Starting a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for yourself or someone else can be pretty daunting, especially if you’ve never done something like this before. It goes without saying that you want the campaign to be successful. In this article, we provide a few tips that you can use to optimize your campaign for success. This article was written specifically for individual causes (as opposed to campaigns for non-profit organizations), but many of the principles apply for any type of crowdfunding campaign.
Your campaign title should be clear, concise, and convincing
The title of your campaign is the first thing people see when they come across your campaign link, so it’s imperative that the title is compelling. You want people to keep reading your campaign page, so your title should pique their interest and draw them in. Avoid generic phrases like, “Please Save Me” or “Help a Deserving Family Keep Their Home.” Instead, be specific and personal like, “Save 8-Year-Old Moshe’s Life” or “Abuse Victim is About to be Homeless!”
To keep people’s interests, make sure your title isn’t too long. It should be similar in length to the header of a news article. A good guideline is to keep your headline between 5 and 10 words. If the title is too long, people will lose interest before they even get to your campaign.
Keep your description short and to the point, but don’t omit details
People love a story, so don’t be vague with your campaign description. No one will care if you write, “I’m facing some terrible challenges.” Provide some information about the challenges you’re facing. If you have a medical condition, write what it is and briefly describe how it affects your life. If you are having financial trouble, elaborate on your expenses and where any income is coming from. You want to convince people to give you some of their hard-earned money, and they won’t do that without seeing that your cause seems worthy. If you are worried about revealing personal information, you can change your display name to a pseudonym (under the “Campaign Settings” of your campaign dashboard).
As with the title, your description should not be too long – your readers are busy and their attention spans are short. Describe your story and then get out. There’s no need to fluff up the description with filler sentences just to take up more room. In general, try to keep your description to 2-3 paragraphs.
Use a real image
You know the famous adage. “A picture is worth a thousand words.” As such, using a real image of the beneficiary/ies will be very effective in appealing to donors. However, if you can’t use a real picture for privacy reasons, you can either blur the faces of the subjects or you can look for a stock photo that portrays something similar to the cause at hand. Two great sites where you can find free stock photos are pixabay.com and unsplash.com.
Make sure your goal is realistic
A goal that is too lofty will turn people away from donating. Remember that your audience knows the general cost of things, so if you’re collecting money for a poor, newlywed couple, asking for $300,000 is going to lose the sympathy of potential donors. If you can, briefly explain why you chose your goal amount (“the surgery costs $75,000, and since insurance doesn’t cover it, I have to pay out-of-pocket”).
There are many factors that contribute to overall campaign success, but we hope that with all this knowledge up your sleeve, you’ll be better equipped to ensure success for your campaign. As always, feel free to contact us with any questions or comments! Happy crowdfunding!