Crowdfunding Now!

The Download: A crowdfunding site for black entrepreneurs By Steven OverlyApril 14, 2013 William Michael Cunningham says the black community has a tradition of “passing the hat” to collect donations when a friend needs financial help. That same custom guides BlackCrowdfunding.net, a Web site Cunningham has created where black entrepreneurs can raise money to start businesses. It’s one of many initiatives underway nationally, including several here in Washington, that aim to harness the potential of crowdfunding to benefit women and minority entrepreneurs. For a variety of reasons, these groups have often struggled to tap more traditional financing mechanisms, such as bank loans and venture capital. Cunningham said that fact was compounded during the economic downturn as many black families lost wealth when home values soured and unemployment climbed. “Most people start a business by taking out loans on their houses or going to friends and family and raising money that way,” C...

We have worked on a number of crowdfunding projects and can offer the following guidelines.  It is helpful to think of a crowdfunding project as a long-duration project, even if it is only three months long. Given this, "it is critical there be a continual flow of accurate information from team members, managers, partners, and the crowd concerning your project. Yet, our experience is that,  almost invariably, bad news concerning how a crowdfunding project is tracking doesn't get to noticed until it is too late to do anything about it . Most projects are run by one or two people, so this might be seen as surprising. Why is this? If we're talking about a project with a one or two-month duration, the temptation to ignore bad news is great. "Surely, the self-justification goes, we can work really hard, send a few emails, and things will come back on track. Surely, we can send some better tweets and make it up. Surely we can grab some attention somehow."  So h...

With crowdfunding gaining traction, I thought I would revisit and update our crowdfunding tips. 1. Review other crowdfunding campaigns for best practices As one blogger noted, "Before you start your crowdfunding campaign,  study others who have done it well." There will be many  examples of how to do crowdfunding right. Watch our Twitter feed (@Blackcrowdfund)  2. Hustle Develop a " strategic approach." Who are you trying to get support from? Why would they support you? What are the long term benefits to your supporters? Are you going to hit them up again? How many times?  Create a m edia list. Get "ambassadors," people who will speak on your behalf. "Plan ahead  as much as possible. This means contacting your supporters before you  launch to firm up their promotion and participation, and also  developing a thorough marketing plan." Above all, get going! 3. Adapt quickly As one crowdfunder put it, things may not go as planned. You wi...