Crowdfunding Checklist
How to Plan Your Campaign

The secret to a successful campaign is all in the planning and preparation. It’s not the most exciting part of running a campaign, but time invested in detailed planning will make a world of difference to the outcome.

What do you want to do and why?

Firstly, think about what you want to do and understand why you want to do it. Do you want to raise money to fund a new business or a new product? Are you needing funds to develop a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)? Do you want to shift old stock to fund new products? Are you looking for new customers? Are you wanting to test out a new product or service just to see what people think? Or are you simply wanting to raise awareness about your business? Everyone has different reasons why they want to crowdfund. Think carefully about why you are doing it and don’t be overly influenced by the opinions of and reasons why other people are doing it. You are on your own journey and the reasons to raise money must meet your unique needs.

Do you have enough time to crowdfund?

It’s easy to be seduced by the thought of “free” money from crowdfunding. But it takes a lot of time and hard work to run a successful campaign – at least a day a week for about a month beforehand and at least a couple of hours every day during your campaign, plus following up with customers after! The whole process can take a minimum of three months from start to finish and it will always take up more time than you initially think. Do you have time to do this alongside running your business or your other work, studies, social life and family commitments? If not, what can you drop or delegate for a wee while to give yourself time and space to focus on your campaign?

Do you need help from others?

It’s rare for one person to have all the skills they need to do everything that’s involved in a campaign, from storytelling and writing content, to digital skills, financial skills, social media, photography, video and so on. You may be the type of person that is keen to learn new skills as you develop your campaign, which is terrific if you have the time. But you may need help from others. Think about what you are good at, what you are maybe not so good at, and see where you can get advice and practical support. Perhaps you can barter with a fellow entrepreneur – you do something for them and they do something for you at no cost? Or you can get great support quickly and at good prices from freelancers on sites such as People Per Hour and Fiverr.

What marketing assets do you need to create?

You will need to have a range of marketing assets for your campaign. This includes items such as a company name (you don’t always need a company set up at the start) brand name and identity, logo, website, social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok), photography, video and infographics. Have a look through what you already have and if it needs refreshed or updated.

If you don’t have any assets yet, think about what is right for your business and what you really need to get started. If you are a very visual company, perhaps you need to focus on Instagram and great pictures. If you are offering professional services, perhaps LinkedIn is better for you. Again, start early in preparing these assets as it always takes longer than you think! And don’t spend a lot of money trying to look ultra-professional at this stage (unless looking super-slick is integral to your business identity). Trust, authenticity and passion are what matter most right now – a 2–3-minute video done on your phone that lets your passion and story shine through will be very engaging.

How will you receive money from the campaign?

You will need to have a way of receiving the money you raise from a campaign. If you haven’t got a company bank account set up yet, now is the time to think about it. Or maybe you need a PayPal account? Start getting these set up. It’s always wise to keep the money you raise for your business separate from your personal money.

Is your business idea protected?

When you put information on any crowdfunding platform it is publicly available for anyone to see, so make sure you have taken appropriate steps to protect all your Intellectual Property (IP) before launching. You can find out more about Intellectual Property for small businesses here. 

There are lots of different types of IP, including registrable IP rights (patent, trademark, design), unregistrable IP rights (copyright, database, UK unregistered trademarks, UK design rights and community (EU) design rights) and intellectual assets (known as soft IP, including know-how, software code, brand names, artistic works and many more!).

You can get general advice about protecting your IP here. The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) also runs very helpful information events and you can find some of the recordings here.

Who will support you?

The secret to a successful campaign is in the name – it’s all about the crowd! Very early on you need to draw up a list of people that you know that might support you – both with money and/or spreading your message. These can be friends and family (most early support comes from your closest personal contacts), as well as businesspeople you know – or would like to know! Think about contacting local businesses, bloggers, influencers, celebrities and journalists too – they can all help and some of them can be super-influential in spreading your message. Do your research and create a database (in a spreadsheet) of their names, emails, phone numbers and social media information. This takes time to do but is crucial to your campaign – whatever you do please don’t leave it to the last minute!

You need to contact these people and warm them up early, letting them know you are going to be crowdfunding soon and would really appreciate their support. It takes courage to ask people for help – especially people you don’t know – but be bold and brave. What is the worst that can happen – they don’t reply or say no? Move on to other people – you will be amazed at the number of people who are willing to help you start and grow your own business!

Different approaches will work for different people – you can call, email or use social media. Start now drafting clear and simple messages that you can send to people. Do your best to make everything as personalised as possible as this gives the best results, but you can also use tools like Mailchimp for mass email campaigns.

How much money do you need to raise?

One of the most creative parts of planning your campaign is working out how much money you need to raise and what rewards you will offer your backers. But whilst this part is exciting, you are in unknown territory, and it can be a bit challenging to work it all out. Are you raising enough to cover all your costs AND ensure you raise enough money to do what you want to do to grow your business?

Have a look at our handy Crowdfunding Calculator here and start playing around with some numbers. For example, if you think need £10,000 to buy a new piece of equipment and your rewards might cost £3,000 to develop and deliver (always remember to include postage and distribution costs!), you actually need to raise £13,000, with fees (and potentially VAT) on top of that.

It will take time to settle on a final amount to raise as you still have quite a few details to work out, but for now, take some time to get a bit more comfortable with your thoughts and feelings around the financial aspects of your campaign.

When will you launch your campaign?

As mentioned above, you need to ensure you have time to run a campaign, but once you are happy that you do, set a launch date, perhaps 6-8 weeks from now. And then tell people that’s when your campaign is launching – it’s harder to procrastinate and put it off when you have told people you are doing this! Having a clear date will help to focus your mind on all you need to do (see Create Your Campaign below). You can start drawing up a basic project plan with timelines, working back from the launch date, and add in more details as you start delving deeper into creating your campaign.

What crowdfunding platform do you want to use?

There are various options available to you to raise funding from including WhyDonate, GoFundMe, Indiegogo, Kickstarter, Crowdfunder and of course the unique Women’s Business Centre Crowdfunding Platform, the only platform specifically designed to support women entrepreneurs in Scotland. Explore them all and see what fits best with your requirements. Investigate the fees, if there are any restrictions on you keeping the money you raise if you don’t reach your target, and the level of wrap-around support that is available to you.

Decide on which one to use and then explore it a little further, looking at successful campaigns and analysing why they have been successful – was it their impactful title, story, messages, rewards, visuals, video, infographics or their updates? Look at campaigns similar to what you are trying to do and at others in different sectors to give yourself the best possible understanding of what makes a successful campaign.

And look at case studies too – you can find many examples of women raising crowdfunding here. And take note of their top tips and lesson learned!

Do you have the crowdfunding mindset?

Crowdfunding is a different way of raising money – quite different to going to a bank and asking for a loan. So, to be successful at it, you need to get into a “Crowdfunder Mindset”.

A “mindset” is basically your way of thinking and your opinions, a collection of beliefs and attitudes that shape how you respond to everyday challenges and opportunities. But what do we mean by “Crowdfunder Mindset”? At its heart, donations and rewards-based crowdfunding is about tapping into the power of a supportive community and developing a shared sense of purpose. Think of it as the entrepreneurial community of Scotland putting their arms around you and helping you when you need it most! People – family, friends, customers, suppliers and even people you don’t know – want to support you and help you and your business succeed.

And think about how comfortable you are being in the limelight with your campaign – some people love it, others not so much. Whilst you do need to be visibly associated with your campaign, you can dial it up or down a bit depending on what you feel comfortable with. Remember, everyone is different, keep following your own path and style.

You are not expected to be perfect at this early stage. Just be authentic, honest and passionate. Visualise people supporting you and having a successful campaign – get really excited about it! You can find out more about getting the “Crowdfunder Mindset” here.