Guide

 
The following are the fundamental components of a crowdfunding campaign. If your team is interested in launching a campaign, don’t feel overwhelmed by the list. Need be, our team will coach you through all the components to set you up for the best chances of success.

AMOUNT:
Identify the amount of money that you need to raise. Be realistic about your network and what you can accomplish - it's not a question of how much Alkhidmat can raise for you but how much you can raise on Alkhidmat.
Perception is very important. If you set your goal at PKR 1,000,000 and raise PKR 700,000, you could look like a failure even though you raised a lot of money. However, if your goal is PKR 300,000 and you raise PKR 500,000 you look like an incredible success! In both cases, you raised the same amount, but the perception is very different.

CAMPAIGN DURATION:
Campaigns around 30 days tend to perform best, but what really matters are when you start and finish your campaign. 80% of funds are received in the first and last 3 days, so you want to start and finish your campaign strategically.

1) Start
The beginning of the week is best, between Monday and Wednesday. Choose a week where you have a lot of free time and can pound the virtual pavement, sending lots of emails, posting to Facebook and Twitter, making phone calls, and sending texts.

2) Finish
Finishing on Friday tends to work best but again it depends on your schedule. If you work full-time during the week and the weekend is when you have free time, end on a Sunday night because you'll need to spend those last 2-3 days working really hard to get people to support you.

PITCH:
The pitch is critical - it's your chance to tell everyone what you're doing and why it matters. A great pitch doesn't guarantee success but without it, you're guaranteed failure.
There are 3 keys to a successful pitch:

1) Emotion
Your pitch isn't about "making sense" and being logical, it's about making an emotional connection. People give from their hearts, not their brains. Really focus on why should someone care about your campaign, and make them feel excited, intrigued, and inspired. Make it irresistible to support!

2) Legitimacy
People give money to those they trust. How do you establish legitimacy in your campaign? Be transparent! Get personal and talk about who you and your team are, include pictures, share links to social media pages - remove any doubt that you are a legitimate person, organization or business.

3) Images & Headers
People have very short attention spans, and most will just scan your pitch looking at the headers and images you use. Make sure to include a strong picture and those images should be unique and emotionally appealing (like people). Wherever you can convey thoughts in graphs and images instead of text. For headers, use catchy headers that again are unique and emotional.

4) Video
Campaigns with videos tend to raise twice as much as campaigns without videos. Research shows that the most effective videos are under 1 minute, and the first 10 seconds are the most critical - they need to reel in the viewer!
What makes for an amazing crowdfunding video pitch?

• Be Yourself

If you're a funny person, make a funny video. If you're very thoughtful, be thoughtful. Every video is as unique as a fingerprint, so don't worry about trying to copy someone else's. Leave complicated details for your pitch (for example, specific perks for each giving level) and instead focus on building that emotional connection.

• Introduction

What is the purpose of your campaign? Better yet, who are you? The introduction should be brief, but it should answer these fundamental questions. It is recommended that you or your team appear in the video itself as well. Faceless organizations and professionals are sometimes hard to relate to — or even trust. For this reason, if you really want to tell a convincing story, show them who you are.

• The Big Idea

Don’t stall getting to this point. What do you wish to achieve with your idea? Is there a problem that you’ve identified and wish to solve using this service? What is special about your campaign? There are many different ways one can take this, but regardless of the approach, be specific and to the point. Mysteriousness is a hindrance in most cases.

• Call-to-Action

If you’ve incorporated all of the other basic components, it’s time to ask something of your audience. If you have been abundantly clear and transparent up until this point, this part will come naturally. Simply, what is it you want your supporters to now to do? (hint: SUPPORT & SHARE!)

GIVING LEVELS:

Giving levels provide options for supporters to choose from when contributing to your campaign. These can also take your campaign to the next level. There is no ‘ideal’ giving level; each campaign has something different to offer its supporters. Here are some points to consider:

• Offer a Full Range

80% of supporters will give less than PKR 5,000, but more than half your money will come from big contributions. So you need a full range of small and big giving levels to get everyone involved. For example, you can have PKR 1,000, PKR 5,000, PKR 10,000, PKR 50,000, PKR 100,000, PKR 500,000, PKR 1,000,000 etc.

• Perks vs. Impact

If you're making a product, like a music album, it's easy to offer perks that are structured around that product. But what if you're part of a non-profit and Supporting an Orphan Kid? In this case, focus on the impact of the contribution. So for PKR 50,000, you don't get something, but you're helping an Orphan to have an education and become a positive Person in Society.

IDEAS:
Still, need some help coming up with ideas for Fundraising? Here are some we've seen and loved:

• • Clean Water; providing clean drinking water to communities in water-scarce areas.
  • Education; providing quality education to underprivileged children.
  • Orphan Care Program; providing love, care, family, and home to little orphans.
  • Health Services; providing healthcare to those who cannot afford it.
  • Mawakhat (Micro Finance); providing microfinance for a respectable livelihood.
  • Disaster Management; providing rescue, relief, and rehabilitation when disaster strikes.
  • Community Services; providing welfare in every facet of life.