When people heard that we were trying to raise $16,000 (that was our goal and we exceeded it) a lot of people legit were like – why? The minute we said we were going for such a large goal (given our lack of experience and zero following) we had their ears and the minute we were confident that we would do what we needed to get there, they leaned in. They did not want us to fail. The truth is— nobody wants you to fail. But people are selective about what they will invest in to succeed. Kickstarter gives strong incentive to create a situation where the project creator and potential supporters do everything possible to meet the goal. Why? Well, Kickstarter has an all or nothing model, which means that if you don’t meet your goal by the deadline you’ve set you lose any money you’ve raised. That being said, here are reasons why I prefer Kickstarter’s all or nothing panic-mode platform:
People act when something that matters is on the line. I cannot stress this enough. Though our campaign was like 35 days, when did people give the most? In the last freakin three days. $6K in three days. WHHYYYY?! OHHH WHYY?! People warned me – and by people I mean blogs – that if you do not offer an incentive for people to give early (a reward) then they will wait until the last minute. Well, that is exactly what happened to us. In the last few days, people were sharing our links like crazy, prior backers were doubling their pledges, and a large amount of donations came in. People were motivated by the fact that we could lose all of the money we raised.
People get motivated to act when I believe in MYSELF. When you put up a gofundme or indiegogo, you may be saying to your friends and family, “I don’t think I can do it,” “I don’t have time to do it,” or “People don’t like me enough.” Most likely, none of those are really true! When you declare to everyone that you are all in, they will see you and your work differently.
It forced me to make it happen. If we didn’t do Kickstarter I probably would have slept more, went out to friends’ parties, went to more dance classes, had less heart palpitations – and we also wouldn’t have gotten to our goal. The all or nothing model forces you to figure it out. We did everything. Messaged family and friends, tried to get media coverage, reached out to community organization’s to partner, reached out to wealthy individuals, threw a fundraising party with three days notice, called and messaged almost our entire personal networks. We were prepared to do whatever it took (c’mon – not whatever) to get to our goal. And the important thing was – people observed that.
ready to crowdfund but need to know how to be successful? get my step-by-step guide on how we raised $18K
To read my beastly step-by-step guide explaining how we crowdfunded $18K with no following or fanbase, click to view this awesomely detailed post I wrote 🙂
a little backstory
It was a chilly January 2018 day in the current dimension when 30-year-old unnecessarily educated Justina, queer artist child of black Panamanian immigrants, learned she had three months until her cushy job would let her go. Stunned that her comfortable safety net had broken, she stared at the email for 60 seconds before she resumed binge-watching Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee. Two weeks later, she had a nervous break down. BUT. Finally, she will play. She will create. And hopefully never work again. Oh, and now she has a journal. More on her/me here.
my money journal: crowdfunding edition
This, my money journal, is a reflection on my successes & failures to make money doing what I actually love. I want to share it with you cuz… I bet you’re on this journey too. In the first series of my money journal, I’m sharing my first big success as an artist. At the end of 2016, I was listening to my boyfriend’s song Black Man in America when a vision for a dance film struck me. Five Black men seated at a white table with guns. Don’t worry. It is nuanced. By January 2017, I was storyboarding. By June, my boyfriend was on board, we determined we needed $16,000 to bring it to life, and we launched our crowdfunding campaign. With no fan base and no real fundraising experience. On August 6th, we filmed. I was freaking out. I had opened a credit card just for this project, was $4,000 in debt and owed our cast and crew $7,000 more. I was all in. By August 20th, 400 backers had given a total of $18,000 for Black Man in America to come to life, exceeding our goal. In this crowdfunding series of my money journal, I’m going to share how we did it, because – imagine what you could do with $5K ,$10K, $20K to bring your visions to life. It’s our tiiiiiiiiime. (Shine bright, shine far…)
