Tips for Kickstarter and Indiegogo Campaigns
I’m excited to share with you a 2-part series on how to optimize your Kickstarter or IndieGoGo campaign.
I am also excited to announce that I am directing a new documentary film, “Bold Mother Hubbard: The Story and Life of Barbara Marx Hubbard”.
Whether or not you know Barbara (one of the world’s leading visionaries), this is good news for you because I will be sharing along the journey real-life success stories and lessons about the process of creating a compelling documentary film.
In fact, in this first of a 2-part series, I will be sharing three great ideas for creating your own IndieGogo campaign with my own as an example. My next newsletter will focus on tips for creating a Kickstarter campaign. (Some tips apply to both platforms.)
Here are 3 tips!
First, I often hear from filmmakers that they feel caught in a double bind. On the one hand, they need to raise money. On the other hand, they need a few thousand dollars to create their fundraising trailer. How do you break through this classic Catch 22?
Here’s what I’m doing and it’s working brilliantly. Leverage a small amount of start-up capital, say $500. Hire a top-notch camera person for half a day. Don’t skimp here because the look of your cinematography is critical.
On your half-day shoot, film three things: 1) an interview with someone from your film who is as emotionally compelling and as high-profile as possible; 2) a conversation between you and that person, and 3) a direct camera address, in which say why you’re making the film and ask for funds.
You’ll use this beautifully shot footage to create your trailer. In the personal example that I will share with you, you’ll see that I began the trailer with the film’s subject, Barbara.
You may decide not to do this, depending on the audience for your trailer.
Conventional wisdom, according to fundraising guru Morrie Warshawski, is to start (and sometimes end) with your own personal statement because most viewers of the trailer will know and care about you more than someone from your film. If your film is a biography, and you are primarily targeting potential donors who know that person, you may decide to break conventional wisdom and start with the film’s subject, as I did here:
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/226485
Include in your personal pitch to viewers why this film is important, not only to you but to them. If it speaks to their values, they will give.
Second, use music intelligently. I’ve seen many filmmakers make the mistake of laying a solid bed of music under their trailer. Don’t do this. Rather, bring music in, and take music away, in order to make a point. In this example, I bring music in three times, and stop the music three times.
As you know, introducing music adds emotion. Likewise, buttoning up music and creating silence also adds emotion, or at least punctuates the verbal point just made.
My composer Evan Hodges says, “If you are looking for a heartfelt soundscape, the key is to create a score that can breathe.”
For more ideas about using music for your own campaign, you can reach Evan at evanhodgesmusic@gmail.com. He’s a talented composer who brings film to life through music by creating thematic development and using real instrumentation. Check out samples at: http://www.evanhodgesmusic.com
Music is almost as important as cinematography, but you don’t have to spend money on it. I asked Evan if I could use pre-existing melodies he’d created in exchange for publicizing his advice in this email. You can strike a similar deal. There are scores of musicians (no pun intended) who would love to get their work out there in the form of a fundraising trailer. Plus, it’s a great way to audition a composer!
Third, if you’re using IndieGoGo as your platform, considering partnering, as I did, with Carole Dean and From the Heart Productions. Carole will act as your film’s fiscal sponsor and ensure that all your contributors get a tax-deductible contribution. Her fee for this service is a just a fraction more than what you would have paid in fees to IndieGoGo and Paypal. Plus, you get paid every two weeks (rather than a few weeks after your campaign ends), and you receive free one-on-one fundraising consultations with this acclaimed fundraising professional.
Learn more at http://www.fromtheheartproductions.com/fiscal.shtml or email Carole directly at caroleedean@att.net. (Also, her check out her grant; the deadline is Sept 30th.)
By sharing my own IndieGoGo campaign, my purpose is two fold. First, I want to share with you my expertise through an example. I’m happy to report we raised ten percent of our $20,000 goal in less than 24 hours, a great return for an email list of 400 friends and family members. Second, some of you will want to contribute to this project because it speaks to your values, and I invite you to do so.
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/226485
This final and seemingly self-serving point brings up a critical assumption in your fundraising campaign, which I learned from fundraising guru Morrie Warshawski: http://www.warshawski.com/books.html
Shamelessly embrace the premise that there are people who will want to give to your project because it is about something larger than you. It’s about stories or ideas that embody the donor’s core beliefs and values. By not inviting people to contribute, you are doing some of them a disservice.
Having said that, I strongly believe that you need to give first. As I am doing in this tip-filled email, give something away.
I also want to give you the opportunity to share your own crowdfunding campaign via this email newsletter, which reaches more than 2000 filmmakers.
To qualify, you must share with other filmmakers in 1-2 sentences some valuable piece of advice about what either worked or didn’t work in your campaign. If your advice adds to this conversation, I will publish your campaign’s URL and your 1-2 sentence tip in my newsletter and blog!
