My sons both sing in the Minneapolis Youth Chorus. MYC is a choir made up of boys and girls from over twenty different Minneapolis Public Schools. I love the program because it not only introduces kids to beautiful music and how it feels to collaborate and work together, but it also teaches them that singing is fun. Another awesome thing about the program is that it is FREE. The chorus is underwritten by the Minnesota Chorale. Because there's not a hefty tuition, economic factors aren't ever an issue. It's all about the music.
Next summer, MYC is going on tour to Washington DC. I was excited to hear about the tour but then my excitement was quickly deflated when I thought about the amount of fundraising it would take to make the trip possible. With two boys in Minneapolis Public Schools, I'm very familiar with fundraising and I wasn't looking forward to doing more of it.
Last summer, the choir and parents met to discuss fundraising ideas. One of the ideas we came up with was using Kickstarter to fund the trip. A couple of awesome parents stepped up to produce a short video that describes the choir's mission and the impact it has had on kids.
Through the process, we uncovered some simple steps to take to improve the odds of successfully funding your campaign.
1. Set an appropriate goal.
MYC's Kickstarter goal was set at $16,500. This was enough to cover the expenses that were not covered already by other fundraising efforts. To be honest, at first our goal seemed unattainable — but we did it. In fact, we surpassed the goal with 15 days remaining. This is truly a testament of the power of social media and Kickstarter. Kickstarter uses an all-or-nothing funding. They do this because projects that are properly funded tend to be more successful. This type of funding also minimizes risk for backers. To date, Kickstarter has successfully funded over 50,000 projects.
2. Use language & platforms that convert.
The choir was encouraged to share the Kickstarter campaign via social media and email. If parents or choir members had success in getting people to convert (make a donation), they shared how and what they said with the group. Remember to tap into the social media platforms to connect to your audience at a deeper level.
3. Encourage sharing multiple times.
Remember, not everyone will see one social media update. Post multiple times and try to post on different days and different times of day to expand your reach. There's a reason why advertisers show an ad multiple times within a few minutes. Repetition works.
4. Leverage clout.
Do you have any friends, family, or professional relationships that have a HUGE number of Twitter followers or Facebook friends? Ask those people to tweet or post about your Kickstarter campaign. Let them help you get the word out. MYC sang on the hit song, "Good Time" by Owl City in 2012. Adam Young and Carly Rae Jepsen not only retweeted the post to their millions of followers, they also made generous donations!
5. Use incentives.
Kickstarter allows backers to make a donation they are comfortable with giving. Nearly everyone can swing $5.00 and quite a few will choose to give more. The choir used incentives to encourage other donation amounts. Typically, incentives are only offered to backer-insiders. An incentive could be anything from a signed copy of a book to a prototype, free tickets, or even an in-person performance. They're special because they aren't available to everyone. People aren't just writing a check, they're backing a real project, and real projects have more meaning.
6. Enlist a communication manager.
Make sure that there's someone frequently checking in with the campaign, making updates and communicating the campaign's status with the group. If the group sees steady progress, excitement and momentum will build.
7. Tell your story and tell it well.
Let's face it, there are a ton of great ideas and awesome projects that we can choose to back. Make sure your project stands out. Tell your story in a meaningful, real way. Hit on your expertise and your challenges. Ask for help and be gracious when you receive it.
If you'd like to help 58 kids sing at our nation's capitol, there's still time. Donate here.
