Jun 16, 2025
Founded by Arti Havaldar, a devoted student of Hindustani classical music, MYNA is supported by the Anibha Arts Foundation, a not-for-profit
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Founded by Arti Havaldar, a devoted student of Hindustani classical music, MYNA is supported by the Anibha Arts Foundation, a not-for-profit
FIVE TOP TIPS BEFORE YOU LAUNCH A CAMPAIGN
Image: Erin Forsyth
The Boosted team has put together five top tips to consider before launching into the crowdfunding sphere. Listen up…
Careful planning and execution is essential for successfully crowdfunding a project. These five tips will help prepare you and get you thinking along the right lines about what it takes to succeed on your campaign.
1. Talk, Talk, Talk!
Before you launch yourself on your epic crowdfunding adventure, talk to people who have done it before: the people who work at the crowdfunding platform! At Boosted we offer one on one support and you can contact us by phone or email. We’re happy to answer any questions you have, and can help you prepare and then support you as much as we can, through your campaign.
You should also talk to artists and arts organisations who have run crowdfunding projects before.
2. Dig Deep and Be Honest with Yourself
Why are you REALLY running a crowdfunding campaign? List ten good reasons which will help keep you focussed throughout the campaign.
What are you going to achieve with those funds? Beyond the actual project. Where will it lead to – immediately, and longer term?
Is this something your crowd are likely to care about? Put yourself in their shoes and consider what their emotional hooks are. Some will have very personal reasons and want to support you because they care about you and your career. Some
will be art lovers who like your project outcomes. Some will be your arts peers and some will support you because you live locally. Most donors will fall into two or more of these categories.
Once you feel confident about your aims and reasons, make sure it’s clearly communicated on your Boosted project page, in your social media, in your emails and when you talk about the project. See our post on storytelling here.
3. Front loading your Campaign
Most successful campaigns get off to a strong start (10% on the first day and 30% in the first week) because they use their existing networks. In the process they inspire and create ambassadors who will share their story. Therefore…
Use your existing networks. Email friends, family, colleagues, business partners, your old school, your postman. Tell your story to everyone you know to and ask them if they will back you on the first day. Harness the power of social media and remember to talk to people one-on-one. See our blog post on how to use Facebook for your campaign here, and on how to gather your network, here.
4. Keep the $$$ Real
Be realistic with your financial target. Crowdfund what you actually need, especially on an all-or-nothing site. Projects often raise more than their target, but you won’t raise anything if you don’t meet your target in the first place. It is heart-breaking to put in all that hard work, only to fall short completely.
5. “Never, Never, Never Give Up” - Winston Churchill
Don’t underestimate the power of jeopardy. Plenty of projects have sprinted across the finish line in the last 24 hours. It is nail biting and ideally you will get to 100% long before that, but it can trickle slowly in, right up until end. You never know who is waiting in the wings, watching closely and wanting to sweep you over the line.
Read this Q&A with Gemma Gracewood to hear an artist’s experience of crowdfunding, and how she prepared for her campaigns.
Drawings by Kate Ricketts, Project Manager and Digital Producer at Boosted. To read more about Kate, visit our website.
The 5 W’s for a Crowdfunding Pre-launch Event
The who, what, when, where and why of a pre-launch event
WHY should I have a pre-launch party?
To let people know you have a crowdfunding campaign coming up!
A common misconception is that you should spring your crowdfunding campaign on your friends, family and networks. Not true! We’ve found the best results come from letting people know well in advance that you will be doing one. We at Boosted have also found that it takes “three asks” to get people to donate.
Build momentum for your campaign so that on launch day everyone is ready to celebrate and donate on the first day! You will get so many warm fuzzies from seeing how many people support you.
WHO should I invite?
Friends, family, potential big donors, anyone who wants to celebrate your art and wants you to be successful! If you have done a network chart send the word out to them.
WHEN should I do it?
There is no golden rule to this, but generally a couple of weeks out from your launch date.
WHERE should I do it?
In a place where you feel comfortable to do it. Somewhere that you can celebrate and/or show what you do as an artist. This kind of depends on the ‘What’ section.
WHAT should the event be?
Well something that relates to you! You and your campaign.
Here are some ideas:
● If you are a local community printmaking group looking to crowdfund a new printing press maybe have an open day where people can try out some sort of art making.
● If you are a musician - great! Have a gig with a cover charge and let people know you will make a bulk donation on their behalf on the first day. During your performance remind people why they are there and what they are celebrating! Tell them to spread the word.
● The Loons Theatre Trust teamed up with local business Freeman’s cafe in Lyttelton for their pre-launch event. The Loons are setting up a new theatre in Lyttelton so they are rallying the whole community and local businesses to get in behind it!
If you want a hand brainstorming get in touch with a Boosted Ambassador and they can help talk through some ideas.
TIPS: ● During the event encourage people to take photos and share them on social media. ● If you aren’t good at public speaking, get an MC or have a poster up around saying you are running a crowdfunding campaign soon. Make sure to mention the date of when your campaign starts as well!
This blog was written by Gemma Syme, our Christchurch Boosted Ambassador. To read more about Gemma and the Boosted Ambassadors, visit our website.
4 Video apps to use for your crowdfunding campaign
Want to engage with your audience using video? Great idea!
Video is a great way to connect with your networks and let them know about you, your work and how you are going with your crowdfunding campaign.
Got to 50%? Send out a Vine celebrating it!
Doing a live event? Stream it on Periscope and remind people to check out your crowdfunding campaign online.
Here are some great apps that you can use.
Main Campaign video
BEFORE YOU START
• Make sure you have a good room to record if you need to create your videos first • If you want to talk during your video, make sure there isn’t a lot of noise so you get good quality audio
1. Cute CUT
What it’s good for: Cute Cut is a simple video editor that you can put together a basic video. You can also add music, titles, effects and a voice over. How to use it:
• Make sure you have the video/s & audio you want on your device. • Start a new project by pressing the ‘+’ in the top left hand corner. Choose the settings you want (pick the settings for where the video will end up. Is it going on Youtube, Instagram or somewhere else). • Click on the ‘+’ sign on the left hand side of the screen to start adding content. You can add videos, photos, text, drawings, and music or do a voice over. You can then move content around and edit it by double tapping whatever clip you want to edit. • Once you have a video you are happy with you can export the video to your device’s photo album, or directly to email, YouTube or Facebook. Here are some more videos on how to use Cute CUT
Compatible with: iOS (Mac) Amount: Free
During your campaign
People love seeing how you are getting on with your work and campaign, so video is a great way create some excitement and keep people update.
2. Vine
What it’s good for:
Filming short clips (up to 6 seconds) to engage with your audience and let them know what is going on behind the scenes. Humour works well on Vine!
How to use it:
Sign with Twitter. To make a Vine, click on the record button on the middle, bottom of your screen. Hold down on the video screen to start recording, and you can stop and start recording and also add music at the end. Don’t forget to hashtag (check out the #crowdfunding vines for ideas https://vine.co/tags/crowdfunding)
Compatible with:
iOS, Android, Windows
Amount:
Free
3. Periscope
What it’s good for:
Running a live event during your campaign? Stream it live!
How to use it:
Sign in with twitter, click the live broadcast, write in a title about what is happening (feel free to use a hashtag), and start broadcasting! Afterwards it will save your video so you can save it to your phone, and if you want you can upload it to Youtube and Facebook. Don’t forget you can interact with people live during a broadcast, so remind people to go and check out your crowdfunding campaign as well.
Compatible with:
iOS, Android
Amount:
Free
4. VIBBIDI
What it’s good for:
This is the new kid on the block and still in testing, but you can sign up for an invitation to try it on their website. This is a great app for putting together short clips that you can post to Instagram and Twitter. You choose a variety of clips that you want and edit them to a set duration, add a filter to each and then you can add music from Spotify.
How to use it:
Make sure you have the clips you want to use on your device. Log in with either a VIBBIDI username, Facebook or Instagram. To make a video click the button in the bottom, middle of the screen. Here you can choose one of four options (all options have a 3 second ending where you can write text).
1.1 second x 12 clips (with a 3 second ending)
2.2 second x 6 clips (with a 3 second ending)
3.15 second x 1 clip (with a 3 second ending)
4.30 second x 1 clip (with a 3 second ending)
Edit the clip/s how you want it and then add a filter and music to your clips.
Compatible with:
iOS
Amount:
Free
This blog was written by Gemma Syme, our Christchurch Boosted Ambassador. To read more about Gemma and the Boosted Ambassadors, visit our website.
We're partying like it's $999,999, and feeling like a million bucks! Boosted has granted more than $1million to New Zealand arts projects in two years. Our friends at Monster Valley and Resene have helped us celebrate by chucking paint at a bunch of folk, and covering them in vibrant colours in honour of 170 arts projects that have achieved success on Boosted, and the 6,000+ donors that have joined them along the way. We are super proud to be helping artists to paint our country with artistic goodness, and you guys are one in a million - THANK YOU for boosting the arts! www.boosted.org.nz