Thought: Project Owners – If Content is King, Distribution is Queen

Now that we have a successfully funded project under our belts, as well as a few others currently posted and seeking funds, a phrase came to mind that applies to the digital world, but equally well to our crowdfunding concept – Content is king, distribution is queen.

Content is king because you’re selling your project idea to potential sponsors, and the information you provide to others in your project bio can be the difference maker between receiving all, or receiving none of your desired funding.  For starters, you must have a great idea in order for your audience to even find your project somewhat compelling.  People are not going to support the “same old, same old”, well, because it’s the same old, same old!  Your content needs to be unique, creative and most importantly, it must demonstrate the passion you have for your project.

The key is to position the content on your bio page to intrigue your audience.  How to do this?  Show your passion, because people buy into passion.  It shows your desire for the success of your project.  In doing so people are not only going to buy into your idea, but more importantly buy into you, the project owner.  If they know that you have a great idea, and believe you’re the right person to execute it, then you’re that much closer to earning their support.

Distribution is queen because people need to hear about this fantastic content that you’ve developed.  Distribution, in this case meaning the effective promotion of your project, is the horsepower behind your idea.  Imagine your Springboard project to be a high-powered sports car.  But what good is it if you don’t have any gas in the tank?  Without spreading the word and getting your market to buy into your idea, you will never build the traction that your project requires in order to become fully funded.  And it’s the responsibility of you as the project owner to put your foot on the gas pedal, and distribute your message full throttle!

Clearly, in today’s digital world spreading the word on a message has never been easier.  Just be sure to integrate the different tools you have and enable people to float seamlessly between your Springboard page, website, social media and your blog so that they learn as much about you and your project as possible.

Keeping this King a Queen philosophy in mind when working on your project bio will help separate yourself from every other Jack looking to raise funds for an idea. 😛

Peace, Love & Springboard

Crowdfunding Reward Tips

Offering great rewards are key to a successful fund raising campaign because they further entice sponsors to support an idea, and they’re a great way to thank people for their support.  Here are a few useful tips on rewards that that new and potential project owners may find useful:

They can be anything

The best thing about offering rewards is that they can literally be anything you like as long as it’s related to the project idea, or the people involved.  For example, tickets to your concert if you’re an artist, credits at the end of your film if you’re a film maker, a workout program if you’re a personal trainer or a secret recipe if you’re a chef.

The main thing to keep in mind is the more creative your rewards are, the better!  Make them a fun and meaningful reflection of your project, and throw in a little personality when you can. And if you don’t know what to offer as rewards, it never hurts to just go ahead and ask your potential sponsors what it is that they would like in exchange for their support.

Pre-sale opportunity

In some instances, projects will be designed to develop or introduce a new product or service.  Consider this an opportunity to pre-sell your idea and start accumulating funds now, so that you can get your idea up and running and continuously provide the product or service to your customers later.  Sponsors will also get the satisfaction of knowing that their support literally helped bring a great idea to fruition!

Discounts

Everyone loves a discount.  And since people are supporting you in advance for your idea, offering a discounted price on your reward, compared with the regular price of your product or service once launched is a great incentive for supporters who believe in your idea.

Exclusivity

If possible, offer up an exclusive or special version of your product or service specifically for the purpose of raising funds for this project.  If your product or service is really that neat, it’s even better if limited quantities of a special edition are available. For example, products in limited edition colours, or provide your service in a one-off and unique location.  Again, creativity is key.

Profit 

It’s great to earn the sponsorship, but don’t forget to consider the cost of fulfillment! In addition to the cost of producing your product or service, you’ll need to consider other things such as shipping, PayPal fees (3%) and the associated Springboard posting fee (5%).  For instance, if your goal is to hypothetically raise $1000, and you know that you’ll incur $80 in fees (3% PayPal + 5% Springboard), you may want to consider raising $1080 total in order to receive your $1000 goal.

Goodwill component

A reward may be of more value to someone if it’s tied into a goodwill component.  For example, one of our projects called KOLS touques has included book donations for impoverished children as a tie-in to their rewards.

Multiple levels 

People will have different preferences in terms of the amount they wish to sponsor a project. Therefore it’s important to offer multiple levels of rewards, and in doing so, ensure that you’re earning a higher profit on each one.  It’s easy to offer a higher-level sponsorship, but if your profit after fulfilling your reward obligation is equal to or less than the sponsorship level below it, you may want to raise that sponsorship value, or find a lower cost reward.

Also, keep in mind that the “super supporter” may exist.  A super supporter is somebody who might be generous enough to provide you with a ridiculous, over-the-top sponsorship amount.  Maybe they’re a parent our spouse.  Or perhaps they’re a stranger that just really buys into your idea. In either case don’t be afraid to put that one, high-priced reward out there because you never know who may bite!

Press Release: First Project – Mamamor Dolls

Mamamor makes birthing and breastfeeding dolls that can be used as educational tools to demonstrate natural birth, breastfeeding, and mother and child bonding.  The company is raising funds on Springboard to increase their production capacity and wholesale their product by supporting the Fair Trade movement. Their goai is to have their product made in Central America while complying with high ethical standards.

Mamamor Dolls was created to help introduce children to the birth giving process in an age appropriate manner. Targeted at children ages three and up, the dolls are available with different coloured eyes, hair and skin.  Each carefully handcrafted doll comes with a baby and umbilical cord.

The company currently sells their product online, but a higher demand has paved the way for increased production requirements and wholesaling.  Creator Adrianna Guerra, a certified Birth Doula, has found a way to have the dolls made in Nicaragua. The method she has found enables her to have the dolls created in an ethical and cost effective manner that is supported by the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. By doing so she also hopes to support the growing Fair Trade movement.

Mamamor dolls are an excellent fit for Springboard’s fund raising platform, said Sean W. Bowles, Co-founder and Director of Operations at Springboard.

“One of Springboard’s initiatives is to help existing businesses expand their current operation,” explains Bowles.  “Mamamor’s plan to raise funds with the intention of increasing their production capcity, and link with the growing Fair Trade movement fits well into Springboard’s platform of raising funds for both business and goodwill causes.”

Guerra will use the funds to travel to Nicaragua to personally train a cooperative group of women sewers called Zona Franca Masill.  This group is a member of the United Nations Global Compact, which supports the United Nations Declaration of human rights, labour standards, and anti-corruption.  Manufacturing Mamamor dolls through Zona Franca Masill will also ensure that 100% organic cotton is used in the product.

Mamamor’s rewards in exchange for sponsorship include various Mamamor product and accessories, and vary based on the overall sponsorship amount.  Their project started with a $2950 funding goal with a 15 day time limit.  To date they have raised 37% of their goal with 10 days still remaining.

Next to honesty, simplicity is the best policy…

So we’ve launched, well as least “soft launched” and soon, with the roll out of the full site functionality, users will be able to begin funding their projects using Springboard.  So I thought now would be the perfect time to impart some lessons learned about creating your video pitches for your Springboard projects.

From the moment we decided to launch Springboard, we knew we wanted to Crowd-fund some of the site development costs.  Of course this meant, among other things, we needed to spend some time creating a video for our project.  After weeks of going back and forth with concepts and ideas, 4 or 5 script revisions and delays due to the prototypical crummy fall weather in Vancouver, we were able to film our crowd-funding video. So what did we learn from the process?

Firstly, not being professionals videographers in any sense of the term is far from a disadvantage.  Armed with only a Sony NEX-3 with a Compact Stereo Mic attachment and some creative ideas, we were able to film what we feel is a high-quality video that clearly communicates the point of both Springboard and our crowd-funding project simultaneously.

Also, we found, by having a clear understanding of who our audience is (ahem, you guys), the concept of the video really took on a life of its own (thus the script became more of an outline).  Prior to filming we had plenty of ideas of how to “get the point across,” but when we got out there, we realized keeping it simple was the best policy (I guess Apple is on to something with that one…).

Look at that, a great segue that leads me into my third point, leave out all the gimmicks (minus the necessary ones of course). If the gimmick doesn’t in some way enhance your message, then it isn’t necessary.

Another great lesson is that it doesn’t have to be perfect. In fact, the end result is better if it isn’t. No one is perfect and perfection really doesn’t make for a solid connection, because perfection is a performance, not honesty.  We spent a lot of time doing retakes trying to get things “right,” but what I found when I began editing the video was that the best, most natural, most honest takes were the ones where we screwed something up.  It is that honesty that you (and we) need to portray in order to connect with our potential sponsors.

Finally, and this ties into another post from earlier this year, if you can do it for free, do it for free.  I once told you guys to “always think like a start-up” and what is exactly how we approached creating our video.  Yes this sometimes means you may have to sacrifice on the “add-ons” or the “nice to haves”, but if you keep it simple, you’ll never have to sacrifice on the quality.

Peace. Love. And Springboard.

 

Springboard Raises Funds for Business, Passion and Goodwill

Springboard can be appealing for a variety of people seeking funds, even if they have differing goals in mind.  In some instances, the only similarity between project owners is that they physically need funding, and that’s it! This is why we’ve enabled “Springboarders” to raise money for three main purposes: a business idea, a personal passion of theirs, or for an act of goodwill.  These funds are raised through the support of numerous people, in essence the crowd, who are provided rewards in exchange for their support.

#1: Business – Some project owners will post projects with the goal of either starting up, or expanding their business.  Let’s say that somebody has designed a new product or service idea.  It’s currently a concept, but with a few thousand dollars that they can potentially raise through Springboard, they can accumulate enough money to bring their idea to the development phase.

Why would people support this person, you ask? Perhaps the product is innovative, like a new iPod accessory, or a new app.  Or perhaps it’s due to a current trend in the market, such as a new fitness and diet training program.  Or maybe it’s simply a local business that people would like to see succeed.  Whatever the case, sponsorship funds earned from the “crowd” will potentially provide the project owner with money that they may not have received otherwise.

#2: Passion – Some people aren’t interested in profits; they just want to raise money so that they continue to do what they love doing.  And they’re talented enough at it where people will want support them so that they can fulfill their passion and share it with others.

For instance, they could be a musician looking for studio time, an up and coming film maker that wants to film a local documentary, or a journalist who wants to research or cover an inspiring story abroad.  These are just examples, but supporters can be enticed to provide sponsorship because they believe in this person’s passion, and want to see it come to life!

#3: Goodwill – Others will use Springboard for the sheer benefit of other people. It can be used for charitable or not-for-profit organizations.  Springboard works well as the primary channel to post and promote their fundraising cause.  But it can also be complementary to their current fundraising methods, and act as additional way to spread the word about their activity.  In either case the nature of how Springboard works definitely makes it a powerful tool for raising funds for a good cause, and we would love to see some great fund raising ideas on our site that are designed for the sole purpose of helping others.

Rewards – Not only do sponsors get the satisfaction of knowing that their support of a project helps make someone’s project succeed, but they also get rewards in exchange.  Rewards are the tidbits that project owners give their sponsors in exchange for sponsorship.  These include products, services or any creative gift idea.  The idea is to have varying levels of rewards based on the different amounts of sponsorship, and they can be as simple or as creative as the project owner chooses to be.  Rewards could be an advanced copy of the iPod accessory in the case of business, tickets to the advanced screening of the documentary in the case of passion, or recognition within the goodwill organization’s website in the case of goodwill.  In each case, rewards are what make Springboard work, and are the incentives that helps raise funds from the “crowd”.

Each one of us at Springboard has always wanted to contribute something for others that can one day add value to their everyday lives.   The development of Springboard has provided us with this opportunity and we’re thrilled to know that our site can help people raise funds to do something that they truly believe in, regardless if it’s for business, passion and goodwill.  Peace, love and Springboard!