Non-profits should try crowdfunding!
This is the headline message from NESTA’s latest report on Crowdfunding.
Whether you are trying to raise funds for a pub, playground, bakery or front-line service, trying a community investment strategy could be a key part of your fundraising campaign. Whether it’s matchfunding, crowdfunding or community shares.
Three key messages for deploying a successful community investment scheme:
- Building and nurturing relationships with a network of contacts really matters.
- Social media, PR and marketing skills are essential
- It can be a quick approach to fundraising,but plenty of planning and momentum are key.
Why do It? It’s a great way to:-
- market test a new idea
- promote new brand via social media
- Generate a customer base
- Generate investment
How to attract the audience?
- Have a skilled team with a blend of social media, marketing and PR skills.
- Create a network map where everyone compiles their network of contacts – possible backers – friends, local people, businesses, high network individuals, social networks, partners.
- Introduce different triggers to spark the engagement of different types of audiences.
- Explain the with or without message – the world will change without this.
- Tell your story and create a 2 min video or strong image with people at the heart of it.
- Also have some front-running funders to launch campaign, to show it has impetus.
How to build relationships?
- Implement one and two-way communication tools to drive engagement and relationships with your backers for example voting platform, community discussion forum, e-newsletters, Q&A area.
- Say thank you and provide recognition and rewards publicly and personally.
- Involve and keep sharing your progress with your backers both pre and post campaign.
- Create a database of contacts – categorise by interest and track your interaction with them – understand if they are investors, volunteers, beneficiaries, or referrers to your project.
Why not give it a try?
At our Company CIC, we help clients to implement communication and contact management solutions to manage fundraising activities.
We implement Salesforce CRM and a range of integrated communication tools to help our clients segment and manage contacts and develop relationships with donors or investors pre-and-post fundraising campaigns.
our Company is an approved provider for Big Potential and Power to Change which are funding pots you could explore for your social investment scheme and to fund our support.
