So you’ve decided to start a crowdfunding campaign and get the world to help you fulfill a need or a dream? Well, it’s not over once the campaign ends. Those donors are now a community, your community, and you’ll need to stay in touch with them. They will want to stay in touch with each other and with you.
This is when you need to reach out to your post-crowdfunding community, if for no other reason, than to offer some necessary follow-ups:
1. Donation notices – Let your backers know you were successful and the bank debits will be coming through.
2. Campaign updates – You’ll want your supporters to keep up with your progress and success. Creating a social network they can belong to and easily get those updates is one of the best ways to do that.
3. Product setbacks – It’s just as important that people who donated understand when there’s a setback and how you plan to overcome any obstacles.
Staying in touch with campaign supporters is one of the top pieces of feedback from Forbes.com. The magazine website says, “The key to keeping backers happy is communication,” and even when you think it’s enough, it probably isn’t. One piece of advice from a successful crowdfunding campaign is to “make every effort to provide detailed updates frequently.”
Last but not least, your donors didn’t just give money because they felt a connection to you or were related to you, they’re in it for something else; the reward you promised.
Keeping up with your community after the campaign ends will also let them know you’re still there, and still working towards the success that they can share in.
Ultimately, your supporters got into this because they want to be part of something, so part of your success will be letting them be part of the journey with you.
