It’s Christmas, an ideal time to make a list of good resolutions for this coming year. Some of them -surely the most passionate ones- may be aimed at achieving a better world or -why not- a cleaner world. If you have an idea to care for, protect and conserve our environment, why not develop it? For all those dreamy entrepreneurs who have a project and know how to take it forward, but don’t have the necessary funding, lateuaterra.org encourages them to launch an environmental crowdfunding campaign.
Despite the fact that it is an established funding method, there is still a certain lack of knowledge about what it means to launch a crowdfunding campaign. This form of collective fundraising is based on small individual contributions from people who believe in the proposed idea, i.e., patrons. In the case of lateuaterra.org, the promoter of the idea proposes a list of rewards, which is nothing more than barter for the amount invested, or also, if they prefer, the backers can make donations through the Internet, the means by which the project is made known in the first instance. The promoter or entrepreneur who promotes the project has 39 days, in the case of lateuaterra.org, to achieve the funding goal set and thus be able to carry out his idea.
To dispel certain doubts about the launch of a crowdfunding campaign on the platform and to propose a strategy that will make it a success, here are six basic tips that will situate you and make you see the needs for the start of this exciting adventure:
1. Any idea can have a positive impact on the environment. We are not only limited to reforestation, beach cleanups, protection of endangered species, but any idea that has a positive impact on our environment.
2. We need a strong support network. We do not have to have a community of supporters beforehand, but we must strive to get as many supporters as possible. It is said that microfinance works on the basis of the theory of circles: a first circle is family, friends or the community of supporters that the project already has. The idea is that we do our best to expand this circle, by joining communication and networking actions, as well as encouraging people to share the project by making patrons prescribers of the initiative. We can draw up a list of interested people, associations or institutions that we could count on for the campaign and send them the initiative beforehand to see if they can help us both for the dissemination of the project and for the economic contribution.
3. Organize your communication. As communication professionals, we offer our advice to try to reach more and more people so that the interest they show becomes a contribution to the project. It is important to create a small communication plan with actions designed for the different communication channels, trying to diversify the content or trying to contact influencers in the sector that interests us and that make the project reach more people. But it is also important to take care of the presence in the media in order to reach different types of public.
4. The fundamental tool for the presentation of your campaign is the video. The video of less than 30 seconds is the format that is most consumed on the Internet, that can go viral and that will attract the attention of potential backers. There is no univocal formula for making videos. In lateuaterra.com we have had from homemade videos to more elaborate videos. Here we leave you the one of Esquellana, our first project that got more than 12,000 euros.
5. The first week of the campaign is key. It is said that, to ensure success, you need to reach 30% of the fundraising goal during this first week. Although it is not a rule that is always fulfilled, we need to concentrate all our efforts in this first week to start with a good momentum at the moment when the campaign could have more attention, due to its novelty.
6. Plan off-line actions that will make the campaign regain visibility. During the 39 days of the campaign, you can schedule events, talks or conferences in the sector you operate in to be able to refer to the project, or build an action yourself. In the case of our last project, FUSTA, they created a composting festival at the end of the campaign with live music and nearby artists to raise more funds in the final stretch of the campaign.
For more information, do not hesitate to contact us at info@lateuaterra.com or by calling 963 51 68 47.
