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Is indiegogo worth it as a fundraising tool for nonprofit research? (self.nonprofit)

submitted ago by littleshalittle

I'm going to be doing an unpaid internship in Dublin researching human rights this summer and I'm trying to raise funds for my trip. I set up an indiegogo fundraiser but I'm wondering if there's anything else I can do to raise money?

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[–]timmy_mcnulty 2 points3 points ago

Promote the hell out of it through any channel necessary.

A friend was recently able to partially fund her graduate studies program in Russia through an IndieGoGo campaign. She made sure everyone she knew heard about it, wrote a compelling story on the page, and personally thanked everyone who contributed. That said, it also helped that she has always been an extremely nice person to everyone she's ever met.

[–]littleshalittle[S] 1 point2 points ago

Thank you so much! It's nice to see helpful people on reddit. :)

[–]timmy_mcnulty 2 points3 points ago

I'm just here to breath hope back into humanity.

Also, it's a bit antithetical, but with Facebook's personal promoted posts you can pay (I think) $7 for all of your Facebook friends to see a post. If your Facebook friends like you, a novel concept in this day and age, that's a great way to get traction.

[–]littleshalittle[S] 1 point2 points ago

Good call. Again thank you!

[–]CaptainKabob 1 point2 points ago

You have to approach Indiegogo (or any crowd funding platform) as a tool for collecting money from friends and friends of friends, not as something which will pull money out of thin air. Which means you have to do the legwork (armwork?) of reaching out to the people you know and asking them to fund you and asking them to ask your friends to fund you.

At the end of the day, it's really no different than asking people you know (and the people they know) to write you a check... It's just more convenient to collect the money and continue to cultivate those relationships thru the messages system.

[–]littleshalittle[S] 0 points1 point ago

Hmmm so aside from harassing my friends do you know any subreddits that I could post to?

[–]CaptainKabob -2 points-1 points ago

harassing my friends

I know you're probably just being cheeky, but you gotta stay on message. If you can't convince your friends to fund you, you'll have even less luck with strangers.

In terms of subreddits, you could start with this one.

Edit: I mean by posting in the comments here.

[–]feralparakeet 0 points1 point ago

No, it's not at all a good idea to solicit donations from this website - take a look at the new sidebar. People begging for money, no matter the reason, is part of why this subreddit is practically dead and useless.

[–]CaptainKabob 1 point2 points ago

I was being rather direct and was hoping OP would post a link to in the comments it so that I could see it, which seems topical. I'm fine if you disagree, though I totally agree that this subreddit is absolute crap and hope that the new guidelines (and hopefully active mods) change that.

[–]virak_john 1 point2 points ago

Hey. Whoa. What's up with this subreddit changing the typeface and size?

It's quite distracting.

[–]littleshalittle[S] 0 points1 point ago

It looks fine to me? Screenshot?

[–]dmx007 1 point2 points ago

Yes, it's worth running a campaign on IGG or any other fundraising platform. But the key is really getting the word out to the largest number of friends and friends-of-friends, and having an effective call-to-action that has the potential to trigger donations even from people who aren't your direct friends and family.

Use a video in your outreach, and focus on explaining why you want to do this internship and what the benefit to society will be for your effort. Finally, get someone who has a large network themselves to make the first, and largish, donation. Then donate to match that donation. This signals 1) that you are investing in this and 2) that other respected people support your effort in a big way. That sets the tone for the next several donations.

Avoid signaling that small gifts help (e.g. "If everyone just gives $10....). Statistically, they really don't and a trend of small gifts will signal in a way that reduces the chances of future large donations.

Finally, send regular updates to everyone who makes a donation. Big gifts often come from early small donors who get inspired during the process to give again.

Finally, do display a donor list on your page to show who donated what. Potential donors look there to see who donated and at what amount. If it's missing, they feel like the campaign might not get traction and won't donate/won't donate as much.

Context: I lead the crowdfunding strategy for a large non-profit.

[–]littleshalittle[S] 0 points1 point ago

This is fantastic. Thank you so much for your detailed post. I had no idea the "if you just donate a little..." Strategy didn't work.

You've inspired me to also create a video so that I can get more traction. I'm also having a hard time finding the balance between persistence and spammy.

In response to your last bit, I got a $50 dollar donation (and my only donation so far) from BOMANI JONES (ESPN guy for all that don't know) so hopefully I can use that as a talking point!

[–]dmx007 1 point2 points ago

Happy to help. Good luck with the fundraiser and internship.