There have been many well recognised, successful crowdfunding campaigns in the last several years, but most will fall short of their goal.  At times failure is simply due to the fact the project does not have merit, but remember when addressing the crowd passion and the ability to connect with your virtual investor is very important.

Below are some of the biggest reasons a campaign fails:

• Your product or project is already being pursued by someone else.
  • Maybe the field is already crowded with many participants. Competition without a compelling justification with a competitive advantage is a tough sell. More than a few investors will compare your campaign to others if they exist.
  • A highly differentiated product that provides high value to your target market will generate much greater interest from funders.

• Delivering an inconclusive message.
  • Everyone wants to save the world, but having a clear, concise message will take you much further than .
  • Unclear goals and a lack of concrete objectives are a death knell. What can funders expect from your project? Are those expectations realistic?
  • A lack of emotion associated with your project. People want to be sold! It is true. Lack of emotional connection or a passionate drive is not very compelling. Share your excitement. Don’t just assume it.

• A poor operating structure will be reflected in poor execution.
  • You need to have your core team in place and ready to go.
  • Most projects succeed based on a group of dedicated individuals who are on the same page.
  • Solid skill sets and committed horsepower have got to be there. Build a plan and use it to guide your path.
  • Agility and the ability to adapt is important too, but investors want to know you are already looking further down the road.

• Be realistic about your funding needs.
  • One of the biggest reason any business fails is due to under-capitalisation.
  • Achieving your requested funding goal and then discovering you underestimated the funding amount required will create a set back which may be insurmountable.

• Engage everyone.
  • This is not the field of dreams. If you build it they won’t necessarily come.
  • Posting your project on Jumpstarter Crowdfunding platform is just one step of many. You have to push your project aggressively.
  • Leverage friends, family and affiliations. Offerings can and have gone viral, but your offering needs to be seen by the eyes of influencers. Find them. Engage them.
  • It is best to have the foundation built prior to launching your Jumpstarter Crowdfunding project.
  • Keep lines of communication to your supporters open. Listen to feedback. We all know the saying about opinions, but when the message starts to resonate you may need to step back and adjust.

 

Have the below things in place before launching your campaign and you’ll be in good shape:

• 30% of funding goal is guaranteed by friends, family and anyone else you can line up to make a financial contribution to your campaign on the day it launches. If you can raise 30% in the first couple of days of your campaign, you significantly increase your chances of reaching your goal.

• Build an email list; compile emails of all team members. The more emails you have the better. Services like Mailchimp allow you to send out emails and drive traffic to your campaign page when it launches and as you hit weekly milestones. As a rule of thumb you should have one email per $1 funding goal.

• Build a crowd on Social Media that is large enough so you can tap into not only for financial support but also to share your campaign with their followers. Twitter is the most active social network in the crowdfunding sphere. Depending on your funding goal and how many followers you currently have, this process can take several months. Tools like Crowd Builder make it easy to identify and connect with supporters and build a targeted audience. Use Social Media Gauge to see how much money you can expect to raise from your current social media following.

• Write a Press Release and get Press Release distribution and high impact media lists. To make your campaign look attractive to journalists, do not send your press release or contact individuals before you have reached the 30% funding milestone. Journalists don’t just write about campaigns so they become successful, they write about successful campaigns in the making. Click here for a free guide on how to write the perfect crowdfunding press release.