This is a draft translation of the original german blogpost "A Year Without Rent - ein Filmemacher auf Achse" auf Wolfgang Gumpelmeier's Social Film Marketing BLOG. Since I am not a native speakter of English, my translation is bound to contain some awkward phrases and skewed syntax. I would appreciate your help in improving the language. So please use the comment section for your suggestions!
~ spoxx ~
Lucas McNelly’s „Year Without Rent“ is considered one of the most outstanding crowdfunding campaigns in 2011. The American filmmaker is planning to tour the States for one whole year, to support other filmmakers with their projects. He wants to find out „just how mobile our digital lifestyle makes us“, and put his experiences down in an e-book.
In order to pay for this experimental internship, he introduced himself, and his project, on the kickstarter platform. Within a few weeks, he collected over 12,000 Dollars in donations and sponsoring from friends and fans.
However, 24 hours before the end of the crowdfunding campaign, McNelly was still about 7,800 Dollas short of his goal, and for quite a while it looked like he would not be able to finish his campaign successfully. That’s because kickstarter, like most of the crowdfunding platforms, follows a policy of „All Or Nothing“: Unless you meet your funding goal, none of your donators will be debited, and no funds will be transferred to your account.
In the end, however, McNelly finished his campaign with the support of 243 donors, and a total of 12,178 Dollars in sponsoring. For this achievement, several factors were crucial, as he explained to me in an interview for filmtiki: Let me try to distill a few core messages for future crowd funders:
Team work!
Convince your friends and colleagues to actively engage in your campaign. The more people help to spread the news about your project, the more attention you will get. Some crowdsponsoring platforms offer an option to name several administrators for a project.
Find influencers and multipliers!
Consider early in your planning phase, which opinion leaders you know (personally), and how you might approach them, and call their attention to your project. In the case of Lucas McNelly, it was David and Karen of FilmCourage who spotlighted the project, and threw their weight about the American and international filmmaker community (mainly via twitter). Keeping Twitter- or Facebook lists is a good way to retrieve up-todate contacts. To team-administrate eMail contacts, Google Docs is a good choice.
Forget traditional media!
Concentrate on Social Media and eMail. Traditional media often prove too slow to react to spontaneous missions like Lucas McNelly’s 31-day crowdfunding campaign. Nevertheless, if radio, TV or print media should get attentive of your project - all the better!
Equally embrace all donors!
Now matter how much or how little your donors will give, show them that you appreciate their support. All your activities in social media, and all the perks you may give back to your donors, boil down to this simple formula.
Keep your fans updated!
This may be one of the most important tips, you can give to a crowd funder: Don’t forget to keep your backers informed about your project. This will keep them committed to your project; it motivates them to spread the word, and will bring in new sponsors! Most platforms offer such update devices, so use them wisely!
Simple perks work just fine!
Lucas McNelly was successful in attracting numerous backers with simple, uncomplicated perks; among them was a post card, t-shirts, the finished eBook. So don’t be too complicated, because you have to keep what you promise!
Find your true fans!
There are alway some people who will embrace your idea. It is essential to identify these few persons, and integrate them fully. Call them into your team; provide them with important tasks; ask them for feedback. This will show to everyone, how important your fans are to you, and occasionally, this will attract new supporters!
Build your community ahead of time!
What are all the coolest ideas or top perks good for if there is nobody to whom you can talk about it. Right: Good for nothing! Therefore remember to build a small fan base a couple of weeks before you start your crowdfunding campaign - except when your primary goal is to draw attention, and the financial success of your campaign has taken a back seat.
Don’t underestimate the expenditure of time!
(Almost) every one who has some crowdfunding experience will tell you that they have underestimated how time-consuming it would be! Lucas McNelly talks about a „9 to 11 job“, especially towards the end of his campaign. Add the time you need for preparation and wrap-up. This is why I suggest you roughly plan your campaign all the way through, and draw up some content before you start your crowdfunding campaign. This way you save time, and you will be able to communicate more efficiently!
Develop a cool campaigne!
In Lucas McNelly’s opinion, it was above all the uniqueness of his project that was decisive - in spite of all the factors mentioned above. „It was simply a cool project“, says the filmmaker. Therefore, in preparing your campaign, it is better to invest a bit more time than too little. Record your personal video, where you tell everyone, why your campaign is so cool, and why it is worth supporting it. In your updates, elaborate on single aspects, so that your potential supporters will get a better picture of your endeavor.
If you consider this advice, you have a good chance to finish your crowdfunding campaign successfully. Of course, you always need a bit of luck, because not everything can be planned.
Having said this, I would like to offer one last piece of advice: Be authentic!
