Crowdfunding formulas

25% in Week 1 + 15% in Weeks 2, 3 & 4 + 30% in Week 5 = Crowdfunding success

A crowdfunder is unlike an appeal or campaign in that it has a specific start and end date during which intense fundraising occurs.

As a rule, you make the most money at the beginning and end of a crowdfunder. The launch (see more) of your crowdfunder makes it fresh and new and exciting, and by the final day, people have heard about the cause for the last 5 weeks, and are now quick to donate so they don’t miss out.

For P2P crowdfunder, not all of your supporters will be raring to go on Day 1, so you’ll need at least a week to get them up to speed and enthusiastic, and then they will need a few weeks to fundraise before it’s all over. However, for those who are biting at the bit from Day 1, much longer than five weeks and they will be exhausted by the time you need them for the final rush.

This creates a Goldilocks effect: Four weeks not enough, six weeks too long, five weeks is just right.

The vast majority of successful crowdfunding campaigns run for 30 – 35 days, so design your crowdfunder to suit this. To compensate for the length of the crowdfunder, with intense periods at the beginning and end, you’ll need to formulate a mid-crowdfunder strategy to ensure you don’t lose too much momentum before the grand finale.

Number of supporters x average donation = target amount

If you need $10,000 and your supporters raise an average of $100 (which is very achievable) then your organisation will need to mobilise 100 supporters. They will need very little support, but you’ll need to recruit lots.

If you need $10,000 and your supporters can raise an average of $500 each (which is very manageable if you support them) then your organisation only needs to mobilise 20 of them. You will only need a small group of supporters, but you will need to support their individual fundraising efforts more.

You can, of course, have different types of supporters within the same crowdfunder, some who will raise a lot and some who will raise a little. The key is to figure out how many you need, how much they need to raise, and whether this adds up to your target. Once you’ve done that, you can then focus your energy on the appropriate tasks.

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