Skip to main content

LeVar Burton Shows How To Crowdfund

We note with interest the recent Kickstarter campaign by LeVar Burton for Reading Rainbow. According to one news report, "Reading Rainbow, the PBS children’s program hosted by LeVar Burton that debuted in 1983 and went off the air in 2006,upset many with its departure. But Burton, who also executive produced the program, has managed to keep the project alive in some form or another in the time since. He launched the show as an app in 2012. And now his new venture is to take Reading Rainbow’s large digital library of books and videos to classrooms nationwide for free. But to do so Burton needs capital. So the Star Trek actor turned to Kickstarter to raise money. He launched his campaign last Wednesday to raise $1 million to launch his PBS children’s series online. Although Burton had allotted 35 days to raise the money, within 24 hours he had reached his goal."

Bravo! Why was this campaign so successful?
  • Well, it linked to two well known media properties, Reading Rainbow and Star Trek. 
  • The fact that Reading Rainbow was cancelled in 2006 and that Mr. Burton did not wait until now to try to relaunch, but had developed several successful products in the interim also worked in this campaign's favor.
  • His campaign was certainly socially responsible, with high social impact, focusing on an area of recognized need - education. 
  • He also had justification for a large crowdfunding goal. It other words, to do what he wanted to do, it will take at least a million. 
  • He had the name recognition required to generate initial curiosity, which, given the high quality of what he was offering, quickly turned into participation. 
  • He structured the rewards correctly, with an ultimate gift of some interest: a chance to wear Geordi's Visor at a dinner with Mr. Burton. Wow! It did not matter if anyone purchased the thing: that fact that it was offered at all showed Mr. Burton was all in. 
Let's look at his reward table:
NOTE: The campaign has multiple rewards at the same dollar level, so the table is not exact. Data as of June 2, 2014.
    For those of you considering crowdfunding, here are the key takeaways:

    A. You have a fan base. It is just not large enough to generate a million dollars in a day.
    B. Your fan base may, however, generate $1,000 in a day.
    C. If your crowdfunding goal is $1,000, then you are there.
    D. For your fan base, you also have something in your possession that will prove to them that you are all in. Think of what this might be and offer it (or a chance to posses it, if only temporarily.)
    E. Set a reasonable monetary goal, relative to what you are trying to do.
    F. Your entire campaign should be about something people can't get anywhere else, at any price.
    G. It should be for something that makes life better for someone else.

    Comments

    1. Great article, extremely insightful. Your breakdown of why things panned out was incredibly spot on and very easy to digest. It's not hard to see why Lavar was successful when described like this. It was more than just good rewards. Everything else was in place! Thank you for sharing this with us!

      ReplyDelete

    Post a Comment

    Popular posts from this blog

    Crowdfunding heads to Georgetown

    So first Fundrise raises $31Million for real estate crowdfunding.  Now Realty Mogul, a real estate crowdfunding platform, responds quickly with a rare opportunity to be a part of a $31.8 million project in the exclusive Georgetown neighborhood of Washington DC. #crowdfundrealestate Realty Mogul, along with   JOSS Realty Partners ( "JOSS" ) , is introducing the Georgetown Plaza to the crowdfunding world. This 150,097 square foot   Class B office building is  located on Wisconsin Avenue, Washington DC's major north-south artery and half a mile north of Georgetown University's main campus and Georgetown University Hospital. The primary objective of this investment crowdfunding campaign is to acquire, lease-up, and reposition the office building before reselling. In this crowdfunding transaction, Realty Mogul investors will hold a partnership equity stake in Realty Mogul 19, LLC.   Realty Mogul 19, LLC will subsequently invest in 2233 Wisconsin NY Member L

    Crowdfunding Accounting 101 - Revenue Recognition in Crowdfunding

    A start-up using crowd funding to create a product is different from a normal company. The start-up has cash inflows from donations but does not have a product, yet. In this situation, we recommend using completed-contract method to recognize revenue. Under this way of thinking, we assume the start-up is akin to a project or a long-term contract. The crowdfunding company will find it difficult to estimate the revenue from crowdfunders and, hence, the cost of rewards or perks. Under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and GAAP guidelines, if the firm cannot reliably measure the outcome of the project, revenue should be recognized based on contract costs. These costs should be expensed when incurred. Profit is recognized only at the completion of the project. In summary, for crowdfunding companies, revenue, expense, and profit are recognized only when the crowdfunded product is actually manufactured. 1 For example, assume that AAA Corp. wants to manufacture bicyc

    Why we are so optimistic about crowdfunding for minorities

    Dr. Mark Dean - On the IBM team that developed PC : "Mark E. Dean (born March 2, 1957) is an African American inventor and a computer engineer. He led the team that developed the ISA bus, and he led the design team responsible for creating the first one-gigahertz computer processor chip. Dean has also helped in the early development of the computer keyboard. He holds three of IBM's original nine PC patents." Jesse Russell , recognized father of digital cellular technology: "Jesse Eugene Russell (b April 26, 1948) is an African-American inventor and one of the visionaries’ whose innovative perspectives profoundly influenced the wireless communications industry, (a) driver of growth in the 21st century. Trained as an electrical engineer at Tennessee State University and Stanford University , and recognized globally as a thought-leader, technology expert and inventor in the field of wireless communication for over 20 years.." Emmitt McHenry , Founder of Ne