By Mxolisi Mhlongo
Crowdfunding is essentially about persuading individuals to each give you a small donation to fund a project, that’s anything from R10 to R100. Masses in South Africa haven’t really grasped the idea of how to use crowdfunding and what to use it for.
This somehow works really well for some communities, like the Cape Town couple Martea Roos and Marcel Steenkamp who recently raised funds for their wedding through crowdfunding. However, this hasn’t been smooth sailing for some black communities, like Simphiwe Mntambo’s Menstrual Products for School Girls.
There may be many reasons for this, one being the black community not understanding how it works or its purposes or just the campaign owner not targeting the correct audience. A lot of people are already running sanitary and menstrual projects for school girls and people usually donate by buying those products and donating them to the funders instead of giving them cash so that might be the reason why Simphiwe’s campaign is not taking off.
The key is to engage people in your idea, be able to convince them to invest a small amount of money for a small reward and then get them to share the project because they feel they have bought into something special and want others to know about it. The best crowdfunding projects get people talking about them and the investment follows on.
How to set up a crowdfunding project:
1. Choose a platform – There are a lot of different crowdfunding sites to choose from, such as Crowdcube, Crowdfunder, and Kickstarter. Choose the platform that is right for you and create your project.
2. Make your idea enticing – In order to get the attention of potential investors, be sure to have a short and snappy sales pitch and some great imagery or video content related to your idea. This will help you stand out.
3. Update your backers as your project progresses – You need to keep your project backers in the loop as you move forward with your campaign. If you don’t share regular updates with them, you could lose their interest and might not be able to attract as many pledgers as you’d like.
Does it work in South Africa?
Yes, it does, as a matter of fact, there are more than 10 different platforms where one can run their projects from such as candystick.co.za, thundafund.co.za, jumpstarter.co.za, & startme.co.za to name a few.
Below are real examples of South Africans who are running crowdfunding projects. One is doing really well and the other is struggling to get funding which actually shows the importance of planning your project and understanding your goal and audience.
Beyond bars – Beyond bars Akademia
Beyond Bars Akademia is a hospitality school for rehabilitating formerly incarcerated women through an experimental way of learning using multidisciplinary courses and cross-disciplinary method of education. Their pilot involves 10 formerly incarcerated women being taken as an apprentices and then receiving a full-time job placement. If the five-year pilot is successful, the vision is to open the program to 500 people a year.
Pledge so far: R44,170
Percentage: 16%
Dream goal: R270,000
Backers: 90
Eco-Friendly Menstrual Products school girls – Simphiwe Mntambo
Their big vision is to launch a factory producing eco-friendly pads and support 500 girls and women with safe menstrual products in 2018 and 11 permanent and commission jobs. Tipping Point: Host five Women’s Health Workshops in 2018 Dream funding Goal: Establish a sanitary pad factory in South Africa, employing six women and making 500, 000 pads per month to sell through 11 agents employed on a commission basis
Pledge so far: R3, 000
Percentage: 1%
Dream goal: R600,000
Backers: 40
Crowdfunding platforms generally have built-in tools that allow you to update your project backers and send messages to them. Take advantage of these tools and keep everyone in the loop as people who’ve already backed your project can make for great project ambassadors.
