There are many resources and guides on the internet to help you run a successful fundraising campaign but here are some fundamental steps to launching your crypto fundraising campaign with Giveth.
1. Soft Launch
Soft launching means sharing your campaign to a few dedicated supporters or those that have previously fundraised for your cause. Ask them to donate crypto to kickstart your campaign before the official launch to your wider supporter base. People are more likely to donate when they see youâve received donations. In addition, soft launching your campaign means that you can discover bugs, errors, typos or broken links before sharing far and wide.
Contact your early supporters (email or 1-1 at this stage) - what feedback do they have? Is the fundraising message clear and exciting? Is there anything they would change?
Momentum generated in soft launch should carry over when you are ready for your fundraising launch and you will reach your fundraising goal faster.
2. Your Brand is your Identity
âBrandâ is important and is anything that identifies your organisation/project, makes it stand-out and memorable. It is more than just a logo, it can be the colours you use, the style of your communications, patterns, photos and videos. There are lots of resources online to help you develop a brand and consistency can help your potential supporters get to know your project/organisation better, build trust and confirm that the campaign belongs to your project. This is especially important as you spread the word about your campaign across different communication channels and social media.
3. Link Donations with Impact
Show your donors how their support is making a difference in the real world. If possible, explain what could be achieved in relation to specific donation amounts to help donors visualise the impact their donation could make. Consider using powerful and authentic photos of your project in action (remember to get permission from those in the shot and take care not to include faces etc. if you are working with vulnerable people). Use descriptive text to show how donations are being used. Post these as updates on the Giveth platform and share to your communications channels and social media. When donors feel connected to your project, they donate more and spread awareness of your cause.
4. Campaign Video
Make a campaign video. There are numerous resources out there providing tips and tricks for making a successful campaign video. People who watch a nonprofitâs video are more likely to make a donation. Videos bring your organisation/project to life in a way that potential donors can understand and relate to, and are a powerful way to ask for donations. Once you have your video, donât forget to post it on Giveth and share through all your communication channels and social media.
Some ideas for your video: record your team in action or through interviews, feature stories that show the impact of the work you do or interview supporters. Seize opportunities to show people how they can get involved. Videos really are one of the most powerful ways to connect to donors through your media channels
5. Celebrate Success
Establish milestones and tell everyone about it when you achieve them. Itâs really important! Celebrating milestones maintains momentum for your fundraiser. Showcase your creative ideas and fundraising successes to keep your community engaged and inspired to reach the next big goal. You cannot talk about your fundraiser too much or overshare your successes on social media.
Consider setting smaller, incremental goals that are achievable to celebrate together along the way. As you hit each goal, post on all your channels and send milestone emails to your community and team.
6. âVerificationâ Badge
If your project is for Public Good (see our standard of what Public Goods means), we recommend that you get verified on Giveth platform. Applying for project âverificationâ through Giveth gives your project extra credibility and rewards your donors with âGIVbacksâ (donors receive a portion of the dollar value of their donations back in GIV tokens, streamed over time). The more a donor gives the more they can receive in GIVbacks rewards. Check out this resource about GIVbacks.
7. Social Media
Having an active Twitter account and growing your following through Twitter helps attract crypto donors.
Here are some ideas for messages to share with your supporters and donors.
Social media message ideas@
- Zero fees - maximizing your donation!
- Low gas with most tokens
- Transparency! Traceability
For verified projects
- Give and get GIV
- Keep Giving and make change
- Your giving gives back
- Keep the GIVing going
- Giveth - where the giving gives back
- Giveth - where the giving GIVs back
- GIVbacks give rights! - have your say in governance
8. Stewardship plan
Stewardship is important to donors - itâs a way of showing that your organisation / project is using donorsâ funds within your project, as intended. It includes thanking donors, progress updates and showing their gifts âin actionâ. Consider how best to thank donors: direct contact, an update on your Giveth profile, tweet about their contribution and what it does etc.
You will begin to build a relationship with donors, keep them engaged and involved with your project/organisation, which may result in further donations or at least, continued support and sharing the news about your cause.
9. Gift acceptance policy
Your organisation may or may not have some kind of gift acceptance policy or a guide that outlines the types of gifts your organisation/project can accept and treatment of those gifts once received. You should consider how you will use your crypto donations when received and create a plan and revise your gift acceptance policy (tip and example from every.org). Things to consider:
- Offramping: when and how
- Centralised vs decentralised exchange
- Wallet ownership
- Treatment of volatile vs stable coins
10. Value Proposition
Your value proposition on Giveth is a simple and clear description on your project page that tells your supporters and donors why they should support your organisation or project. What sets you apart from other organisations and makes you stand out from the crowd? The value proposition of your organization needs to be front and center of your messaging and should answer the following question: âWhy should a donor give to you (and not any other organisation) now?â
âCall to Actionâ
- Your Giveth profile should have a call to action: ie âdonate now to helpâ, âmake a difference now byâŠâ. It is very important to ask for action in your messaging (what can the donors do now?)
- Segment your audience starting with those closest to you, who are they?: family, friends, existing donors, event attendees (who provided contact information) etc
- And send them a personal message with call to action (donate on Giveth) as part of the soft launch, discussed earlier
11. New Donors
Have a strategy to attract new donors, who are they? Where will you find them? How will you reach them? Newsletters, Tweets, events, podcasts, interviews, videos etc.
Useful links to other crowdfunding campaign resources:
BYC Marketing for kickstarter: Kickstarter Marketing strategies to reach your finding goal - BOOSTYOURCAMPAIGN
Seven tips on how to run a successful crowdfunding campaign | nibusinessinfo.co.uk
12. Promotion through Giveth Community
Gain extra project exposure and campaign promotion through Giveth community:
- Join the weekly Giveth community call and showcase your project in the âCommunity Spotlightâ Present
- Showcase your project through Giveth events like âMeet the Makersâ
- Tweet your project and gain extra exposure with amplification and shares through Giveth Community
Donât forget to include these hashtags: #futureofgiving #giveth when posting about your Giveth fundraiser.