How to get folks to donate?

Hey hi all,

I was wondering if anyone had any advice about how to encourage people to donate to a crowd funding project like Kickstarter and Indegogo? I launched my fundraiser two weeks ago in an effort to try and start an organic goat farm, but I've only gotten two donations to it so far and one of those was from my own daughter. So I'm looking for anyone who has done this sort of thing successfully before to please let me know how you managed to get people to actually donate? I have spread the word as far and wide as I can without spamming friends and family repeatedly as well as asking several forums that I'm a member of if I could post the fundraiser link in them. So I know it's not that people aren't seeing my link, though I don't know how many people are actually following the link and reading about my project...

I have really good donation incentives, (at least in my opinion) but still little to nothing... I don't know what I'm doing wrong or what I might be able to do better. My fundraiser has 43 days left to it and I really want to make it work. So once again, please, if anyone has done this successfully, any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks much,

Kat

Kat, I looked at your indiegogo page. Asking people to pay for your land and house will be a turnoff to many. It's hard to believe in someone else's dream if they haven't done the basic preliminary work to get it going themselves.

That said, there are two key things I'm seeing from successful fundraisers:

1) They've got a huge following. This is either through an existing network that they're part of or through going viral.

2) They are using the kickstarter as a sales platform. They are selling their goods in exchange for donations. Thus, people aren't really donating, they're purchasing stuff they actually want.

Paul Wheaton and Walter Jeffries are great examples to look at. You can see that they've put a ton of work into creating an online presence and building a following. They've done this over several years. They are also using their kickstarters to sell stuff, not just asking for donations.

Emily Brown wrote:Kat, I looked at your indiegogo page. Asking people to pay for your land and house will be a turnoff to many. It's hard to believe in someone else's dream if they haven't done the basic preliminary work to get it going themselves.

That said, there are two key things I'm seeing from successful fundraisers:

1) They've got a huge following. This is either through an existing network that they're part of or through going viral.

2) They are using the kickstarter as a sales platform. They are selling their goods in exchange for donations. Thus, people aren't really donating, they're purchasing stuff they actually want.

Paul Wheaton and Walter Jeffries are great examples to look at. You can see that they've put a ton of work into creating an online presence and building a following. They've done this over several years. They are also using their kickstarters to sell stuff, not just asking for donations.

Hi Emily, thanks. I do see where you're coming from. Though we can't exactly sell our goods without having the place on which to produce those goods first. Kind of like I said in my fundriaser, it's hard to produce goat cheese if you don't have any goats or a place to keep them. So in that respect I'm kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place. You know, the lovely catch 22. Can't get the money to start a farm to sell produce without having the produce to sell in order to make the money to start a farm...

Well, my fundraiser may be doomed to failure then but at least it's a learning experience eh? We won't be giving up on this even if we don't get it funded through Indegogo, we are still looking at many alternative ways to make money for it, like having parking lot sales to get rid of excess things, and my daughter when she gets back from her summer music tour this year is planning on working with us to throw a benefit show to help get funding for it too... so this isn't our only option, just was hoping that it would do better than it has been.

Again, thanks for your response. Take care,

Kat

Why not look locally at those who might want to be future customers? Are there groups for foodies or moms of kids with special diet needs in your future sales area?

Because if someone in my area were to be fundraising for a mobile slaughter unit, for example, I'd jump at funding them for a chance at being a future customer!

People aren't going to fund you to realize your dream - it just makes them think of THEIR dreams, which they could fund. They need a better reason to want you to succeed.

Maybe you could look for more things you could already be doing to raise the money yourself - rent out a room, help people with their gardens/farms, etc. If your dream is goat dairying then offer your services as a fill-in milker for the other goat dairies - then you can gain experience, network, and earn money. If you want to make soap, offer a soap-making class to the community, maybe at someone else's goat farm (for a win-win - help them attract customers while you earn $$).

hey,
i think you missed an opportunity to post a link in this thread. the opportunity is still flickering here but im turned off to clicking on it now.

you have not lost much in having a first go...good luck

Josh T-Hansen wrote:hey,
i think you missed an opportunity to post a link in this thread. the opportunity is still flickering here but im turned off to clicking on it now.

you have not lost much in having a first go...good luck

I didn't want to post the link here because I did not ask permission and thought it would be tacky to just toss the link to my fundraiser up. I was looking for advice, not looking to spam people. If this forum had been for marketing opportunities I would have posted it without hesitation... but I didn't think that's what this forum was for. Take care.

Kat

Renate Haeckler wrote:Why not look locally at those who might want to be future customers? Are there groups for foodies or moms of kids with special diet needs in your future sales area?

Because if someone in my area were to be fundraising for a mobile slaughter unit, for example, I'd jump at funding them for a chance at being a future customer!

People aren't going to fund you to realize your dream - it just makes them think of THEIR dreams, which they could fund. They need a better reason to want you to succeed.

Maybe you could look for more things you could already be doing to raise the money yourself - rent out a room, help people with their gardens/farms, etc. If your dream is goat dairying then offer your services as a fill-in milker for the other goat dairies - then you can gain experience, network, and earn money. If you want to make soap, offer a soap-making class to the community, maybe at someone else's goat farm (for a win-win - help them attract customers while you earn $$).

Like I said in my other response, we are actually looking into many other ways to fund this project. But yeah, I have gotten permission to post the link in a few foodie blogs that I'm a member of as well as many other sustainability groups as I want the farm to be not only pretty much self sufficient but also sustainable. So I have been trying to market to future customers.

Yeah, I'm totally with you there about the mobile slaughter unit. Not that we need one yet, but once we get our farm, (and we will eventually get it) we would need someone else to do any slaughtering for us as my husband and I both know that we are completely incapable of doing it ourselves. Thanks for your response and idea's by the way, take care.

Kat

Emily Brown wrote:Kat, I looked at your indiegogo page. Asking people to pay for your land and house will be a turnoff to many. It's hard to believe in someone else's dream if they haven't done the basic preliminary work to get it going themselves.

That said, there are two key things I'm seeing from successful fundraisers:

1) They've got a huge following. This is either through an existing network that they're part of or through going viral.

2) They are using the kickstarter as a sales platform. They are selling their goods in exchange for donations. Thus, people aren't really donating, they're purchasing stuff they actually want.

Paul Wheaton and Walter Jeffries are great examples to look at. You can see that they've put a ton of work into creating an online presence and building a following. They've done this over several years. They are also using their kickstarters to sell stuff, not just asking for donations.

Right now I'm also trying to figure out how to start a successful fundraiser for starting a vegetable market garden. Based on your suggestions in the quoted message above, it looks like future customers will be more likely to provide donations than complete strangers.

If I'm successful at starting the market garden business, it should provide a local source of fresh produce to the community where I set up the business. My main problem is getting the advertising I need for the campaign since hardly anyone in the area where I farm knows about me or how reliable I could be with providing the desired vegetables.

When I went to a OEFFA conference in Columbus Ohio this February, the speaker in charge of a seminar on financial management for small farmers suggested that the startup costs for the first season can be between $40,000 and $50,000 USD. Right now, this is all I have for the estimated startup costs needed since I have to pick a completely different property than I was originally planning so I have to make my calculations all over again.

Ryan, here's my 2c on the psychology of this, the zeitgeist:

Door #1: What, you want me to give you free money to start a business so you can make money? What's in it for me! Yeah, forget it.

Door #2: If you want me to give you free money so you can start a business that, in addition to making money (making a living), is committed to planting a lot of extra food for foodbanks and homeless shelters and a community fridge? Yeah, that's kinda cool, I like that. I can do something that feels good without getting sweaty.

Door #3: If you want me to give you free money to feed people, and feed bees and birds, and maybe make the soil more fertile, and plant trees, and also build a business that makes a living and a modest profit ... then you have provided a venue to assuage my urban guilt, provide me a catharsis to my disconnectedness, to make me an avatar in a vicarious world that feels wholesome and good. With photos I can share! And I still don't have to get sweaty!

Bottom line: the actual produce you grow is secondary. Welcome to the human animal. Again, my 2c.

I agree with Douglas,
- its not a matter of getting people to make donations,
- its a matter of offering a deal that is appealing and they are happy to share its cost with perhaps either
 something in return or a good feeling.

You cannot expect people to donate to anything.
As for purchasing land, I would not help unless you had no legs, but I may help to buy a female goat that can reproduce for you.

I spoke with a small business owner last week and he said another factor that would make donors more likely to donate money for your cause is how experienced you are in the relevant field required for the donations. Someone with no experience at all with running a business can be considered a high-risk patron if he asks for donations.