For fundraisers, ‘crowdfunding’ is the new black. But as public funding shrinks, can this new, online way of raising money fill the gap? Northings spoke to Ed Whiting, Founder of the not-for profit crowdfunding website www.wedidthis.org.uk to find out how it all works.

NORTHINGS: Crowdfunding has risen in popularity in recent years can you explain the concept?

ED WHITING: Crowdfunding is a great way to build a broad base of micro-funders for your work, turning your audiences and supporters into funders by offering them unique incentives to give, using social media tools to build an exciting ‘buzz’ around your project. The idea behind crowdfunding is wonderfully simple- exhibit a pitch for your creative project that tells an inspiring story of what you’d like to achieve, offer everyone who funds you a special ‘reward’ or gift in return for their support, and spread the word far and wide to find your funders.

Because every crowdfunding campaign is aimed at a specific goal and is time-limited in duration (e.g. on WeDidThis, all projects have 30 days to raise the funds they need), so it’s a very tangible and transparent way to raise funds. And for many platforms (including WeDidThis), projects only receive the funds they raise if they reach their funding goals, so your funders have a strong incentive to get behind your project and spread the word.

WeDidThis website - www.wedidthis.org.uk

NORTHINGS: ‘WeDidThis’ launched in January, what can you tell us about your first year?

ED WHITING: Sure- since we launched, we’ve received over 1,200 donations to WeDidThis projects, fully funding 28 projects so far and raising over £55k in the process. Funded projects have ranged from dance to theatre, opera to arts festivals, visual arts to arts education projects, and everything in between.

Since June we’ve been trying out a new approach to crowdfunding, launching ‘collectives’ of projects each month which all start and finishing on the same day. We’ve hosted parties every month to give projects and artists the chance to meet new funders and to enjoy great arts performances (which have raised over £850 in micro-donations on the night), and offered funders the chance to win prizes on individual days throughout each month. We’ve found that this approach has increased our donation rate and project success rate, bringing a new sense of momentum to the projects on WeDidThis.

NORTHINGS: There have been a number of crowdfunding websites launched in recent years what makes ‘WeDidThis’ different?

ED WHITING: WeDidThis was established to help the UK arts sector, and we believe that we are best equipped to do so.

– We are a platform for arts projects only- so you won’t be pitching alongside tech or business ideas, for example. We think this leads to greater ‘cross-funding’ between projects, because everyone visiting WeDidThis does so to view arts projects.

– By starting and finishing projects on WeDidThis at the same time each month, we encourage projects on WeDidThis to collaborate with each other, sharing in the ‘journey’ of running a crowdfunding campaign and making a greater impact than the some of their parts.

– We offer projects on WeDidThis feedback on their pitch and support in running their campaigns.

– We offer more to funders of projects on our platform- including the chance to come along and enjoy great parties and win arts goodies on our ‘prize days’. We also make funds go further by giving each funder the opportunity to allow us to reallocate their donation if the project they have backed does not reach its goal, in so doing helping someone else succeed.

– Because all WeDidThis project rewards are hosted on Culturelabel.com, WeDidThis projects can pitch their rewards alongside the very best gifts from galleries and cultural institutions- broadening the audience for each project.

Finally, uniquely among crowdfunding platforms, we are a not-for-profit company and are committed to reinvesting the profits that we make back into the arts.

NORTHINGS: Do you think that crowdfunding is having an effect on the awareness and connection of audiences with projects?

ED WHITING: Definitely. We are seeing examples every week of projects building deeper relationships with their funders, often with unexpected and exciting results! For instance, there’s the travel writing project where as well as reaching his target, the project leader was inundated with offers of places to stay through the course of his tour (http://wedidthis.org.uk/projects/after-woods-and-water). Similarly, there’s Hokoloko’s campaign (http://vimeo.com/23365122 ), that didn’t succeed in reaching its goal but did succeed in galvanising support and new volunteers, such that their project will now happen anyway! We think that crowdfunding is a really great way to start a new, long-term relationship with your audiences- and that this opportunity is as exciting as the money that projects raise.

NORTHINGS: What scope do you think there might be for attracting new donors who’ve had no previous contact with an applicant?

ED WHITING: Well, every month we have seen this happen, and we have a small but growing community of regular donors to WeDidThis projects. We also from time to time hear of projects who have received generous donations out of the blue. However, while both of these things do happen, the backbone of successful pitches tend to be the friends and fans of the individual or organisation leading the pitch. That’s not to say that every WeDidThis funder must already be a donor to that project- our research has suggested that many WeDidThis donors are new to funding arts projects, even though they may know about the people leading the project they have supported.

NORTHINGS: How could crowdfunding and ‘WeDidThis’ work for projects in the Highlands and Islands?

ED WHITING: We’d love to work with creatives in the Highands and Islands to put together a ‘collective’ of local arts projects for funding during a month in 2012.We think that a platform like WeDidThis could support local artists effectively to reach out to a wide audience of arts lovers across the area, using the collective appeal of a group of artists working together to shout louder and secure more funding than individual projects might manage by themselves. If you might be interested in forming part of this ‘collective’, do get in touch at projects@wedidthis.org.uk

NORTHINGS: What are the essentials of a good pitch?

ED WHITING: Although successful crowdfunding pitches can vary enormously, we think that there are some common characteristics to the really great ones:-

A personal touch- if you’re leading a project, put yourself in the pitch video and tell everyone (as passionately as you can) why they should support you. Remember that in funding a project, your supporters will be backing you as much as well as your project. Reach out to your supporters using personalised messages through the course of the campaign, and when you receive a donation, thank each supporter personally. The time it takes to do this will be more than repayed in the loyalty you’ll build from your funders.

A clear and strong offer- Be absolutely explicit about what you’re trying to achieve with the project, why it is worth funding, and whatyou will spend the money on. Your funders need to know that their money will be put to good use if they donate!

Interesting rewards- Crowdfunding offers a great opportunity to offer your funders something kooky, inventive and inspiring in return for their support, so be creative! Give them gifts and experiences they couldn’t get elsewhere, and ways to get closer to you and the project. And make sure there’s something interesting on offer at each price range (e.g. a cup of tea and a hug for £20, a guided tour round the project for £50, the opportunity to experience rehearsals for £75, etc).

Commitment to the cause- Not strictly speaking about the pitch, I know, but a really important one- you’ll only succeed in getting your pitch fully funded if you work hard to reach as wide an audience as possible. Communicate regularly in as many different ways as you can, thank everyone each day and ask directly for their support. As I hope I’ve made clear already, it will be worth it!

NORTHINGS: What does the future hold for ‘WeDidThis’?

ED WHITING: Quite a lot- We’re working on some exciting new features for the site, expanding the service we’re offering the arts sector, and looking for new ways to continue building a movement of arts supporters committed to making great arts projects happen. We’re not quite ready to announce all of these new features yet, but watch this space- exciting times ahead!

© Northings, 2011