indiegogo field guide for campaigners2.original

7/27/2019 Indiegogo Field Guide for Campaigners2.Original

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building your campaignbefore launching your campaign

BUILDING YOUR CAMPAIGN

Writing Your PItch

Make it concise and clear. Who are you? What areyou raising money for?

1

F I E L D

G U I D E

for campaign owners

F I E L D

G U I D E

for campaign owners


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Crowdunding - n. & v./kroud/ - /ndiNG/

The pooling o small contributions o unds rom a group o people or thepurpose o making something larger happen.

Indiegogo is an open and global crowdunding platorm where anyone, anywhere canraise money or anything whether creative, entrepreneurial, or cause-related. We wantour community to make theirs and others dreams come to lie and thereore, we arecommitted to giving them every tool possible to do so.

This Field Guide is the product o years o data collection, dozens o conversations withcampaigners, and the combined know-how o our Indiegogo team. We have consolidatedall o this know-how to empower our campaigners to make the most o their crowdundingexperiences and help them reach their goals.


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Whats Inside the Field Guide

4Beore Launching Your Campaign

5 Building Your Campaign

9 Spreading the Word Planning and Building Buzz

10 The First Hal o Your Campaign

11 Creating Early Momentum

12 Spreading the Word

14 The Second Hal o Your Campaign

15 Keeping Momentumand Making the Final Push

16 Spreading the Word Time is Running Out!

17 Ater Your Campaign Ends

18 Managing Campaign Logistics19 Spreading the Word

Take a Bow!

.


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before launching your campaign


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5

BUILDING YOUR CAMPAIGN

to raise 25-30% rom within your own network

(riends/amily/etc). Strangers will want to see sometraction to get excited about your campaign, whichthis initial group can provide.

Setting a lower, more realistic unding goal2 can otenmean youll raise more money in the end than settinga loty goal. People want to be a part o successulcampaigns; generally they dont stop unding once agoal has been reached.

For larger projects, consider running multiplecampaigns with smaller unding goals or each stageo the project. (Examples: Sound it Out3, Youve Been

Trumped4)

I you have any doubts about whether your campaignis more suited to Fixed or Flexible unding, pleasecontact Indiegogos Customer Happiness Team5 withyour questions. Once youve launched, you wont beable to switch.

How Long Will Your Campaign Be?

Longer campaigns dont necessarily mean youllraise more money. The longer the campaign, the

harder it is to build a sense o urgency and maintainundraising momentum.

~40 day long campaigns are most successul6.

Make sure to leave 2 weeks between the end o yourcampaign and the date you need your unds7.

Writing Your Pitch

Make it concise and clear. Who are you? What areyou raising money or? Where is the money going?How can others support you?

Make it personal! Tell a compelling story o why youare passionate about your project. Present the ideain a way that makes it something others would wantto support. Put yoursel in the shoes o your targetaudience.

Ask someone else to prooread your pitch.

Setting Your Goal

Make sure you understand the dierence betweenFlexible and Fixed Funding1 you wont be able tochange it ater your campaign launches.

Flexible Funding: You keep your contributionswhether or not you hit your goal.

Fixed Funding: You only keep your contributionsi you hit your goal.

Research your expenses and make sure youunderstand how much it will cost to realize yourproject. I you are oering physical perks, make sureto take their cost into account (including shipping!)

Make sure your goal is realistic. You should be able
http://bit.ly/FundingGoalhttp://bit.ly/SoundItOuthttp://bit.ly/YouveBeenTrumpedhttp://bit.ly/YouveBeenTrumpedhttp://bit.ly/ContactCHhttp://bit.ly/CampaignLengthhttp://bit.ly/Disbursementshttp://bit.ly/FixedVsFlexiblehttp://bit.ly/FixedVsFlexiblehttp://bit.ly/FixedVsFlexiblehttp://bit.ly/FixedVsFlexiblehttp://bit.ly/Disbursementshttp://bit.ly/CampaignLengthhttp://bit.ly/ContactCHhttp://bit.ly/YouveBeenTrumpedhttp://bit.ly/YouveBeenTrumpedhttp://bit.ly/SoundItOuthttp://bit.ly/FundingGoal


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6

Also, make sure that your perks dont violate ourTOS9. We disallow only a ew things (required by law)such as raes, weapons, drugs, and pornography.Be sure to read the ull TOS so that your campaigndoesnt get agged or violation!

Learn about Indiegogo

Familiarize yoursel with our:

Help Center10

Blog11 ull o great insights and campaignerstories.

Popular Campaigns12

Customer Happiness Section13 to learn moreabout everything rom perks to reunds andemail us i you have a question.

Terms o Service14

Reach out to campaign owners who have launchedsimilar projects and ask them about their challenges,successes, etc.

Check out previous, successully unded campaigns15

to pick up ideas and strategies.

Creating Your Perks

Is there something directly associated to yourcampaign that you can oer? For inspiration, checkout the Top 12 Perks o 20128.

Do you know local businesses or entrepreneurswho might want to oer perks to your campaign (i.e.

cross-marketing)?

Example: Dinner or two at a local restaurant.

Think o perks that you can add later in yourcampaigns liespan to re-energize your community.I you have a strong Twitter/Facebook presence,oer social media shout outs as a perk.

I you are building/creating a perk, make sure youunderstand the steps necessary to create the perkand know exactly how much money youll need tocreate and distribute this perk.

Example: Reaching out to a t-shirt vendor to geta quote. Dont orget shipping costs!

Allow ample time or yoursel to ulll perks it willtake longer than you think!
http://bit.ly/IndiegogoTOShttp://bit.ly/IndigogoForumshttp://bit.ly/PopularCampaignshttp://bit.ly/CustomerHappinesshttp://bit.ly/IndiegogoTOShttp://bit.ly/SuccessfulCampaignshttp://bit.ly/TopPerks2012http://bit.ly/1Facehttp://bit.ly/MisfitShineFGhttp://bit.ly/TopPerks2012http://bit.ly/SuccessfulCampaignshttp://bit.ly/IndiegogoTOShttp://bit.ly/CustomerHappinesshttp://bit.ly/PopularCampaignshttp://bit.ly/IndigogoForumshttp://bit.ly/IndiegogoTOS


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7

Perks

r Make perk names and descriptions clear.r Consider the value o each make sure you

can ulll perks and still complete your project.

r

Oer a broad range o perks - rom $10 thankyous on your website to $1,000+ perks that oerunique experiences.

r Call out the urgency o perk availability relatedto the length o your campaign. Use words likelimited edition, exclusive, and early-bird.

r Create perks that will connect the contributorto the project emotionally as well as physically.Example: 1:Face Watches17

r Consider your perk pricing strategy18 oer a$25 perk and a $100 perk.

r Be reasonable with your perk prices. Oering amagnet and mug or $500 or a t-shirt or $1,000

is not likely to encourage contributions.r I you are running a Flexible Funding campaign,r keep in mind perk ullment in the event that

you dont hit your goal.r Add pictures o your perks in the pitch text! It

adds personality and breaks up lots o text.r You can only have 12 live perks at a time, but you

can hide perks that have sold out.

Links

r Add links to Facebook, Twitter, and other social

media related to your campaign.r Add links to your business/other website - lots

o outside links help legitimize your campaign.

Building Your Campaign

Your pitch video

r Make a short video (1-3 minutes) that expressesyou goals and intentions.

r You should star in it makes it more personal.r

Give contributors a sneak peak o your project,product, lm, etc.!r Consider using music helps sets a tone or the

video and the campaign.r Make sure the video is clear and concise use

visuals and make sure its audible.r Call out the spirit o collaboration. Youre not just

asking or money, youre inviting people to helpyou work on something.

r End with a clear call to action.r Do your homework! Check out Indiegogos

Top 12 Pitch Videos o 201216.

Written pitch

r Put the most important inormation rst.r Tell a story but dont make it too long

(consider peoples time and attention spans).r Explain exactly why you are undraising.r Tell us a bit about yoursel and your team.r Build trust with a breakdown o your budget.r Spelling and grammar are important. Prooread!r Break long text into sections with headings.

r Make it visual include images in your pitch.

Small campaign image

r Make sure your image is relevant to yourcampaign and visually interesting!

r This is your campaigns most visible image people should be compelled to click on it.
http://bit.ly/1Facehttp://bit.ly/1Facehttp://bit.ly/PerkPricinghttp://bit.ly/TopVideos2012http://bit.ly/TopVideos2012http://bit.ly/PerkPricinghttp://bit.ly/1Face


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8

Putting Together Your Team

Teams o two or more people will typically generatemore unds19 than projects that have just onecampaign owner.

Find people who can help you with the campaign,especially those who may specialize in certain thingslike social media, etc. These people can also bring insome o your early unds.

Whos that riend who seems to know everyone?Their network can become yours!

Make sure your Indiegogo proles are updated withphotos and contact ino. People want to recognizeand relate to you.

Finding Sponsors/Partners

A great way to nd early unding or your campaignand/or building social media momentum is bynding like-minded individuals/organizations whowould be willing to spread the word about yourcampaign.

I youre raising unds on behal o anotherorganization or individual, sync up with them sothat both parties know how and when you will be

disbursing money to them. Add the organization/individual20 to your campaigns team to veriy thelegitimacy o your campaign.
http://bit.ly/CampaignTeamshttp://bit.ly/CampaignTeamshttp://bit.ly/AddTeamMembershttp://bit.ly/AddTeamMembershttp://bit.ly/AddTeamMembershttp://bit.ly/AddTeamMembershttp://bit.ly/CampaignTeamshttp://bit.ly/CampaignTeams


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9

SPREADING THE WORD:PLANNING AND BUILDING BUZZ

Plan Your Marketing

How are you getting the word out? Who is going tohelp you? What actions are you going to take oineto help nd contributors?

Drat a press release and create a media plan.

Compile a list o blogs/tastemakers who have anaudience that might be interested in your story.Email them your press release ater your sot-launch.

Form a Launch Committee

Right beore you launch

r Invite 5-10 riends over to review your campaignwhile it is still in drat mode.

r Have them give you eedback on what they likeand what they would change. Perks, pitch etc.This will encourage your inner circle to takemore ownership in what you are doing. Theywill also be more likely to share your campaigni they are invested/proud o what you havecreated.

r They can only look at your campaign in dratmode i they have access to your account or ateam members. You can either show them onyour computer or invite them tojoin22 your team.

Build Buzz

Beore your campaign goes live, let riends and amilyknow that your campaign is on the horizon. Plan asot-launch event. Encourage your inner- circleto contribute as soon as you go live, so that yourcampaign gains instant traction.

Hold events and remind your attendees when youare launching.

Use social media to build mystery/intrigue.

Social Media To-dos

r Create a Twitter Account.r Sign-up or HootSuite21 to help broadcast and

schedule updates across all your social mediaplatorms to save you time.

r Make a Facebook page or your campaign.r Create an Instagram account.r Create a blog and ollow other bloggers.

Sponsors/PartnersI you have sponsors or partners, make sure theytap into their social and extended networks to buildanticipation or your campaign and announce when itlaunches.

spreading the word


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the rst hal o your campaign


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11

Setting Up and Testing Your

Disbursement Ino

I you want to receive contributions via PayPal onyour campaign, make sure your PayPal account is setup correctly23.

Make a test PayPal contribution o $1 (or more!) toyour campaign to make sure your PayPal is workingperectly beore you ask others to contribute.

I you are accepting contributions via credit card, youwill be prompted or your bank inormation via email

as soon as the rst contribution is received. Doublecheck your inormation to make sure it is accurate.

Fundraising Aims

Aim to raise at least one contribution on Day 1. 85%o campaigns24 that reach their goal receive their rstcontribution within one day o going live.

Aim to raise a third o your goal within the rst

quarter o your campaigns lietime. Successulcampaigns, generally raise 30% o their goal25 inunder two weeks. Fundraising also tends to slowdown in the middle26 o the campaign. Add newperks to keep momentum going throughout theliespan o your campaign.

Listen

Be ready to incorporate eedback and make changesbased upon the advice o your inner network as wellas your early contributors.

The more you engage your audience, the morelikely they will be to help spread the word aboutyour campaign to their networks. This collaborativedynamic is one o the great opportunities andbenets o crowdunding your idea.

The gogoactor

The gogoactor27 is a merit-based, data-drivenmethod Indiegogo uses to rank campaigns.This algorithm determines which campaignsare promoted on the homepage, in the weeklynewsletter, in the blog, and on our social medianetworks.

Your gogoactor combines a variety o online data,including your campaign activity, the completenesso your pitch, and media presence.

Indiegogo doesnt curate campaigns or oerpaid promotion. The visibility o your campaign iscontrolled entirely by you and your community.

The gogoactor evolves over time and depends ona variety o activities, so its important to continuallykeep your campaign active to maintain a high score!

creating early momentum

CREATING EARLY MOMENTUM

http://bit.ly/PayPalSetuphttp://bit.ly/PayPalSetuphttp://bit.ly/Day1Contributionhttp://bit.ly/Day1Contributionhttp://bit.ly/ThirdOfGoalhttp://bit.ly/MiddleGamehttp://bit.ly/gogofactorhttp://bit.ly/gogofactorhttp://bit.ly/MiddleGamehttp://bit.ly/ThirdOfGoalhttp://bit.ly/Day1Contributionhttp://bit.ly/Day1Contributionhttp://bit.ly/PayPalSetuphttp://bit.ly/PayPalSetup


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12

Inner Network

Get people excited about your campaign and havethem make commitments to spread the word oryou through their various networks both on andoine.

Consider throwing a launch party where you getyour riends and amily excited about your idea, tellthem about your campaign, have un and have alaptop around or people to contribute!

Email

Email is a great way28 to directly reach out topeople in your network. Make sure you explain theproject succinctly, make a personal ask or theircontribution, include a link to your campaign, andask them to spread the word.

Avoid spamming your email network. People arear more receptive to a one-on-one personal ask.Though this may take a little longer, it will likelyresult in more contributions.

Also, be sure to add your campaign link to youremail signature.

Ofine

Spreading the word or your campaign doesnt onlyhave to happen online. Think o ways you couldspread the word locally29, and oine30.

Local media outlets print, TV, and radio arealways hungry or good local content, and yourcampaign is a great story! Reach out and tell yourstory!

Social Media

The very denition o crowdunding implies thatengaging audiences online is crucial to gainingawareness, momentum, and unds or yourcampaign. While not the only way to do so, socialmedia (in its various orms) is a great way to not onlyget your preexisting network excited, but to alsoconnect with individuals and organizations who youdont know but who might be interested in yourcampaign. The ability to post and share pictures,video, and more also make social media a very

dynamic medium on which to share your campaign!

Remember, youre not simply asking people tocontribute their money youre inviting them tocollaborate with you.

spreading the word

SPREADING THE WORD

http://bit.ly/DirectEmailhttp://bit.ly/GrassrootsMarketinghttp://bit.ly/OfflineTractionhttp://bit.ly/OfflineTractionhttp://bit.ly/GrassrootsMarketinghttp://bit.ly/DirectEmail


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13

spreading the wordthe rst hal o your campaign

Instagram

r Use Instagram to take pictures as yourcampaign builds momentum (or example, takepictures o you creating your perks or even justhanging out with your team).

r Take pictures o events relating to your project.r Follow others on Instagram who might be

r interested in your project or who work in thatindustry.

r Tag words that relate to your project and/orIndiegogo.

r Tag your pictures with a link to your campaign.r Show people your perks, sneak peeks into your

campaign, etc. with pictures.

Links

r Use your Pinterest account to build yourprojects vision and brand.

r Pin pictures o your perks and anything elsevisually interesting relating to your project.

r Follow other pinners in the industry in order toreceive a ollowing or your campaign.

r Pin videos and images that lead back to your

campaign.r Include a link to your campaign on your prole

page.

Social Media Checklist

Twitter

r

Use popular and trending hashtags to raiseawareness or your campaign.r Always always always include your campaign

link whenever you are tweeting about it.r Ask or retweets to help spread the word.r Tweet at people (even those you dont know)

who might have a special interest in the subjecto your campaign.

r Gain ollowers by ollowing others and activelyengaging them.

r Be careul not to tweet too much.r Make sure your teammates are also tweeting to

their ollowers about the campaign.

r Tell people about your perks be specic!

Facebook

r Use both your personal Facebook and aFacebook page or the campaign to send regularupdates on your campaign.

r Always include a link to your campaignwhenever you are writing about it on Facebook.

r Ask people or eedback and engage them withquestions.

r People are more likely to Like and Sharemedia! Show people your perks, sneak peeksinto your campaign, etc. with pictures & videos.

r Tell people about your perks be specic!


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the second hal o your campaign


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15


MAINTAIN MOMENTUM &MAKING THE FINAL PUSH

Add Perks

Add new perks throughout your campaign. 20% orepeat contributions31 are or perks that were addedater the campaign went live.

Run a reerral contest32 and give a prize/ree perk tothe Indiegogo user who reers the most amount ocontributors to your campaign.

Updates

Engage your contributors using the Update33

eature on your campaign page. Updates are postedto your campaign and sent to everyone who hascontributed to or avorited your campaign, makingthem more eective as your community grows.Make updates once or twice per week. Treat it like ablog!

Post about campaign progress (50% to goal!),new media, anything your audience might beinterested in. The middle o the campaign is wherecontributions slow down. Use updates and newperks to combat this drag.

Continue to Seek Sponsors/Partners

Its never too late to connect your campaign withlike-minded individuals and organizations who canhelp propel your campaign.

keeping momentum
http://bit.ly/AVGNFGhttp://bit.ly/RepeatFundershttp://bit.ly/RepeatFundershttp://bit.ly/RefferalContesthttp://bit.ly/UpdateFrequentlyhttp://bit.ly/AVGNFGhttp://bit.ly/UpdateFrequentlyhttp://bit.ly/RefferalContesthttp://bit.ly/RepeatFundershttp://bit.ly/RepeatFunders


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SPREADING THE WORD TIME IS RUNNING OUT!

Sense o Urgency

Once your campaign has under a week let makesure you build a sense o urgency time is runningout to contribute!

Thank Contributors

Send personal thank-you emails to your contributorsater each contribution. 62% o campaigns34 thatreach their goal have repeat unders.

Social Media

Celebrate campaign milestones on social media.

Look or other Indiegogo campaigns that might beoering social media shout outs as perks that $5or so could go a long way!

Stunt

Try a stunt in the closing days/hours o your

campaign (such as the well dance till were undeddanceathon or this campaign35).

The Who Gives a Crap36 example: I wont get o thetoilet until weve raised $50,000 and Im going tolivestream the whole thing.

spreading the word
http://bit.ly/RepeatFundershttp://bit.ly/RockOSAhttp://bit.ly/WhoGivesACraphttp://bit.ly/WhoGivesACrap%20http://bit.ly/WhoGivesACraphttp://bit.ly/RockOSAhttp://bit.ly/RepeatFunders


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ater your campaign ends


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18


SPREADING THE WORD TAKE A BOW

Transparency and Fulllment

Keep your contributors well-inormed about thestatus o their perks37 people are surprisinglypatient as long as they know that theyre going tohave to wait and know that youre making progress(even i there are unexpected delays).

Continue relationships and communication withyour contributors and ollowers through your socialmedia and website/blog.

Be ready to start implementing your budget wisely.There are a number o services online that can helpyou be more efcient as you ulll perks.

To more clearly see your commitments, you canexport a list o contributors and perks rom yourcampaign dashboard38.

Look Back and Move Forward

Take a moment to think about what went welland what could be improved you can use thisknowledge to make your next Indiegogo campaign

even more successul!

I you need to raise additional unds, considerlaunching a ollow-up campaign39 on Indiegogo.Update your old campaign with a link to your newcampaign.

spreading the word
http://bit.ly/PerkStatushttp://bit.ly/RelaunchCampaignhttp://bit.ly/MagpiesFGhttp://bit.ly/RelaunchCampaignhttp://bit.ly/PerkStatus


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SPREADING THE WORD TIME IS RUNNING OUT!

Transparency, Again

Use your Updates tab to update your ollowers onthe progress o your project and perk ulllment(or include a link to whatever website/blog youreupdating with your projects progress).

Make an announcement on your social mediaabout your campaign ending especially i youhave a product, lm, etc that youll want to have anaudience or later its a great moment to buildbuzz or your nished product.

Thank You

Reach out to your contributors and give them a bigthank you!

spreading the word
http://bit.ly/SleepyAnimals


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1. the dierence between Flexible and Fixed Funding - http://bit.ly/FixedVsFlexible

2. realistic unding goal http://bit.ly/FundingGoal3. Sound it Out http://bit.ly/SoundItOut4. Youve Been Trumped http://bit.ly/YouveBeenTrumped5. contact Indiegogos Customer Happiness Team http://bit.ly/ContactCH6. most successul http://bit.ly/CampaignLength7. date you need your unds http://bit.ly/Disbursements8. Top 12 Perks o 2012 http://bit.ly/TopPerks20129. TOS http://bit.ly/IndiegogoTOS10. Help Center http://bit.ly/IndigogoForums11. Blog http://bit.ly/IndiegogoBlog12. Popular Campaigns http://bit.ly/PopularCampaigns13. Customer Happiness Section http://bit.ly/CustomerHappiness14. Terms o Service http://bit.ly/IndiegogoTOS

15. successully unded campaigns http://bit.ly/SuccessulCampaigns16. Top 12 Pitch Videos o 2012 http://bit.ly/TopVideos201217. 1:FACE Watches http://bit.ly/1Face18. perk pricing strategy http://bit.ly/PerkPricing19. typically generate more unds http://bit.ly/CampaignTeams20. add the organization/individual http://bit.ly/AddTeamMembers21. Hoot Suite http://bit.ly/HootSuiteAcct22. join http://bit.ly/AddTeamMembers23. PayPal account is set up http://bit.ly/PayPalSetup24. 85% o campaigns http://bit.ly/Day1Contribution25. 30% o goal http://bit.ly/ThirdOGoal26. middle http://bit.ly/MiddleGame27. gogoactor http://bit.ly/gogoactor28. great way http://bit.ly/DirectEmail29. locally http://bit.ly/GrassrootsMarketing30. oine http://bit.ly/OineTraction31. 20% o repeat contributions http://bit.ly/RepeatFunders32. reerral contest http://bit.ly/ReeralContest33. Update http://bit.ly/UpdateFrequently

hyperlink reerence

HYPERLINK REFERENCE
http://bit.ly/FixedVsFlexiblehttp://bit.ly/FundingGoalhttp://bit.ly/ContactCHhttp://bit.ly/TopPerks2012http://bit.ly/CampaignTeamshttp://bit.ly/CampaignTeamshttp://bit.ly/TopPerks2012http://bit.ly/ContactCHhttp://bit.ly/FundingGoalhttp://bit.ly/FixedVsFlexible


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hyperlink reerence

HYPERLINK REFERENCE

34. 62% o campaigns http://bit.ly/RepeatFunders

35. this campaign http://bit.ly/RockOSA36. Who Gives a Crap http://bit.ly/WhoGivesACrap37. status o their perks http://bit.ly/PerkStatus38. campaign dashboard http://bit.ly/CampaignDashboard39. launching a ollow-up campaign http://bit.ly/RelaunchCampaign
http://bit.ly/PerkStatushttp://bit.ly/RelaunchCampaignhttp://bit.ly/RelaunchCampaignhttp://bit.ly/PerkStatus


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MAKE IT

HAPPEN!

Start your campaign today!

www.indiegogo.com
http://bit.ly/IGGHomehttp://bit.ly/IGGHomehttp://bit.ly/IGGHomehttp://bit.ly/IGGHomehttp://bit.ly/IGGHome

indiegogo field guide for campaigners2.original

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