After kick-starting a crowdfunding campaign, most fundraising pages gain immediate attention. In fact, the most (and often biggest) contributions are made early after a campaign’s creation.
However, sometimes crowdfunding campaign’s face a fundraising lull after the initial interest dies down.
While the influx of attention and donations at the beginning can raise a lot of funds, it’s not always enough to reach your goal.
What can you do after the initial interest dies down? Or, better yet, how can you keep the moment going so your campaign never stalls?
We’ve got 5 strategies to keep your crowdfunding campaign running smoothly:
- Post updates throughout your campaign
- Promote your campaign offline
- Ask for feedback
- Research other campaigns
- Organize a giving day
What are you waiting for? Let’s get started!
1. Post updates throughout your campaign
Posting an update isn’t just a way to cultivate relationships with existing donors; it’s also a tried-and-true way to avoid lulls in your fundraising campaign.
When you share your campaign’s progress, you can stay relevant, catch the attention of newcomers, connect more people to your cause, and remind potential donors about your campaign’s deadline.
Donors are also more likely to give when they see that you’re close to reaching your goal. Plus, letting donors know about your campaign’s deadline creates a sense of urgency that can be a strong motivator.
If you’re not sure what to post, here are a few suggestions:
- Share your campaign’s milestones. Let your donors know when you’ve reached significant turning points (like reaching half of your goal!).
- Let people know when you receive a large donation. After receiving a large gift, you should highlight and thank supporter publicly (in addition to your acknowledgement letter). Other people will be curious to learn more about your cause after learning that someone made a major contribution.
- Send reminders to donate. You can send donors a short reminder mentioning how many days are left in your campaign and how to contribute.
Make use of your crowdfunding platform to post updates right on your fundraising page as well as on social media and via email.
With so many ways to update donors, there’s no shortage of opportunities to keep your campaign in your donor’s minds. Plus, the consistent updates may encourage donors to contribute more than once, if you’re close to reaching your goal.
➡ Main takeaway: Don’t let people forget about your campaign. Instead, share your progress on different platforms to stay in your donors’ minds.
2. Promote your campaign offline
While posting updates online is essential if you want to reach more donors, you should raise awareness offline as well. Many campaign creators neglect to focus on traditional promotion methods, but they can be just as effective at reaching potential donors and encouraging them to contribute.
With that said, you should take advantage of your existing relationships with family members, friends, and coworkers to encourage them to contribute to your campaign.
Connecting with these donors in-person allows you to convey your passion to the cause and encourage them to make a gift. Plus, reaching out to your personal connections first will help you practice soliciting gifts so that your better prepared when you have to ask people that aren’t as familiar with you or your cause.
You can also promote your campaign by:
- Making phone calls to community leaders.
- Sending letters to local businesses.
- Creating posters and flyers to post around your neighborhood.
- Reaching out to local media outlets to see if they’d be willing to cover your cause.
Additionally, hosting offline fundraising events can help raise awareness and more donations for your online campaign.
However you decide to promote your campaign, just make sure that you provide information on how donors can give. You should always link to your fundraising page and remind donors that sharing your page with their networks is another way to contribute to your cause.
➡ Main takeaway: Take your promotion offline and focus on reaching people close to you as well as significant people in your community, such as leaders and businesses owners.
3. Ask for feedback
One way to build momentum is by asking your donors for feedback. Ask your donors to tell you what you’re doing wrong or what key factors persuaded them to give.
The information you gain from supporters will help you understand how you can improve your crowdfunding page and online fundraising strategies.
For instance, you might find out that your crowdfunding description was the reason why many supporters donated. You can use your description in your solicitations and on social media posts as a way to persuade even more people to contribute.
Additionally, asking for advice rather than donations shows your supporters that you care about the cause enough to seek out their opinion.
Plus, when donors offer their advice, their part in your campaign will become much bigger. Supporters will get more invested in your campaign’s success if they have the opportunity to play an active role in its improvement.
If you want to ask your donors for feedback, you can:
- Make a poll on social media.
- Reach out to supporters individually.
- Ask donors to complete a survey after they contribute.
Feel free to use a combination of these ways to encourage your donors to participate. You’ll be surprised what great advice you can receive from your donors!
➡ Main takeaway: Asking for advice is a simple gesture that shows donors you truly care about their opinions and the outcome of the campaign. Engaging your donors is key to getting them to support your campaign.
4. Research other campaigns
Sometimes you’ll run out of ways to promote your campaign, and that’s okay! You can always gain inspiration and motivation by researching other campaigns.
Look for similar campaign examples and see what strategies they used during their campaign’s slump. Compare these examples with your own campaign to see where you can make improvements.
As you make your comparisons, focus on the following 3 elements:
- Crowdfunding updates – How many updates did they post? What type of content did they share?
- Fundraising page – Do the other campaigns have descriptions, images, or videos?
- Social sharing – How often did the other campaigns post on social media? What kind content did they share? What time and days did they post?
If you spot anything different with the other crowdfunding campaigns, see how you can implement those features into your own campaign.
By researching other online fundraisers, you may learn strategies you can use to keep your campaign’s momentum going. Just make sure the changes you make will work well for your cause.
➡ Main takeaway: Don’t be afraid to look at other campaigns to see what techniques they used. You may find a strategy you never knew about!
5. Organize a giving day
If your campaign has lost its momentum, you can pick up the pace by hosting a giving day. You’re probably familiar with #GivingTuesday, a national day of charitable giving started by 92nd Street Y in New York.
The point of an online giving day is to raise as much money as possible within a 24-hour period.
Since there is a limited time to make a donation, interested supporters are motivated by a sense of urgency to contribute and share your campaign with their peers before the day ends.
To keep your campaign from reaching a stall, you can be proactive and schedule a giving day when you suspect that the campaign’s momentum will slow down.
Additionally, you can create an incentive by partnering with a local business that’s willing to match the gifts made on your giving day. Knowing that their donation will go twice as far will encourage even more people to participate in your giving day.
Promoting your giving day in advance is crucial if you want to be successful. Share the details of your online event with supporters:
- Through emails
- Over social media
- Via text message
- On your crowdfunding page
Make sure to link to your fundraising page so donors know where to contribute.
➡ Main takeaway: Giving days are simple online fundraisers that can boost your campaign’s momentum. Just make sure to promote your day well in advance so supporters know about your event.
A large part of crowdfunding success relies on maintaining your campaign’s momentum. The key is to stay active and implement unique, fresh ways to engage supporters.
Essentially, it all boils down to persistence and continuing to ask for contributions. Keep reaching out to potential donors, and you’ll reach your goal in no time!
If you’re interested in more crowdfunding best practices, check out these helpful resources:
- Campaigns That Met or Exceeded Their Goals. Need more ideas to help get your campaign out of its fundraising slump? Check out these 10 campaigns for more inspiration!
- Crowdfunding Tips. From fundraising descriptions to asking for donations, this guide has plenty of tips to help you increase your campaign’s chances of success!
- GoFundMe Alternatives. Part of running a successful online fundraiser is picking a platform that has all the features you need. Before you launch your campaign, use this list of GoFundMe alternatives to find a crowdfunding website that’s suited for your cause.
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