The Potential Of Crowdfunding To Make A Positive Social Impact
Crowdfunding also called as crowd financing, equity crowd funding, crowd equity, crowdsourced fundraising, is an effort of raising funds from large number of individuals via Internet to support some cause or efforts initiated by other people or organizations. Crowd funding is an excellent way of supporting a wide variety of activities like disaster relief, support of artists by fans, political campaigns, Startup Company funding, free software development, inventions, scientific research, and civic projects and so on.
The process of crowd funding involves two parties the creators (individuals who request funds) and the donors (individuals who give money). In this whole process of crowd funding, the role of a donor is the most critical. The inputs of donors trigger and influence the crowd for the ultimate value of the offerings or outcomes of the process. Each donor acts as a catalyst in the process of crowd funding, motivating others to make offerings and promoting the projects in which they believe.
Motivation for participation of the donors comes with the feeling of being at least partly involved in the success of others’ initiatives, a desire for patronage or social participation, or to be a part of a philanthropic initiative, and a desire for investment, seeking a payoff in return for their contributions.
But the creators also play equally important role as the donors, as they are the ones who motivate donors in the first place and ignite various overwhelming emotions of the donors which ultimately drive them to give funds.
The Growing Use Of Crowdfunding For Social Causes In India
Crowdfunding platforms have been a beacon of hope for many hit by illness and hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic. 19 CLAPS +0 +0 At two months old, Teera Kamat was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy Type 1. This rare genetic disease attacks the baby’s nerves and muscles, and as it progresses, makes it extremely difficult for the child to carry out basic activities like sitting up, lifting the head, swallowing milk and even breathing. The treatment? A one-time gene replacement therapy called Zolgensma, which, in her current state, could be a potential “cure”. It is available in the USA for around $2.1 million (Rs 16 crore). Doctors said Teera would not live to be two unless she got this treatment.
In such a harrowing time, crowdfunding became a ray of hope for Teera’s parents. They shared the cause via a campaign on ImpactGuru.com, a crowdfunding platform in India, and soon donations started pouring in for her treatment. So far, the cause has raised about Rs 5.66 crore. Baby Teera Like Teera, many other needy people and causes have benefited from the money raised on crowdfunding platforms during the pandemic.
For example, crowdfunding platform GiveIndia has supported 56 lakh Indians with the Rs 220 crore contributed by individuals and organisations to its non-profit people’s collective, India COVID Response Fund (ICRF). This has been the most impactful intervention executed by the platform in its 20-year history, according to Atul Satija, Founder 2.0 and CEO of GiveIndia. On Milaap, every 20 minutes a fundraiser was set up to support COVID-19 relief activities, with the average ticket size of donations reaching as high as Rs 6,000.
The platform has so far raised over Rs 107 crore for COVID-19 causes, says Co-founder and President Anoj Viswanathan. Meanwhile, Ketto was able to raise about Rs 120 crore for many causes, according to Co-founder and CEO Varun Sheth.
Social For Action connected with these crowdfunding platforms to understand how they strategized to raise funds and help communities cope with the pandemic.
Considering the encouraging trend on crowdfunding platforms during the pandemic, more people can expect to receive aid during trying times and many others will donate for social causes.
The Types Of Social Impact Campaigns That Can Be Funded Through Crowdfunding
One brand took up the cause of our farmers, and successfully drove India’s biggest digital crowdfunding campaign to collect funds for the betterment of our farmers’ lives. Another leveraged the popularity of a Bollywood star to generate funds for the midday meals of our school children. An NGO roped in an acid attack victim for its petition campaign against the sale of acid. A tech giant demonstrated the many ways in which the innovative use of technology can improve the lives of many people.
Listed here are the most creative and innovatively executed campaigns on digital that drove change to create a meaningful impact this year:
1. Mahindra #SeedTheRise
This October, Mahindra & Mahindra initiated a massive digitally-driven crowd-funding campaign to help improve the lives of our farmers, in partnership with digital agency Flying Cursor Interactive. Named #SeedTheRise, the initiative got donations pouring in through digital amounting to INR 1 crore; this was matched by Mahindra with another INR 1 crore to add up to INR 2 crore for our farmers.
This money will be used for farmer welfare through 5 carefully selected projects in collaboration with 4 NGOs. Projects have been designed to help improve the lives of farmers and their families in varied ways such as through providing alternative forms of livelihood, educating farmers’ daughters and helping them with agricultural advancements.
A fundraising appeal film featuring actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, himself a farmer’s son formed the core of the campaign, leading to a donation website. The initiative also tied up with food bloggers and chefs across India who needed to create a dish in homage to the farmers and live-tweet their preparation. The social and digital mix also involved tie-ups with city-specific curation Twitter handles, live chats with the NGOs and more. Read all about the Mahindra #SeedTheRise campaign.
2. Nivea India ‘Mom’s Touch’
Skin care brand, Nivea India touched our hearts with its recent social initiative #MomsTouch that brought forth stories of extraordinary mothers. Nivea partnered with Aseema Charitable Trust, an organization dedicated to provide quality education to children from marginalized communities.
The social media driven campaign portrayed the story of some extraordinary mothers who want the best future for their child, despite having faced adversities all throughout their own lives. Viewers could join in the noble cause either by sharing the video on their social networks or by direct donations to the charitable trust. Each time one shared the film, Nivea contributed 100 grams of rice.
Mom’s Touch helped Nivea strike the right chord with its consumers and also provided them with an incentive for social sharing. Read all about Nivea India ‘Mom’s Touch’ campaign.
3. Make Love Not Scars ‘#EndAcidSale’
Acid attacks are a horrendous crime with lifetime consequences for the survivors. India witnesses as many as 1000 cases of acid attacks every year, acid attacks remain one of the most horrifying forms of gender based violence with almost 90% of victims being women. Yet acid is freely available at your local store, it is the cheapest way to clean toilets.
NGO ‘Make Love Not Scars’ that helps survivors, launched a petition campaign in association with Ogilvy & Mather, called #EndAcidSale. The idea was to move for a complete ban on toilet-cleaning acid and stronger implementation of Poisons Act and Poisons Rules.
The initiative chose a very powerful form of storytelling, one that demanded an immediate call-for-action against such a grave crime. It roped in acid attack victim, Reshma Bano Quereshi to convince readers to sign the petition, but did so in hard-hitting satire. A series of films have her giving beauty tips on applying eye liner, lipstick and getting rid of dark spots. Towards the end of her tips, she shares about cosmetics being available for INR 100, while acid is available at just INR 30. Read all about the Make Love Not Scars ‘#EndAcidSale’ campaign.
4. Lenovo-Yuwa #PitchToHer
Yuwa, a not for profit organization that teaches girls to play football to make their lives better, partnered with Lenovo for #PitchToHer – a social campaign that invited the brightest minds to pitch smart ideas that can impact the life of these girls through technology. The idea that convinced them won a month-long sponsored internship.
The agency behind the campaign, Experience Commerce introduced the girls to the wonders of technology – they placed their village Hutup on Wikipedia and Google Street View; they played songs, learnt to use Makey-Makey kits and created music with them; they also experimented with lighting up solar jars, GoPro cams and light painting.
The initiative received over 1340 pitches from setting up libraries and community centres to developing safety apps and building technical skills. The chosen 3 are now undergoing internship. Read all about Lenovo-Yuwa #PitchToHer digital campaign.
5. OMRON India ‘#PayWithYourVoice’
Last year OMRON India, a world leader in industrial automation had launched a beautiful CSR initiative by way of which it could build the country’s largest audio library of poems for the visually impaired. One needed to read a poem from the available database or submit one of their own, though a specially designed site that recorded it. Interestingly, the first poem was submitted by brand ambassador Farhan Akhtar.
This year, the award winning campaign roped in ecommerce major eBay India to add value to a user’s poem contribution. For every day of the campaign, the first 125 submissions would win an eBay voucher, using which they can shop on the platform. One could select from a vast collection of pre-recorded poems or choose one from their own collection and record it online at the campaign website.
The win-win CSR campaign saw poems being recorded by Dia Mirza, Juhi Chawla, Atif Aslam, Anupam Kher, Sona Mahapatra, Rahul Bose, Amrita Puri, Rohan Joshi and many more celebrities. Read all about OMRON India ‘#PayWithYourVoice’ campaign.
6. Vistara #FlyTheNewFeeling
Vistara, the joint venture airline from Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, wrote a new chapter in the history of Tata Group that has been looking to re-enter the airline business in India ever since the last six decades. But, what the newly launched airline did on its maiden flight is an even bigger win for the brand.
Vistara partnered with the Salaam Baalak trust – a non-profit and non-governmental organization that provides support to street children of Delhi and Mumbai, to fly 12 kids on its first flight ever. The kids aged between 7 and 12 years were boarded first following other passengers and their
absolute joy of flying for the first time was captured in a two-minute film titled, “When little feet found their wings with Vistara #FlyTheNewFeeling.”
The campaign managed to create a connect around the brand promise, ‘#FlyTheNewFeeling’ along with a meaningful differentiation. Read all about Vistara #FlyTheNewFeeling campaign.
7. Johnson Tiles ‘Red Ramp Project’
Bath tile maker, Johnson Tiles wanted to sensitize the Indian society towards making public places disable-friendly. Most of us able-bodied beings aren’t aware of the need for this. With over 10 million physically challenged people who can’t go to the beach, the temple or church, airports, malls, etc, there arose a need to demonstrate how the country’s public spaces needed to be made disable-friendly.
Johnson Tiles launched the ‘Red Ramp Project’ wherein a ramp was built on Kiri beach in Goa. Disabled people could now visit the beach via the tiled ramp and feel the waters lapping at their feet. A campaign video was created with three protagonists who had varying physical challenges. The film showed how this ramp helped them fulfil a long awaited dream – to visit the beach.
This is the story of Fredrika Menezes, who has cerebral palsy, is a writer, a poet, and an author by profession; Salil Chaturvedi, a paraplegic, is a writer by profession who has represented India in Wheelchair Tennis and is the only disabled person to have sailed Mumbai to Goa; Anuraag Khandelwal, who has polio, is the ECD at creative agency Soho Square, whose work has won many national and international awards. A campaign website asked people to make a petition for a disable-friendly India, while the digital film helped build awareness. Read all about the Red Ramp Project campaign.
8. Ching’s Secret ‘India ke hunger ki bajao’
There’s no denying that the right celebrity endorser can boost the media coverage of a cause-related campaign. Ranveer Singh, one of India’s current favourite actor lent his magic to a noble cause campaign by Ching’s Secret.
The premium Hakka Chinese brand walked the talk through its latest mission – ‘India Ke Hunger Ki Bajao!’ in partnership with Akshaya Patra, a not-for-profit organisation that runs the world’s largest mid-day meal programme. Ranveer, the brand ambassador spread the central message of the campaign – it takes only Rs 750 to feed a child for a whole year’.
A digital film featured the actor having a good time with school kids, while they figured out what all can be bought with Rs. 750 in these times. A campaign website served as an information and donation hub. The cause campaign helped Ching’s Secret lend an actionable voice to its tagline, ‘Hunger Ki Bajao’. Read all about Ching’s Secret ‘India ke hunger ki bajao’ campaign.
9. Paper Boat #FloatABoat
This monsoon, traditional drinks brand, Paper Boat got everyone to make paper boats and share pictures of their boat on social networks. The incentive? For every paper boat image that is shared on any social network, the brand would donate Rs. 20 towards children’s education.
For the campaign titled #FloatABoat, the brand teamed up with Parivaar Ashram, a humanitarian service organization. A microsite captured all the floating paper boats on social networks, while the brand shared adorable films on the cause and how to make a paper boat told through a school girl. #FloatABoat helped the brand strengthen its proposition of ‘Drinks & Memories’, and also bring back childhood to those from whom it had been snatched. Read all about Paper Boat #FloatABoat campaign.
10. Turtle #SaveLittleShelly
Men’s lifestyle brand, Turtle launched a cool awareness campaign around World Turtle Day that was driven by social media – #SaveLittleShelly. The idea was to raise awareness on conserving the endangered species as well as highlight the brand’s role with the environmental cause.
An animated baby turtle called Shelly was created for a four-part series on YouTube. Viewers were taken through the journey of little Shelly right from the time she hatches till she reaches out to the sea, after having braved a number of natural predators on the way. The story moved forward with user likes and shares, that also translated into donations for the cause. #SaveLittleShelly not only reinforced the brand’s association with the environmental cause, but also got its consumers to join in. Read all about Turtle #SaveLittleShelly campaign.
Translating consumers’ likes and shares with brand contribution is a great way to bank on the power of social media, but this year saw many brands get involved in the cause in deeper ways. There is a certain eagerness reflected in their cause campaigns to make it big, to make it meaningful and bring about a significant change. The use of digital and social media has been a phenomenal one, compared to earlier years, implying faith in the medium and its power to co-execute a people-driven initiative.
The Benefits Of Crowdfunding For Social Impact
1. It’s more efficient than traditional fundraising.
When you’re an early-stage company focused on building your business and attracting seed capital, you might not be able to afford all the time and attention that pursuing traditional financing demands. Compared to applying for a loan or seeking out accredited investors yourself, setting up a successful crowdfunding campaign on Fundable or another platform is far more efficient and effective in getting your message out to the right people. With the right platform, you can tell your business’s story, produce a quick video, set up some enticing rewards, and benefit from having everything in one centralized location where potential backers can find you.
2: It’s a place to build traction, social, proof, and validation.
A strong, highly visible crowdfunding campaign can provide validation and social proof that’s vital in charting your path forward. When potential customers show interest in your startup’s product or service, you’ve generated social proof—demonstrating that other people believe in what you’re doing. Once early adopters vet and buy into your idea, others are more likely to follow suit. Social proof is translated into traction—whether it’s a large number of backers, pre-orders, or media attention—that’s invaluable as you pitch to other investors.
3. It’s an opportunity for crowdsourced brainstorming to refine your idea.
Hear your would-be backers poking holes in your business plan or asking some tough questions? Take it in stride and accept it as free, crowdsourced brainstorming. The basis of a startup is finding some important, unmet need that your customers have, and deciding to be the one to do something about it. Thus, it’s important to seize any opportunity for customer feedback and consider it in planning your startup. One of the greatest things about crowdfunding is how close it gets you to your customers, giving you a chance to engage them and field questions, complaints, feedback, and ideas. You never know—your company’s next great idea could come from somebody who isn’t even on your payroll.
4. It gains you early adopters and loyal advocates.
The people that power your idea’s social proof are your early adopters and potential brand advocates. They’re the people who believe in your story, product, or service, enough to stake their money on its longevity and long-term success. These early adopters are key to the success of your crowdfunding campaign and the momentum you keep after closing, being the ones most likely to share your vision with friends and family and promote it through their social networks.
5. It doubles as marketing and media exposure.
Press coverage will create more eyes on your campaign and create lasting brand awareness for your startup. This can come in the form of a feature story on a popular news station, blog, or print publication, and is a great way to bring in backers outside of your personal network. A good feature story or Twitter mention can create a powerful snowball effect, putting you in touch with major investors you might not have otherwise reached. Whether they read about your new product on a popular blog or hear about your innovative campaign from a friend, a successful crowdfund is a great way to capture new investor interest.
Crowdsourcing has grown into an excellent way for entrepreneurs and early-stage companies to validate their business, find capital and early adopters, and get the exposure they need to grow. To recap, some of the most powerful ways a crowdfunding campaign can help build more startup momentum than other financing methods are:
- It’s more efficient than traditional fundraising.
- It generates traction, social proof, and validation.
- It’s an opportunity for crowdsourced brainstorming to refine your idea.
- It gains you early adopters and loyal advocates.
- It doubles as marketing and media exposure.
The Considerations For Launching A Crowdfunding Campaign For Social Impact
Much of your crowdfunding campaign’s success will be determined by your marketing efforts. But there are other important elements you also need to plan, including your campaign’s timeline and the logistics of fulfilling backer rewards—not to mention making the transition to a sustainable long-term business after your campaign is done.
1. Setting timelines
Shorter campaigns set a tone of confidence. They should be long enough that you have time to build interest and reach your biggest potential audience, but not so long that they become background noise. Seeing that a campaign has just a few days remaining creates a sense of urgency for potential contributors, motivating them to act now, rather than later.
2. Choosing perk levels
Choosing and pricing your reward tiers are important strategic steps in the crowdfunding process. Offer a range of rewards that entice users to back your project or product. If buying the product itself is the core perk, include a few lower-priced options for people who just want to support you, and scale up to some exclusive high-end perks for backers with lots of money to spend. Here are some of the more common crowdfunding tiers:
3. Acknowledgments
Public acknowledgment of backer support is a good entry-level perk. For a donation as small as $5, Dominion City, a Canadian brewery that funded its bottle shop through Kickstarter, published the names of all its backers in a full-page ad taken out in a local magazine.
4. Branded swag. Backers often like the thrill of being an early adopter.
Offer perks that help them show their pride in participating, such as branded stickers, T-shirts, or bags. These lower-priced perks are especially good reward options if your product cost is high.
5. Product pre-orders
One of the most popular perks is early or discounted access to a product. This is the best way to validate demand. If most of your marketing materials are focused on the benefits of the product, you may see higher conversions on perks that act as pre-sales.
6. Creative collaborations
These perks offer backers a role in your project or business. For example, if you’re creating a comic book, you might offer to draw a backer into one of the panels or base a character on them in exchange for a specific level of financial backing.
7. Unique or exclusive experiences
Backers can be interested in perks that offer exclusive access to your brand, such as a one-on-one consultation or an invitation to an exclusive event. These experiences will cut into your working hours, so use them as higher-end rewards.
Price your perks in a way that’s sustainable for your business. If you’re offering a discounted price on your product in return for backing, make sure you understand the full cost of delivering that reward to a buyer, including shipping. If you’re offering one-on-one time, you need to limit the quantity of that reward so it doesn’t disrupt your day-to-day operations.
Examples Of Successful Crowdfunding Campaigns For Social Impact In India
In India, crowdfunding is increasing. Many people have come to know about the process of crowdfunding and they pick up this option when they need money.
In the past years, crowdfunding was not that popular. But now many people know about these options. So, you can see the success stories in India
Now there are so many crowdfunding websites in India where you can raise funds for your project. And day by day crowdfunding is becoming more known to people.
And technology and the internet are making it easy for people to choose crowdfunding options online. So, the Future of crowdfunding in India really seems bright.
Crowdfunding is legal in India. And here I’m sharing some incredible successful crowdfunding stories in India.
From there, a new digital platform for “Social for Action” crowdfunding has been launched to bring together NGOs and donors. So far funds have been allotted to these organizations – Maher (Pune), Mata Adishakti Social Foundation (Dhule), Eklavya Child Education and Health Trust (Ratnagiri Kudal Project), Bharat Jodo Yuva Akademi (Nanded), Prarthana Foundation (Solapur), and Yashodhan Trust (Satara) under the “Social for Action” campaign.
1. Yashodhan Trust
The information was published in the Samajbhan Sadar about the NGO ‘Yashodhan Trust’ working for orphans, the homeless, and the mentally challenged at Wai on Satara Road. The “Social for Action” campaign called for financial support for the annual cost of treatment of psychiatric health check-ups, medicines and for the construction of a new ashram building. Donors responded spontaneously to this call. At present 60 mental patients are staying in the ashram and construction of the new ashram building has also been completed.
2. Prarthna Foundation
Anantamma Krishnayan and Prasad Mohite, are a young couple running a project to bring poor, low-income, destitute, homeless, and unfortunate children into the mainstream of society through the ‘Prarthana Foundation’ at Morvanchi in Solapur District. Under the ‘School for the Disadvantaged – One Step Towards Progress’ project, financial assistance was sought through the ‘Social for Action’ campaign for the construction of a residential project ‘Prarthana Balgram’ for 300 homeless and destitute children and the elderly on the streets. Donors responded spontaneously to this call. The construction of the ‘Prarthana Balgram’ project building is currently in its final stages through the “Social for Action” campaign and is nearing completion.
3. Eklavya Child Education Health Trust
Considering the scope of problems of financially backward, destitute, and out-of-school children and understanding their need for help the organization wanted to set up separate hostels for boys and girls at Sindhudurg. Financial assistance was sought through the “Social for Action” campaign for the construction of the hostel building and other physical facilities for the ‘Eklavya Balshikshan Arogya Nyas’ organization. Donors responded spontaneously to this call. The work of the hostel of Eklavya Child Education and Health Trust has been completed through the “Social for Action” campaign and many donors. The entire dormitory building is a multi-purpose hall. The dormitory building has rooms for boys and girls dormitories, classrooms, library, kitchen, besides basic amenities like bore well for water and cement tank, toilet, etc.
4. Mark Dharmai Raised 8 Lakh rupees for his Coaching
Mark Dharmai is an international para-badminton player. He is holding a world ranking. But he is a son of a fisherman and was not having money to get coaching in badminton.
His dream was to win gold for India. And he created a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for his coaching.
Then he raised around 8 lakh rupees to fund his coaching fee and travel expenses by crowdfunding. He got popularity for his campaign and got different opportunities to earn money also. So, crowdfunding really worked well for him.
5. Aditya Iyer Raised Funds from Crowdfunding to Publish his Book
Aditya Iyer is a famous author and published his book named “The Great Indian Obsession: The Untold Story of India’s Engineers”. And he was not having that many resources to write and publish the book.
He decided to choose the crowdfunding option. And he raised $14,000 through crowdfunding and published his book.
This is how Aditya Iyer funded his book with the help of a crowdfunding website Kickstarter.
6. Harsha Kikkeri and Shwetha raised funds for their company HoloSuit by crowdfunding
HoloSuit is a tech company. Initially, it needed funds to experiment and launch new things. And the founders raised funds through crowdfunding.
They have chosen Catapooolt online platform for crowdfunding. This online website is for entrepreneurs who want to do innovative things and want financial help.
So, Harsha Kikkeri and Shwetha raised funds for their project. And this is a great success story when it comes to crowdfunding in India.
7. Kenny Basumatary financed his film by crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is helpful for artists who want to take action on their ideas. Kenny Basumatary needed funds to release the film that he created with a budget of 90,000 rupees.
He decided to choose to crowdfund to release the comedy film Local Kung Fu-2. And he did it and also the film won the hearts of the Assam people.
He also directed many different films and many of his films are crowdfunded. He had chosen the ‘Wishberry’ platform which is India’s crowdfunding site for artists.
8. Jasper Paul raised more than 2 crore rupees for his project
Jasper Paul was only 25 years young man who decided to create a project that will help people. He is the funder of The Second Chance. He launched this project to help poor people.
He initially raised 2 crore rupees for this project. He raised these funds on the crowdfunding platform Ketto.
After this, he planned to run more campaigns to get more funds. So, when you have a good reason to raise funds then surely many people will join you and help you in crowdfunding
FAQs
Q1. What types of social impact campaigns can be funded through crowdfunding?
Crowdfunding is one of the most efficient ways to raise funds. The world is getting very fond of crowdfunding social causes. Thanks to Indian crowdfunding platforms like Milaap, crowdfunding social causes as well as certain personal causes has become much easier. The site consists of campaigns divided into various categories, which include causes like helping someone to make their medical treatment and much more.
For a non-profit looking for a way to spread awareness about your cause as well as raise funds for it, crowdfunding can help accomplish both goals with minimal effort. With the power of Internet, extremely tech-savvy audience and social media boost campaigns from various crowdfunding platforms urging donors to who find powerful causes to visit the platforms and make their contributions.
Q2. How can I identify a compelling and clear social cause for my crowdfunding campaign?
Fundraising is critical for the non-profits as there are no revenue generations, they only depend on their donors for financial help. There is a balance created between the donors and grantors and the non-profit organizations, the donors believe in their work and help them financially.
Here are a few reasons why fundraising is important to your nonprofit:
Fundraising raises awareness and gives legitimacy to your organization.
Fundraising is a good way to get a 33% donor base from the general public allowing you to be considered to be a public charity.
Fundraising can make you attractive to foundations and other institutions that award grants because they’ll know that you have other sources besides their money.
Fundraising is an opportunity to move donors up the gift range chart. A donor can initially give 500/-, then 50,000/-, then start to volunteer, then eventually become a board member.
Fundraising is an way to build your donor list and have a database with ways to contact your donors for future events and to disseminate more information.
Fundraising is an opportunity for a nonprofit to refine their message and see what resonates and what doesn’t. It’s a great way to make crafting your mission statement an iterative process. Mission statements help with fundraising and fundraising helps with mission statements.
Fundraising Raises Awareness. Fundraising forces you to get creative and move outside your comfort zone. In order to be eligible for grants, sponsorships, and other free money, you need to prove that you’re reaching as many people, in as many parts of the world, as possible. This means delving into social media, revamping your website to utilize the latest SEO and marketing tactics, and taking a new approach to outreach and retention.
Fundraising Requires You to Plan and Prioritize. Fundraising is no easy feat. It takes a lot of time, energy, and thought to come up with a solid fundraising strategy that often requires taking a step back to assess your organization as a whole. This can force you to really evaluate your operation – your allotment of resources, your staff, and the projects you devote your time to – so you can optimize your efforts and maximize the funds you’re able to get for them.
Fundraising Requires Finding New Donors and Retention. Running a fundraising campaign and finding the new donors is not enough. Finding new donors for fundraising is one thing but the retention of donors is equally important. Organizations should run a set of paid campaigns and storytelling events to keep their donors engaged with the charity. Nonprofits require funds to run the engagement campaigns for donor retention.
Fundraising Keeps You Constantly Pushing Forward. Meeting one fundraising goal doesn’t mean you’re done and can sit back and relax. There are always more people to help and more you can do to support your cause, which means a constant stream of funding is always going to be needed. This constant need to do more, support more, and achieve more can help motivate and drive your team, keeping them excited and passionate to make a difference.
Q3. How do I develop a strong and compelling narrative for my crowdfunding campaign?
The speed of your fundraising depends on how widely it has been shared. If you are running out of time or are in an emergency, tell your network on social media as well as your colleagues, schoolmates, friends to help you by sharing your fundraiser far and wide, and share it multiple times.
You could also approach a celebrity on social media or a media house to help publicize your cause. Also, consider posting it on Facebook groups, whatsapp groups etc.
Q4. How do I identify and target the right audience for my crowdfunding campaign?
People under 25 have much less disposable income than those above it, so it’s not hard to see why it isn’t beneficial to target them.
More crucially, why isn’t it better to target the age range with the most disposable income out of any other: 45 and up? The most general answer is that crowdfunding as a concept is harder for older audiences to grasp.
Not only are backers giving money for a product that might not even exist yet, product fulfillment often takes six months to a year. So, if you’re coming to crowdfunding with a product specifically made for an older audience, it might be worth reconsidering.
Why gender matters
Data suggests that men are more likely to back crowdfunding campaigns, but the reasons for that are still no more than theories.
The main theory is that women need more convincing than men to feel that a product is legitimate. In crowdfunding, there’s a much bigger assumption that a product won’t live up to its promise. When marketing a product specifically towards women, you’re more likely to be fighting an uphill battle.
Things to remember
Again, I need to emphasize that you shouldn’t start excluding women from the start. This is part of testing to learn. When you notice that your reservation rate is low, you can try pivoting to a more male focus.
When you do this, you can also adjust your creative to be more image-centric. Men, generally speaking, don’t need as much extra copywriting besides some well-written headlines. You can really lean into making your product look awesome and visually appealing.
You will need to be careful, though, if you’re going to be using hand models in your photos. Opt to use male hands, because product photos featuring mostly female hands tend to alienate men and can negatively impact conversion rates.
In the end, the data will point you in the direction of your product’s key demographic. The worst thing you can do is argue against the numbers. No matter what you may have thought was best in the beginning things might change after weeks of live testing. Just be ready to adapt!
Q5. How do I ensure transparency and accountability in the use of funds raised through my crowdfunding campaign?
Online crowdfunding platforms have become a powerful tool for helping those in need by raising support in times of crisis. However, many still retain their skepticism about the effectiveness and transparency of campaigns which deters them from donating. It is essential to understand that successful campaigns with thousands of supporters are built on transparency and trust. The crowdfunding platforms ensure that the causes they support are legitimate and show credible proof to the donors. Here is how they ensure transparency:
Verifying NGOs/beneficiaries through paperwork
Specific causes that NGOs are trying to raise support for will need to go through an extensive selection process before being listed on the crowdfunding platforms. The selection process happens based on objective criteria such that no one can influence the selection. A range of things such as all the paperwork, the legal status of the NGO, applicable rules and laws, beneficiary profiles, and more are verified before selection.
Customer support teams who are constantly available for queries
While the campaign page may have all the information needed, donors would still have specific queries. Customer support teams are available to resolve all their queries throughout the duration of the campaign. Customer support teams are also an added line of confidence for donors beyond the verification and certification.
Campaign managers who are in constant touch with NGOs/beneficiaries
Managers in charge of the campaigns are in constant touch with the beneficiaries. They offer support during glitches and delays and ensure a regular update from their end regarding details such as the number of people benefited and quotas fulfilled.
Written content and videos
There can be no campaign without the associated pictures, video, or other content related to it. The crowdfunding sites create compelling content behind the campaign that gives donors all the information they need to make up their minds. The video and pictures are almost always sent by the beneficiary and are authenticated by the crowdfunding platform during the verification stage.
Regular updates for the campaigns you have donated to
Like everybody else who has donated to the cause, you would want to know if your donations made it to the beneficiary. Campaign managers receive regular updates on the status of the operation on the ground. This information is relayed to donors like you through email or Social media updates. Alternatively, the website also posts regular updates on the progress.
At Social For Action, we’re constantly striving to curate the most relevant and engaging content just for you. If you loved reading this, then “don’t have to be a millionaire to give” will grab your attention too.
Q6. Can crowdfunding be a viable source of funding for large-scale social impact projects?
Yes. In addition to its large-scale social dimension, crowdfunding participates in supporting business and promoting entrepreneurship. It is a market for existing businesses looking to expand or those in the process of being created. It participates in developing an alternative economy by proposing to promote projects with high potential. It intervenes upstream of, or as an alternative to, traditional funding, which is still unwilling to support entrepreneurship without upfront guarantees on project viability.
For companies in the creation phase, crowdfunding acts a confidence lever. Faced with the popularity of a project, validated by individual contributors, banks are more included to agree to a loan. This also means that companies do not need to rely on a single source of funding and can diversify their investors.
As for existing companies in the development phase, it is a way for them to raise funds, raise public awareness and promote their project. The communication phase on a funding platform should to be handled carefully since the whole campaign will rest on the company’s ability to propel their project to this enlarged community. The quality of a crowdfunding campaign depends on the viability of the project and its future notoriety.
Q7. How do I measure the impact of my crowdfunding campaign for social impact?
Crowdfunding sites offer you a place to host your campaign, usually in exchange for a percentage of the money raised. Backers are given various “rewards” based on the level of funding they provide. These rewards can include an exclusive promotional item, advance access to the product being supported, or some form of public recognition—the more funding offered, the better the reward. (Some campaigns offer equity in place of rewards, but in this guide, we’ll focus on the latter model.)
Most crowdfunding websites require you to set a financial goal for your campaign, as well as a timeframe in which to reach that goal, usually between 30 and 90 days. Some platforms let you keep all of the money raised during a campaign, whether you meet your goal or not. Others, like Kickstarter, use an all-or-nothing model that returns funds to backers if your campaign falls short.
If your campaign is successful, you’ll be in an excellent position to transition into a sustainable business by leveraging the audience built through your efforts crowdfunding.
Other types of crowdfunding
Projects that rely on crowdfunding or online fundraising generally fall into one of three main buckets:
Equity: Equity crowdfunding gives contributors partial ownership of a business in exchange for the capital they provide.
Donation: Donation-based crowdfunding provides no financial rewards or incentives for backers, so it’s most often used for charitable purposes.
Rewards: As covered above, any type of crowdfunding campaign that incentivizes contributors with rewards (but not a stake in the resulting business) upon completion can be considered rewards-based. We’ll mostly focus on this approach throughout the rest of our guide.
Q8. Are there any legal or regulatory considerations for crowdfunding campaigns for social impact in India?
People Frequently enquire whether Crowdfunding is Safe & Legal In India? The answer is, “Yes!”, Online Crowdfunding and Online Fundraising is legal in India. Social For Action provides a Safe, Reliable & Simplified method of Raising Funds Online through its Online Crowdfunding Platform. On Ketto individuals can raise funds for the following:
- Raise funds for medical emergencies
- You can start a online crowdfunding campaign to pay for expensive hospitalisation bills.
- You can raise funds in memory of a loved one.
- On Social For Action you can raise funds to pay for chemothreaphy & expensive cancer medications.
- Social For Action provides online fundraising and online crowdfunding options for many other needs.
Visit Social For Action to know more.
Social For Action was founded in 2020 and has assisted numerous individuals to pay their medical bills through crowdfunding. Crowdfunding is still in its early stages in India, the future of online fundraising looks promising. SEBI and RBI are working together to develop a regulatory framework to control the impact of crowdfunding and state its legal implications. With proper regulations and policies in place, we can even expect changes in the current status of crowdfunding.
Conclusion
Social proof – The phenomenon where people follow the examples of others in an attempt to reflect the best course of action in a situation. In a crowdfunding campaign, your early backers generate your social proof—once early adopters vet and buy into your idea, others are more likely to follow suit.
Social For Action is a platform that pertains to crowdfunding. This simply means to raise money from certain individuals for the purpose of financing projects. With Social For Action, you can raise funds for disaster relief, flood relief, child education, medical care, or any other noble cause. We at Social For Action feel joyous in welcoming anyone who wishes to make a financial contribution towards a noble cause.
Start Your Campaign Now
Wish to start a fundraiser at Social For Action? Well, it is a hassle-free and straightforward procedure. Most importantly, with Social For Action, withdrawing of funds takes place smoothly whenever you desire. If you are wondering what’s going on with your money, don’t worry. Our team of experts can explain the entire procedure of fundraising in a simplified manner. Join us today to become a part of our strong team of millions of supporters. Bring a change to the world by becoming a part of Social For Action.
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