Planning your crowdfunding project

Everyone who sees your Fundsurfer crowdfunding page is a prospective backer - so here's your chance to show (and tell) them why to support you.

These are some of the things you should include on your page:

  • about you and your project team
  • why you are crowdfunding
  • who the product/project is for
  • what risks or problems might be encountered
  • what you might do if you raise more than your target
  • what rewards people will get (if suitable)
  • creating a video of yourself talking to camera about the project, with some relevant project clips and images

Choosing a funding type

You can choose to create an all or nothing, take what you raise (also called flexible), or open ended crowdfunding project.

All or nothing

This is the most common kind of crowdfunding project. Choose this if you wouldn't be able to deliver your project if you don't reach your target.

  • you set a funding target
  • you have a time limit
  • if you raise enough money in the time you keep it
  • if you fail to raise enough, you don't get anything (all pledges are cancelled)

Take what you raise

This is more flexible than all or nothing crowdfunding, but less urgent. Choose this if you can deliver your project even if you don't reach your target.

  • you set a funding target
  • you have a time limit
  • you can keep all the pledges made, even if you didn't meet your funding target

Open ended

With no time limits, and no targets. this is more appropriate for causes (but not business projects) that can make use of any amount of money that is raised.

  • no funding target
  • no time limit
  • you keep every donation that is made

Your project page

How to create your project page:

  • the title should be short enough to share in a tweet, around 100 characters
  • the summary is shown on the project listing page and should be a couple of lines just to explain what your project is about
  • the body is the heart of your project page - this needs to persuade your audience to get involved
  • the image is show on the listing page and on the project page - upload a nice big image and we'll take care of shrinking it for you
    The ideal size is 960 pixels wide by 600 pixels tall. You can download the image below to use as a template:
  • if you have a project video, you can upload it to Youtube, Vimeo or Facebook (make sure it's public) and include it on your page
  • set your project start date, and choose how long your project will run (we recommend around 30 days)
  • choose one (or more) categories for your project
  • enter your target (keep our fees in mind when deciding how much to raise)
  • finally, create some rewards (see the next section)

When you're done, send us an email (or use the contact form) to let us know. We'll have a quick look to make sure all the information is provided, then we should be able to make it live!

Rewards

Fundsurfer is a "rewards-based" crowdfunding platform, where backers get a reward (usually the item being produced, like an album or a book) in exchange for backing the project financially.

Rewards should reflect your project's ambitions and is often something tangible, but can also be an experience.

Here are some ideas:

Art projects

  • physical photos or posters
  • digital images
  • tshirts

Book projects

  • printed book
  • e-book
  • acknowledgement in the book

Events

  • tickets
  • VIP tickets
  • tshirts
  • back-stage access

Film projects

  • the film on DVD
  • digital download
  • signed poster
  • tshirts
  • appear as an extra
  • your name in the credits

Game projects

  • early access to the game
  • digital download
  • tshirts
  • your face in the game
  • your name in the credits

Magazine projects

  • copy of the magazine
  • yearly subscription
  • digital copies
  • tshirts

Music projects

  • MP3 downloads
  • autographed CD or vinyl
  • tshirts
  • private gigs

Marketing

We will do our best job of promoting interesting projects but the majority of the views and pledges come from other channels and promotional efforts outside of the platforms, so you will need to drive most of the traffic to your project page yourself. 

There are lots of ways to do this, and they might include

  • sending an email to your existing lists
  • traditional PR (radio, newspapers, magazines)
  • buying Google/Facebook adverts
  • writing blog posts on your site/other sites
  • sharing within your other social networks
  • asking your friends and family to spread the word

Try to build your audience well in advance, as it will make sharing the project - and getting pledges - much easier!