Crowdfunding in a Box: Support to get started from TryTank
From TryTank, a joint project of Virginia Theological Seminary and General Seminary: Join our new experiment: "Crowdfunding in a Box". As we began to think about the church in a post-COVID-19 world, we came up with an idea that can serve a few needs - "Crowdfunding in a Box."
The Need: Many Episcopal organizations have suffered a HUGE financial hit from this pandemic. They need money fast.
Our Experimental Solution: Let's develop an easy to follow system for executing a successful crowdfunding campaign using best practices from the industry.
It breaks down into three main steps: Mission clarity, The Campaign Video, Execution of the campaign
The goal of the crowdfunding campaign is to raise funds. According to Nonprofits' Source, the average amount that a nonprofit organization raises from a crowdfunding campaign is $9,237.55. I'm sure many orgs could use an extra $10K right now.
However, there are two really important side benefits of the crowdfunding campaign. First, going through the relatively simple and quick exercises for mission clarity will help you get to the core of who they are and why they exist. This will help in reimagining what they could become. We will be using Simon Sinek's "Begin With Why" process. Second, the moment that an organization's community start sharing the video and campaign on social media and telling their friends about it they are, yup, evangelizing! And who knows, when I ask my friends to support my camp because it is important to me and it makes a difference in the community, then maybe someone will see the video and decide they might find a home there.
If you participate, here's what that means:
MISSION CLARITY: for this part, we have contracted with Simon Sinek's organization to lead a workshop on "Finding Your Why" for your church. Two members of your organization participate. The date will be finalized soon and should be at the end of June.
CAMPAIGN VIDEO: for this part, we have hired storytellers to show you how to tell your story in video form. The goal is to guide you, step-by-step, through the process of making a 3-minute video.
EXECUTION: For this part, we will provide you with a list of the possible platforms you can use and the best practices on how to use them.
