My name is Velvet and for the past 6 months, I have been preparing and running a crowdfunding campaign for a game my mother and I invented– Math Game 2x3. Our campaign is still running, and full disclosure, we haven’t yet reached our goal (please donate!) but I wanted to share what I’ve learned through the crowdfunding process.

Our Friends and Family are Awesome

From the very moment we began discussing starting a crowdfunding campaign, our friends and family were incredibly helpful and supportive. They started offering to help in every way possible: from social media, to funding, to volunteering to appear in our video. We can’t thank them enough for all of their help. Because of them, we hit 30% of our goal in the first 48 hours of our campaign. Without your close friends and family in your network, it’s nearly impossible to reach your crowdfunding goals. If you are planning on running a campaign in the near future, make sure you have reached out to your inner circle and given them the rundown. Don’t be afraid to ask them for help! Your group is made up of people with different strengths and personalities, and it takes a village to raise a child, er, crowdfunding campaign.

Start Planning Months in Advance

Crowdfunding is hard work. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying. But, if you develop plans months in advance, you can alleviate some of the stress. We started our social media campaign 3 months before launch and our email campaign shortly thereafter. From the moment we decided to crowdfund, we started conceptualizing our video almost instantly because we knew that having a compelling video was going to be the most important part of our campaign. Contacting our manufacturer and finishing up design came pretty early in the process as well. Some experts say you need 6 months to play, others say upwards of a year. Regardless, give yourself plenty of time to get ready.

You Don’t Need Kickstarter

Here’s something we didn’t know before starting crowdfunding. You are responsible for driving traffic to your crowdfunding campaign. Even Kickstarter and Indiegogo, the most popular crowdfunding sites, don’t drive traffic to your individual campaign unless you get a ton of donations first. This means niche sites, such as Fund an Idea, can work out just as well for you. Fund an Idea has given us more help and personal customer service than any of the big name crowdfunding sites ever could have. What matters is your ability to get people on your site through email lists, marketing efforts, public relations, press, and word of mouth, no matter what site you are on.

Email Lists and Campaigns are Key

Your email list is where the majority of your initial donations come from, so make sure you are emailing everyone you’ve had contact with in recent years. We segmented our email lists into groups based on how we knew the people and wrote our email copy keeping that in mind. This way, you can reach out to different types of people in different ways. I suggest using Mail Chimp or another email program to easily keep track of campaigns.

Crowdfunding campaigns are tough, but they are definitely a great chance to expand your influence and your knowledge in the world of business. My advice to anyone who is looking into crowdfunding is this: there’s no time like the present. Start planning your crowdfunding campaign now!