Keep More Funds in Your Fundraising

moneyIt’s about time that traditional fundraising gets a makeover.

Supporting good causes is essential to the continued health of our society, but unfortunately, a lot of the economic practices used by non-profits just don’t make as much financial sense as they did in the past.

Take, for example, one of the bastions of traditional fundraising – the event. There’s a lot of benefit to be had from events. The auctions, walks, bike races, and shows that non-profits hold serve the dual purpose of raising awareness while also raising funds. They help build strong communities around causes, and they’re a ton of fun for everyone involved.

Still, these benefits can come at a steep cost. According to James Greenfield in his book Fund Raising: Evaluating and Managing the Fund Development Process, the average fundraising event costs $0.50 to raise a dollar. Yup, 50% of money raised goes directly into  covering the costs to put on the event. And that’s not even the full story. When you account for staff hours, marketing budgets, promotional costs, and more, most events barely break even and some lose money.

Traditional fundraising methods will always have their place, but what would the world look like if non-profits could use more cost-effective tools to bolster them, and even supplement with additional funds throughout the year?

Watch this slideshare to learn more about ways to help modern fundraising succeed!

The View From Inside the Kickstarter Trenches

in-the-trenchesI’m on the inside now, and everything looks completely different than it did just a couple of short weeks ago.

Back then, I wrote a post called Kickstarter Launch Day Reflections. I rationally assessed the things that had worked well for me leading up to launch, the things that had given me trouble, and what I thought the future would hold. However, I couldn’t have known then what it would be like living day in and day out with this insatiably visceral goal growling incessantly in brain.

It’s not clean, and it’s not tidy. True, the analytics show a pretty picture: for example, a 30% response rate on reachouts (to a combined demographic of previously known and unknown individuals), mostly positive, which is statistically stellar. But when you’re seeking support for a deeply personal goal, numbers tell only a sliver of the story. You can’t help but become open and vulnerable to the responses (or lack there of). More on that in a moment.

Knodes is designing Kicksmarter to help project owners build a platform before the day they launch. I started my project just as we were laying the foundation for the product, so I didn’t get to take advantage of all the awesome tools we’re rolling out now.

I’m still using our planned methodology, though, and it’s making a big difference (even though the manual nature necessarily makes it slow). I’ve been collecting feedback on the ways that I tell my story – images, video, text – and the people giving me advice have a lot of great things to say. In the process, I’m starting to understand my story, my writing in general, and even myself in new and useful ways.

Revising my storytelling is something that I have control over, that’s in my hands. It feels good to do it better. But it doesn’t help with one of the hardest parts about reaching out to people: being ignored.

Continue reading →

Knodes Tech Is Part of a New Era of Mind-Expanding Tools

jello brain

Image credit: elliottzone

In discussing the future of human interactions with technology, I find that people tend to fall firmly into one of two camps. Members of the first group adamantly believe that there is a point at which technological advances lead to a decline in the positive aspects of being human. Although not necessarily Luddites, these people will often point out “negative” changes in modern society: a room full of offspring staring at individual laptop, mobile, or tablet screens instead of conversing with one another, for example, or the fact that neighbors in rural villages now tend to Facebook one another about the sugar they’ve ordered online rather than walking a few blocks to borrow some.

Members of the second group embrace advancements in science and gadgetry (and are chomping at the bit to pledge allegiance to – or become one with – our future robot overlords).

I admit that I tend to vacillate between these extremes, but now I have more reason to justify my slow transition into the pro-tech faction. According to a recent article in Slate, The Memex in Your Pocket, the new generation of online tools will make our minds more effective than ever.

This is great news, because the work we’re doing at Knodes involves finding ways to help people get things done in the real world. True, we’re doing so by tapping into existing social media networks, which have ironically come under fire as tools that tend to increase our sense of separation and loneliness. But that’s the beauty of building on the foundations of what’s come before us: we can see the strengths that our predecessors bring to the table, and expand in the areas where they can use a bit of help.

True connection, on the most basic level, comes from participating in conversations. Very few people feel a sense of real fulfillment by shouting to a room full of friends (or strangers) and being ignored. Even though conversation juices us, there are a lot of ways in which simple disconnects can prevent us from indulging in it. To a large extent, these disconnects have to do with fear of embarrassment. What if she brings up college? I forget what she majored in. What country did he say he visited last time we talked? If I start talking about vespene gas, will she think it’s some sort of exotic illness?

So what if we didn’t have to worry about coming up with clever things to talk about with new acquaintances or old pals? What if we could rely on technology to take some of the fear and hassle out of social interactions, and use our brains to focus on the fun parts? Even better, what if these social interactions could be harnessed to help people rally around causes and achieve dreams, all while supported by a network of engaged and excited friends?

Very few people think that we’re currently in a golden age for human connectedness and cooperation. The not-quite-Luddites want to hearken back to a time when humans were human, communities communed, and connections were quick to forge and easy to maintain. The technophiles know that the systems we have in place aren’t perfect. But I’d argue that everyone’s end goal is the same: to enjoy our passions and seek out our dreams alongside the ones we love.

As a wise man under the influence of stardust once said, “The way forward is sometimes the way back.”

Kickstarter Launch Day Reflections

mechalarum-kick-launch2

Ah, the experience of a Kickstarter project launch day. Well, any launch day, really. You can’t help but worry about a million and one things. Am I sure I’m ready to put all my hard work out in the public eye to be ridiculed, scoffed at, or worst of all, ignored? Is my video/art/description/reward system fleshed out enough, or will people leave my page shaking their heads in confusion, their dollars still firmly in their virtual pockets? What if I have something in my teeth and nobody told me about it?

Your project will never be as ready as you want it to be. If you hold absolute perfection as the only successful outcome, not only will you stress yourself out – you’ll miss out on all of the wonderful insights serendipity and misadventure can present you with. With my own launch only just in the rearview mirror, I have a little mental space to reflect on what went well in the days leading up to my project, what could have gone better, and what the future holds.

Things That Went Smoothly

The Launch Party

I love spending time with people, so organizing/throwing events is a big highlight of the whole Kickstarter process for me. I started talking about the launch party with my co-host, author Ronan Cray, about two months ago. In the eight months that I’ve lived in New York, I’ve made some really good connections, mostly from attending Meetup groups (such as Astoria Newbies and NYC Publishing Innovators). The groups I’m connected with were kind enough to post my event details, in part because they thought my launch party would be fun and informative for their members to attend. I’m incredibly lucky to have met so many wonderful people in the past year who are interested in watching me attempt this new venture!

The Novel

I’ve been writing professionally for a few years now, and I’ve made it through 4.5 novel-length first drafts, so I’m getting pretty comfortable with the act of assembling words in a moderately sensical way. I’ve also learned that getting as many eyes as possible on the project is essential, so I’ve been slowly collecting readers and editors. Writing a novel is a complex process, but it’s not quite as complicated as setting up a multi-faceted project like a Kickstarter; it’s more a matter of repetition than innovation.

Continue reading →

The Backable List: Episode 2

Folks really seemed to enjoy our last list (The Backable List: Episode 1), so we’re back with another great crop of crowdfunding projects that you’ll love sinking your teeth (and your dollars) into. And the theme this week is (mostly) holistic living…

anti-cancer-survival-kitBeatriz Da Costa was an intelligent and innovative artist who contributed much to the conversation on how to kick cancer’s ass. She was an Associate Professor of Studio Art, Electrical Engineering AND Computer Science at the University of California Irvine (how does that even happen?). Her impressive resume didn’t stop there – it included the founding of Preemptive Media, an arts, activism and technology group;  exhibits and lectures across the world; and a host of awards and honors.

The last piece of her legacy is empowering people diagnosed with cancer (and those who love them) in the ongoing process of building and maintaining healthy lifestyles. You might be surprised at the lack of research-based, easy-to-consume resources there are readily available to cancer survivors to improve quality of life and survival rates. Beatriz’ project and project supporters are going to change that.

Check out The Anti Cancer Survival Kit on Rockethub.

Shea Radiance, Keely Kernan, and Janet M. are the team behind a project geared towards helping women in rural Africa to produce shea nut products in a healthy, sustainable, and socially responsible way. It’s been shown time and again that educating women on how to improve their economic situation is one of the most powerful things that can be done to help communities facing difficulties. High quality beauty products? Economic empowerment? Glowing skin? Yes please.

This one is a little project that could – there are only a few days left to meet a dauntingly high goal! Lend a hand! :)

Check out Shea Radiance on Indiegogo.


We’ve got a great, positive (plant-based) vibe going on here, BUT I couldn’t help throwing in one last project (by Central Standard Time) just because it looks so frickin’ cool – total “shut up and take my money” eye candy.

Anyway, CST has taken on the challenge of creating the world’s thinnest watch. As Pebble demonstrated last year, the market for innovative watch technology is either hugely underserved or else people just can’t get enough of creative ways to tell time.

The project is on fire, so in this case it’s not a matter of helping them reach a goal, but instead of making sure that you don’t miss out on the chance to be part of something really big.

Check out CST-01: The World’s Thinnest Watch on Kickstarter

cst-01-thinnest-watch-kickstarter

Have a  project of your own that you want to launch?

Check out kickSmarter!

Emma Gets Chucked!

Emma Gets Chucked!

@emmalarkins earned her Level 1 “Welcome to Team Knodes” Chuck Taylors! It’s been an awesome 6 weeks and we’re sold (actually, we’ve been believers in her swag for quite a while now) on the amazing, energetic and crowdfunding passionate, soon-to-be author, BizDataAnalystperson that is Emma.

She’s written content like Top 5 reasons crowdfunding is hard she’s interviewed, she’s analyzed the crowdfunding space and she’s shown product chops on our kicksmarter beta (helps people successfully prep and launch crowdfunding projects). Essentially she rocks harder than Van Halen in Boulder, CO playing ROCK, paper scissors while ROCKing the Casbah. Think on it.

Say hi to her on twitter! You don’t want to miss her book launch…

5 Reasons Crowdfunding Is Hard (And Why to Do It Anyway)

doc brown futureCrowdfunding is the money-raising wave of the future. When it works, in addition to providing a much-needed infusion of cash, it’s a great validation of all the passion and sweat you’ve poured into your vision. However, there are a thousand and one things that can go wrong between inspiration and the moment of fulfillment that can make you wish you never bothered to chase your dream.

It’s still totally worth it. But before we tell you why, we’re going to drag you through all of the things that will miff, puzzle, peeve and enrage you. Don’t say you weren’t warned!

1. Grandma doesn’t get it.

“… I’ve never done a kickstarter before. Do you get ‘inside access’ type things like with unbound?”

–@shep5377

Here’s a fun test: try explaining to your parents, grandparents, or pretty much anyone who doesn’t regularly read Mashable or The Verge what crowdfunding is in less than fifteen minutes. It’s hard, because there are so many things that make it feel foreign to people who grew up in a different era. Get ready to field questions such as “Why are people paying money for something that doesn’t exist yet?” “Why are they taking a chance on strangers?” “If your project is so great, why can’t you just get money the old-fashioned way?” “Why don’t you go and get a real job?” (Okay, so that last one hits a little close to home.)

Once you “get it,” it seems obvious. Just know that not everyone is in the know yet – you hipster, you – and get ready to budget time for concept explanation accordingly.

2. Nobody told you your project video was grainy and weird until it was too late.

“Peter Molyneux’s kickstarter is not fairing well http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/22cans/project-godus … No surprise there, the video for it is utterly horrible.”

–@Peter_Lockhart

Not everyone with a genius idea is a gifted videographer, marketer, writer, or artist… and if you go ahead and try to do those things without help, it might just show. Some crowdfunding platforms use actual humans to vet projects, some use algorithms, and some don’t provide any oversight at all; but the reasons for approval or denial have little to do with quality. In some ways, this is a good thing: you don’t want the only people succeeding to be the ones who can pour tons of cash into project resources (as that would, you know, kind of defeat the whole point). But it’s also a bad thing in that people with really good ideas and skills not directly related to making things flashy and catchy can go unnoticed.

As a project owner, it pays to really put some thought and effort into how you build your project – and to get feedback early and often. You’d rehearse before your jazzhands recital wouldn’t you?

3. I don’t know how to get press exposure and I don’t know Ashton personally.

 “It makes me sad when a game ramping up to be awesome on Kickstarter ends up with a lowish rating or lack of support on [BoardGameGeek].”

–@bryanfischer 

It’s not always easy for a good, solid project to get the attention it deserves, especially if it’s in a crowded category. The end result is that project owners often end up turning to creative, wacky, or unusual methods of promotion. Sometimes the results can be awesome (the Freakers video on Kickstarter’s Best of 2011 list  is a good example). Other times, they can backfire horribly.

There’s no cut-and-dried way to go after the media – it can be a convoluted game that relies more on who you know than what you do. You can help the process along, though, by talking about, writing about, and sharing the stuff that excites you (and that relates, at least tangentially, to what you want to raise funds for). And DON’T forget to research the people who’ve covered projects LIKE yours.

4. I posted my project on Facebook but nobody gave.

Real-world example: Too many Tweets to count that say something to the effect of “I just funded a Kickstarter project!” or “Joe is a cool guy and he’s using Kickstarter!” — Everybody

Here’s what people are thinking when you send out vague messages like these. “Good for you! Who are you, again? There is literally no way that I can tell what you’re going on about from the nondescript equal-to-or-less-than 140 characters you’ve just dribbled into my feed. It gives me very little indication on why I should I spend money on this and not, say, a Netflix subscription so that I can catch up on episodes of Battlestar Galactica.” (Spin up the FTL drive!)

Most projects that succeed can be easily described in a few memorable words (see “iphone watch”, “banana piano”) Make sure your project is clear and that your backers can communicate it in a short, pithy description to make the re-sharing of your message more effective. Experiment with descriptions and get feedback!

5. Nobody likes to be badgered… even about your awesome project.

 “Sums up my feelings on Kickstarter… please stop begging me for $, friends, I need that money to buy shoes…”

–@GloriousBE

This was one of several great responses to a colorful article on Jezebel (nsfw language). It’s nice to realize your dreams. But it’s also nice to keep your friends. And not every friend is ready to contribute to your passion for collecting decade-old Twinkies. (Though some, of course, will be more than thrilled). Social networks are already prone to excessive over-sharing. Adding to the flood won’t make you popular, and it may not even get you funded.

Be selective and methodical. There are some great tools being developed to help with this issue. They’re based on the idea that you can find out early who really cares, and reach out in a smart, targeted, non-Spammy way.

And I should still do this… Why?
With all of the hard, bad stuff, is there really a reason to keep doing this? Abso-LUTE-ly. As we promised above, it’s a fundraising trend that’s here to stay for arts, entertainment, and even business. No middleman. Getting support from the people who love and want to buy your stuff? Yes please! According to a recent Salon article, “We, the people, decide whose movie or game or funky art installation gets the green light, and not some bean counter in Hollywood or New York, or government bureaucrat constrained by shifting political winds.”

So, now that you know the main reasons crowdfunding can be hard, and how to make it better, you really have no excuse. Get out there and give it a shot. What are you waiting for?

Have an idea and want help launching successfully?