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A quick reference guide to using crowdfunding (also known as crowdsourcing) for Local Studies Collections.
Crowdfunding is a way for organisations to quickly raise money for a given item or project. Examples include money to acquire or conserve a specific item, or for running a project, event or exhibition.
Types of Crowdfunding
Individuals can invest in a scheme in four ways:
- Investment based – you invest in a business and receive a stake in return (normally shares).
- Loan based – you lend money to individuals or companies in return for a set interest rate (peer-to-peer business lending).
- Donation based – you donate to a person or charity (you may be promised something in return).
- Reward based – you give money in return for a reward linked to the project or cause you’re supporting.
Only investment-based crowd funding is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
There are a number of Crowdfunding websites to use such as Kickstarter, Crowdfunder and Fundable. Crowdfunder UK had been cited by Townsweb Archiving as the most popular and it is now in partnership with the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
When you have registered, set up your project page and once you’ve made it live, people can begin donating.
The National Archives ran a fundraising project between 2015 and 2018, providing training and support for those looking to grow the funding opportunities for their archive service. The legacy of this project has been to create e-learning packages on topics including Crowdfunding.
Points to Consider
The Stirling University fundraising team noted that one of the key advantages of crowdfunding is its potential reach. By using social media you can spread the word about your project far and wide, identifying and connecting with communities of interest around the world. Choose a collection with broad international appeal – a collection with an interesting story behind it, a connection to a major anniversary or event; use any hooks which might generate interest.
When designing the project for which you are seeking funding you should keep in mind the need to show supporters a return for their contributions. Your project should include work that makes a visible difference to your collection, something you can promote and share further down the line to demonstrate value. Remember the fundraising phase is only the beginning of your relationship with your supporters.
Not every collection you hold will be suited to a crowdfunding campaign.
As part of the local government, you should also have a persuasive case why people should pay extra money on top of their council tax.
Entrepreneur Europe notes that it takes a lot of time and resources to create a campaign. As already mentioned, you must have a handle – an engaging story to tell; a call to arms. The perks to sell must be tempting too. You must also persuade people that their money will be made good use of and will be safe. Include a ‘view pitch’ which is short and concise with a call to action. Spend an ‘amazingly’ long time on social media sites until the campaign is complete. Do your research before you begin. Be sure to know your target audience and have a clear and meaningful message and offer in place.
The Jenner Museum note that you need to constantly review your message as you receive feedback from those who have donated, altering your message to relate to what people are attracted to, which works as a kind of stakeholder consultation. Seeing how people responded to your initial message enables you to flesh it out further and translate into a better targeted campaign.
Developing your plan
What should your plan include? There should be an understanding of the external and internal situation and a goal. Donation and reward tiers can entice; include a well-developed case, campaign publicity, a plan to build ongoing relationships and to grow supporters for the long-term.
Do you have enough staff, senior management support, volunteers to do this?
- Do you have a budget?
- Do you have the technical capacity to do this? How best to keep a track of the donors?
- Are you clear what you want to achieve?
- Do you have the right processes in place? eg. gift aid or the ability to say thank you to donors?
Building your Crowd
How do you bring together a crowd to launch your project to?
What websites/social media channels would they use?
Think about your social media followers, friends and members, local networks, email lists, volunteers, community groups etc.
Working influencers
80% of people buy something recommended by an influencer. These ‘micro-influencers’ are people with expertise in a field but have thousands of followers. Target them to amplify your message and to help advertise and promote it. Try to build closer relationships with these people, even give them advance warning of news etc. Identify who your key influencers are. The Jenner Museum found a micro-influencer who spotted their campaign and sent it to his medical students in Canada. They built a local campaign for the museum there using a hashtag they designed themselves which proved very successful.
What are the key success factors?
- Exciting design
- Telling a story
- Using a platform that makes the most of your material in an interesting format
- Clearly showing the difference the money can make
- Timing – tie it in to an event or centenary
- Use feedback from initial supporters to help build your case and promote the message in an even more engaging way
What does a successful campaign need?
- audience
- short videos, images and external links improve success
- website (for credibility)
- perks or rewards and tiers (reward levels)
- pictures
- testimonials
- multiple ways to contact you
- the right ask/how their gift could make a difference
- a short and intensive campaign
- regular updates
- sustainability projects are more likely to be successful
- higher goals are less successful on average
- provision of good quality information
- You have to develop a powerful, tangible appeal which should feature on your website too, so that anyone who is visiting the site and considers making a donation has a strong reason for doing so.
- Identify a need – eg. digitising a film collection
- Find a solution – you need equipment, to pay for the cost of digitising, volunteers to help…
- Impact – this will provide better access, a better understanding of history and connection to the local area, hidden stories to uncover – WHAT DIFFERENCE WILL IT MAKE TO THE DONOR?
- Highlight strong individuals or stories in the history of the collection and why needs help/why it is important to help.
Case Studies
Peoples’ Museum, Manchester
https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/bring-manchesters-suffragette-banner-home
A Suffragette banner was discovered in a charity shop. It was auctioned off and went to a private bidder. The successful bidder agreed to sell it to the People’s Museum, Manchester for £20,000 but they did not have this kind of money available.
They decided to crowdsource with pledges from just £1. The rest of the money was found via the Arts Council, V&A Purchase Grant Fund and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Site used: Crowdfunder
Rewards were offered:
- £5 or more – to receive information and updates on the banner and their 2018 programme via our e-newsletter.
- £25 or more – as above plus a private museum tour focusing on the suffrage movement.
- £150 or more – as above plus invite to the private view of the centenary exhibition, 2018.
- £1,000 or more – as above plus a day’s experience with their Conservation team, gaining insight into the process of examination and investigation, and the preparations for the display of the banner.
The funding page went live in August 2017. The Museum created a YouTube video which they uploaded onto the site to explain what they needed the money for and why. Text on the crowdfunding site included: Project aim, About the Project.
The Peoples’ Museum managed to surpass their target by 7 September 2017. By 18 September they had raised £5,710 from 175 supporters in 28 days.
Getting publicity was key – the news went from the local press to the One Show on Friday 13 October 2017 which raised their profile further.
Women’s Royal Voluntary service
Hidden Histories of a Million Wartime Women
Their archive holds hundreds of ‘fragile bits of paper’ which together form a diary of life during WWII. Their aim is to get help to preserve and publish the material. Their goal was £25,000.
They used a variety of photographs, videos and quotes from their archive material to create emotive content that would appeal to different audiences. They also highlighted the unique aspects of the collection and its importance.
Site used: Kickstarter
Rewards offered:
- £10 or more – name placed on a roll of honour
- £20 or more – set of ten limited edition postcards
- £60 or more – full set of captured stories from a WVS centre of your choice
- £80 or more – postcards and print, or postcards and stories
- £120 or more – print and stories
- £140 or more – all of the above
- £1,000 or more – all of the above plus a day at the archives, including a personal tour, research opportunity and lunch with the archive team.
The funding page went live on 7 May 2016 and ran until 7 June 2016. The campaign raised £27,724 with over 750 backers. 7 donors pledged £1,000 or more.
British Culture Archive from Manchester
https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/thepeoplesarchive
A non-profit resource working to document everyday life, society and culture in the UK who wanted to establish a People’s Archive. This would be a permanent free gallery space and community hub in the North West; an accessible space to showcase their archive documenting working class society and culture in the UK.
Site used: Crowdfunder
Page included: About us, Why we are Crowdfunding, The People’s Archive, Gallery Space with slogan “Let’s make A Permanent Space for British Culture Archive Happen”.
They raised £11,609 in 89 days via 488 supporters, reaching their target and announcing their first exhibition to take place in London. They offered lots of updates with thanks to everyone who’d supported, shared and commented on the project; it had driven and cemented their belief in the work they were doing.
3 Nov 2019 BBC News online picked up the story https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-50004473
Peter Mackay Archive Digitisation Project
Townsweb Archiving worked with the University of Stirling on a project to digitise this archive relating to the independence movements of Zimbabwe and Malawi.
Following an effective promotional campaign across various media platforms they surpassed their target raising £8,100 of their £8,000 goal with 64 supporters in 56 days. Twitter in particular was very useful for the campaign. Key groups and organisations were identified and targeted alongside existing supporters. Key hastags helped to reach unknown interested audiences.
Land of the White Horses Project (Development Stage)
The North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty was crowdfunding as of October 2019 for the funds to engage a project officer to manage and submit the development stage of a National Lottery Heritage Fund bid.
Site used: The Good Exchange
They included text and an image.
References
Money Advice Service https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/crowdfunding–what-you-need-to-know
Entrepreneur.com https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/307250
Jenner Museum – content in webinar run by the Digital Archives Learning Exchange at the TNA, 2/6/2020
TNA Crowdsourcing webinar modules 1-4 by Claire Routley, June 2020.
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