promote your campaign. Good quality and consistent promotions normally translate to more funds collected.

If you promote your campaign regularly, but your campaign is not getting substantial sponsorships, it means the quality of your promotion is most likely poor. (It could also be that you ignored some of the guide we sent you via email and only did the easy ones. A common habit of unsuccessful campaigners.)

We will not be focusing on what you did wrong in this article. We just would like to make you understand that there is still hope of raising 100% of what you need, if you are willing to improve the way you promote your campaign.

It is not over till it is actually over.

6 Steps to Turn Your Failing Campaign Around

In this article, I will share with you the  SIX things that you need to do urgently to raise the remaining funds you, in thisv limited days.

1. Be in the right state of mind. Be positive.

Its starts with the mind. You need to genuinely believe that it is possible. If you don’t think it’s possible, it’ll demotivate you from working hard this remaining day. Here are TWO  facts that can help you be more positive:
– Previous campaigners on Skolafund.com have proven that it’s possible to raise huge sum in a day.

It has been been proven many times.

– Be positive because you have nothing to lose. Even though you will no receive any of the funds, you do not lose a single cent if your campaign failed because you did not have to pay anything to start this campaign. You just need to do your very best and part of doing your best is being positive throughout the 30 days.

Another way to be more positive is by breaking down your main target into smaller targets which is the next point.

2. Breakdown big target into small achievable targets

Big numbers are scary and as humans we don’t like scary things. Make things less scary by having smaller, easy-to-achieve numbers. Here is how to do it:

  1. How much more do you need to raise?
  2. How many days do you have left?
  3. Divide answer (1) by (2)
  4. The amount is your daily target.

For example, Ali is running a campaign to raise RM10,000. He has raised RM2,000 and has RM8,000 left to raise. His campaign has five days left.

RM8,000 divided by five days is RM1,600/day. This means he needs to try raise a minimum of RM1,600 each day till his campaign is completed.

Right now, you must be thinking, “What on earth.. RM1,600 is still a lot! Who is going to give Ali RM1,600 on each day?!”

You are right. Most likely, no one is going to sponsor Ali RM1,600 because that is just too much for regular people to afford.

However, they might be able to help with RM10 and that is enough!

Ali just need to convince people to pledge RM10 to his campaign. If he can convince enough people to pledge RM10, he’ll be able to raise his full target in no time!

How many people exactly? Divide the daily target (RM1,600) by RM10. The answer is 160.

Each day, Ali needs to find & convince just 160 (out of the millions of) people on the internet to pledge RM10 for his campaign to be successful.

The best part is, normally, people would pledge more than RM10. Some pledger RM20, some RM100. So, Ali does not actually need to convince 160/day. It is normally way lesser than that.

As of the time of this article, the average sponsorship amount on Skolafund.com is RM130.

Despite that, it is still a good practice to call people to pledge RM10 (instead of RM130) because RM10 is a very easy amount to support. If they wish to pledge more, they’ll decide on their own.

Now that you have set your daily target,, how do you find people that can help your cause on the internet? The best strategy to do this, is in the following section.

3. Reach out directly to your close friends & family first before anyone else

Imagine these scenarios:

Scenario 1

You are walking to somewhere, minding your own business, and suddenly a stranger comes up to you, and tells you that his name is Daud, he is smart and he needs some money for something. Would you trust the guy?

Naturally, you would doubt “Daud”, right? When you doubt, you don’t feel the need to help out.

Scenario 2

You are walking somewhere, and you bump into your friend, Najib. After greeting each other and a short chat, Najib casually say to you, “By the way, I am not sure if you heard, but I have a very close of mine, named Daud, that is raising funds for XYZ. The friend is seriously a smart guy and I think we should help him out with his campaign. We can sponsor as low as RM1 or we can just help to spread the word. What do you think?”

Since you know Najib, you would be more compelled to help Daud out, right?

Scenario 3

Imagine you are Najib, and Daud is your best friends. You guys grew up together and shared a lot of experiences together.

One day, Daud approached you and say “Najib, I am running a crowdfunding campaign for XYZ. I really need some support with this campaign, and I don’t know who else to ask for help. Would you mind helping me by pledging any amount (if you can) and help to spread the word to your friends?”

Imagine you are Najib. You definitely would help Daud, right? Because you trust Daud. And it is only right for you to help a friend out since it is easy to do. Not only will you pledge some funds to his campaign, you would also willingly help to spread the word to your friends. As many as possible. It’s not a burden. You want to see the campaign successful. It’ll make you happy. Correct?

—-

Could you imagine these three scenarios?

If you are running a campaign, you are Daud in these scenarios.

A lot of failed campaigners made the grave mistake of trying to approach strangers directly. The first thing they do after their campaign goes live is to post on social media, tagging random celebrities asking for a retweet, because they want to reach the celebrities’ massive audience.

This is a lousy strategy if you have not raised at least 20% of your target. Strangers will visit your page and leave because they will doubt your legitimacy. In their heads, “if you are seriously good, why are your friends not supporting you?”

The best campaigns on Skolafund always fulfil Scenario 3 first, Scenario 2 second and Scenario 1 last.

First, you need to get support from your closest friends and families. Find 8-10 of them. Message them directly if possible, that is the more proper way of asking for support from ones that are close to you. Tell them that they can support you by pledging funds as low as RM1 and by spreading the word.

If they can’t pledge money, just spreading the word constantly helps a lot, too. Remember, scenario 2?

You have done this but it doesn’t work? Your friends won’t help you out? If you can’t get your close friends to help by sharing on their social media, how do you thing strangers are going to react to your campaign?

If this happens to you, it means there is something wrong with the way you ask. We will cover later in this article.

Even if you have done this, just do it again. It is your best hope in this last mile.

After approaching close friends directly, post about your campaign on your personal social media.

4. Post on Social Media… Properly

Firstly, posting your campaign on your Social Media is a good way to show the 8-10 close friends & families you approached, that you are serious about your campaign. It will motivate them to share on their social media.

Secondly, this allows you to reach out to people that know you. They might not be that close to you as the 8-10 people that you have contacted directly, but they know you. They are more likely to help you than strangers.

Mention in your posts the following:

  • A proper greeting to readers
  • Explain what are you raising funds for
  • How much have you raised so far and how much more needed
  • How many days left
  • Mention that people can help you by pledging RM10 and/or sharing your posts
  • Include the link to your campaign
  • Thank everyone for supporting

Regardless whether you are raising funds for your personal expenses or projects, use your personal social media account to make these posts. If you are running the campaign in the team, get every single one of them to post on their personal social media. NOT YOUR CLUB/PROJECT’S SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT OR A FAKE/NEW SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT WITH NO FRIENDS/FOLLOWERS.

It’s the last few days. If people are going to help out, it will be because they want to support you, not your club.

Also, please make your posts and account public. Make it easy for people to spread the word for you.

Tag Skolafund in these posts. If appropriate, we will share them as well.

5. Watch Your Language & Tone

With regard to the language to use when promoting your campaign, use the language that you are most comfortable with and the one that you frequently use for your normal posts.

However, please write in proper sentences. It doesn’t have to be formal, but it has to be written in full words and sentences. No slangs or weird abbreviations (e.g. X = no/tak). Don’t give people reasons to doubt your intelligence with weird sentences. When people doubt, they won’t support you.

When writing your captions, mind your tone.

You ask for support nicely, don’t demand for it.

Most failed campaigners, write their captions and posts without considering what people might think. For example, “Tolong sponsor my campaign”, “@Michaeljackson pls share to your followers” and “@doraemon support my campaign & RT”.

If you read such captions, do you feel like helping?

No, you’ll feel disgusted and annoyed because someone is telling you to do things for them when you do not work for them and you do not owe them anything.

So, please ask nicely since it is you that need help from them, not the other way round.

No one likes bossy and self-entitled people.

6. Build & Maintain the Momentum

In these final days, post updates on your social media regularly. At least 3-5 times, each day, especially 7pm onwards.

DO NOT POST THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER AGAIN. That is spamming.

Instead, your posts have to show progress.

Sometimes, people do not feel compelled to support your campaign the first time they see it. But once they see that there are increasing number of people that are supporting you, they will be more open to supporting you.

Social media posts that build momentum are regular posts that record and inform others of positive progress.

In essence, each “momentum post” should highlight:

  • how much has been raised so far out of the full target
  • funded by how many sponsors
  • how much more do you need
  • call people to take action

This is are examples of a momentum post:

Example 1

I am trying to raise RM10,000 for XYZ and so far, RM2,000 has been funded. 80% more to go and 3 days left.

Thank you to the 80 people that have supported me so far.

If you are reading this, I hope you can lend me some support. If I can find 800 caring netizens to pledge RM10 to my scholarship campaign, my campaign will be successful.

Do help me spread the word so I can find people that can help. Thank you.

<link>

Example 2

RM3,000 out of RM10,000 crowdfunded so far. RM7,000 more to go! I have 3 days

If you want to support my pursuit for education, you can sponsor as low as RM1 to my campaign here: <link>

Alternatively, helping me spread the word, helps a lot, too! It’ll mean the world to me to get your support.

Example 3

I have 2 days to go till the end of my fundraising period. So far, I’ve managed to raise 40% of the campaign, funded by 290 sponsors. I hope to be able to raise RM6,000 more within this two days.

This campaign means a lot to me. Do support my journey by pledging RM10 or any amount you wish to. Spreading the word helps a lot, too.

Thank you very much. You can read my full campaign details here: <link>

Post this kind of updates 3-5 times each day, in the last days of your campaigns. Make sure you change it up. Don’t use the same template over and over again, because that is spamming. We all hate spammers.

Momentum and progress posts like these motivate people to help you out, especially when they see significant progress in each update.

In Conclusion

This is a highly effective campaigning technic that we’ve seen working tremendously for past campaigners, especially on the last mile of their campaign.

These are the five things that you need to do urgently, in your last days if you are still far off target. In summary:

  1. Be positive
  2. Have smaller daily targets
  3. Approach your trusted family and friends first before others
  4. Post on social media
  5. Ensure you use the language that you are most comfortable with & be polite in your tone
  6. Build momentum with frequent social media post

Don’t lose hope and don’t be embarrassed. You have nothing to lose, you can only gain from this campaign. Remind yourself why you started the campaign in the first place and why is this important. Get the help of as many friends as possible.

It is not over till it is actually over!

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