CROWDFUNDING STAKEHOLDER TOOLKIT BUILDING YOUR COMMUNITY

Transcription

1 CROWDFUNDING STAKEHOLDER TOOLKIT BUILDING YOUR COMMUNITY

2 CROWDFUNDING STAKEHOLDERS IN THIS GUIDE YOU WILL LEARN: To run a successful crowdfunding platform, it's vital to gain the support of key stakeholders within your institution. If stakeholders feel involved and invested from the get-go, it's easier to ensure that your platform will be filled with successful projects from its launch week. WHY you need crowdfunding stakeholders. WHO the key stakeholders are. HOW to get these stakeholders involved. WHAT incentivizes stakeholders.

3 WHY DO YOU NEED STAKEHOLDERS?

4 Why do you need crowdfunding stakeholders? To run a successful crowdfunding program, you will need the support of various stakeholders across the university to: help you acquire crowdfunding projects mentor/champion/moderate projects share projects across communication channels support and donate to projects champion the crowdfunding website help you find project match funders

5 KEY AREAS FOR STAKEHOLDERS INVOLVEMENT FINDING PROMOTING YOUR ENSURING PROJECTS PLATFORM SUCCESS Who do you think most projects will come from? How can your platform and projects be publicized to the wider Who can make sure that the platform succeeds? community? Who will help you to find students and staff who will want to crowdfund projects? Student Union leaders? Who will mentor / champion projects Who in your institution has links to and ensure that they have a high university, local and national press? completion rate? Department heads? Clubs and societies? Can you make use of your careers / marketing / alumni relations teams? Will your crowdfunding program be open to alumni? If you could set up the ideal crowdfunding work group / steering group, who would you have in it? Who is most connected to the wider community?

6 POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS

7 FRAMEWORK POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS FRAMEWORK GROUPS Identify relevant groups within your university. e.g. Student Union, Heads of Departments, Marketing Team. POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS Identify stakeholder candidates within these groups. e.g. Student Union President. Every university is organised differently. With that in mind, the following framework will help you to identify potential crowdfunding stakeholders within your CROWDFUNDING ROLE Identify how can they help with your crowdfunding program. e.g. Advocate use of the platform, bring projects on board, distribute regular comms. university. STAKEHOLDER INCENTIVES Identify why these stakeholders might want to be involved. e.g. Help students fund and realise more activities.

8 POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS - TEMPLATE GROUPS POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS CROWDFUNDING ROLE STAKEHOLDER INCENTIVES Stakeholder candidates within these How can they help with your crowdfunding Why might these stakeholders want to be involved? groups. program?

9 IDENTIFY POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS University Student Management Union Alumni Finance Department POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS Academic Departments Legal Team Data Team Comms & Marketing

10 POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS - EXAMPLES GROUPS University Management POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS CROWDFUNDING ROLE STAKEHOLDER INCENTIVES Stakeholder candidates within these How can they help with your crowdfunding Why might these stakeholders want to be involved? groups. program? Vice Chancellor Senior management powerful message and helps to that a crowdfunding program could Academic and Support embed the program within the bring to the university Staff university Support from the top sends a They recognize the many benefits The crowdfunding program could align with the university's mission and goals

11 Our Vice-Chancellor, Anthony Forster, has been incredibly enthusiastic and supportive of Click from the very beginning. Not only did he attend the launch event, but he also donated to every launch project personally, and posted encouraging messages and retweets during their campaigns. His tweets generated some of the highest clickthrough numbers across the platform, and his support was invaluable in embedding the concept across the University. James Martin, Alumni Relations Officer, University of Essex click.hubbub.net

12 POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS - EXAMPLES GROUPS Finance Department POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS CROWDFUNDING ROLE STAKEHOLDER INCENTIVES Stakeholder candidates within these How can they help with your crowdfunding Why might these stakeholders want to be involved? groups. program? Legal team Director of Finance Head of Legal Approval of payment gateways Signing off financial processes Approving terms and conditions To oversee income streams To ensure the program adheres to university regulations Data team Database Manager Data processing To ensure data is processed in line with data protection regulations

13 POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS - EXAMPLES GROUPS Student Union POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS CROWDFUNDING ROLE STAKEHOLDER INCENTIVES Stakeholder candidates within these How can they help with your crowdfunding Why might these stakeholders want to be involved? groups. program? President Finding projects Marketing/Comms leader Distributing communications Activities/Sports leader Recruiting crowdfunding Make more activities possible Engagement team ambassadors Empower students through Raise and Give (RAG) team Society representatives Connect students and societies to an additional source of funding entrepreneurial skills development Showcase student initiatives

14 POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS - EXAMPLES GROUPS Academic Departments POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS CROWDFUNDING ROLE STAKEHOLDER INCENTIVES Stakeholder candidates within these How can they help with your crowdfunding Why might these stakeholders want to be involved? groups. program? For example: For example: Head of Arts and Finding projects Humanities Finding project mentors Head of Sciences Finding crowdfunding ambassadors Head of Technology For example: Help students fund end of year shows Showcase student achievements to the wider community

15 POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS - EXAMPLES GROUPS Marketing POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS CROWDFUNDING ROLE STAKEHOLDER INCENTIVES Stakeholder candidates within these How can they help with your crowdfunding Why might these stakeholders want to be involved? groups. program? For example: For example: Head of External Relations Advise on marketing strategy for the For example: Crowdfunding projects make crowdfunding program heartwarming positive stories and a Distribute regular crowdfunding great source of content to share on communications. marketing channels Include a section on crowdfunding on the university website.

16 HOW CAN YOU GET STAKEHOLDERS INVOLVED?

17 CROWDFUNDING WORKGROUP Initially, it can be a lot of work to get people involved in the program. We tend to find that face-to-face communication is very effective at this stage. You may find it helpful to set up a working group of stakeholders who get together every month or two. THE STAKEHOLDER WORKGROUP MEETINGS ARE AN OPPORTUNITY TO: Discuss the crowdfunding program and keep stakeholders Gather feedback from various areas of your institution updated Spot opportunities for improving your strategy Educate stakeholders about crowdfunding strategies Celebrate success Ensure that everyone is clear about their goals and actions

18 STAKEHOLDER INVITATION - TEMPLATE Dear {insert stakeholder name} What is crowdfunding exactly? Simply put, crowdfunding is an online funding mechanism that involves a The University of {name} will soon offer a unique opportunity for our broad pool of donors each contributing a small amount to a project or students and staff to raise funds for their projects through our dedicated idea. An example of a university platform is yustart.hubbub.net. {insert platform / university name} crowdfunding platform. Crowdfunding is a popular method of fundraising that offers an engaging and fun Join us! experience for donors; it is proven to encourage strong community We are organising a meeting of a select group of people from across the involvement that goes beyond the traditional channels. It is already university to look at our crowdfunding strategy and help select launch raising millions across the education sector. projects. We are in the process of developing the platform with hubbub.net, and we Can you join us on {meeting time, date} for a crowdfunding kickoff are bringing together a select group of individuals within the university to meeting to give your input? take part in the setup. We would love you to be involved in the next steps. {insert reason why eg. Your students especially are already very active in Looking forward to hearing from you. fundraising}. Kind regards, {insert name}

19 FIRST WORKGROUP MEETING Introduction to crowdfunding Strategy for onboarding projects What is crowdfunding? Where do projects come from? Who If your goal is 28 projects/year, can seven stakeholders moderates projects? Who donates to projects? Who owns the commit to onboarding one project/quarter? data? What skills are developed? Launch actions Brainstorm benefits for stakeholders Finding projects, supporting launch projects, completing a Crowdfunding programs bring many benefits across the marketing calendar, writing a press release, involving the Vice institution. How can crowdfunding benefit various Chancellor, developing a promotion strategy stakeholders and their communities? Vision for the crowdfunding program Communications plan How often will you meet? How will you distribute communications - minutes, updates, success stories? Who will What are your crowdfunding goals? E.g. 28 projects/year, 80% success rate, engaged alumni, skills development create and action the marketing calendar?

20 CALL FOR PROJECTS - TEMPLATE Dear {stakeholder name}, Do you know any students who need to raise funds for their projects (degree-related or personal)? I'd really appreciate it if you would let your students know about this opportunity. We'd love to help them raise funds and make their ideas a reality. At {insert university name} we provide free crowdfunding for everyone on {insert}.hubbub.net. The Development Office offers fundraising support for students who embark on this journey - we will actively help them to You can take a look at our crowdfunding platform on hubbub.net. Please get in touch if you have any questions. create compelling campaigns and strategies for reaching their fundraising targets. Kind regards, {insert name} {Optional: Additionally, we now offer matchfunding, and match every donation up to {insert amount}.

21 STAKEHOLDER RESOURCES

22 STAKEHOLDER RESOURCES What to include in your stakeholder pack: We recommend creating a stakeholder pack to help stakeholders who are looking to communicate your crowdfunding message. What is reward based crowdfunding? Benefits of crowdfunding The vision for your crowdfunding program Matchfunding (if relevant) An endorsement from your Vice Chancellor The types of projects you support Examples of successful campaigns - see Hubbub clients to find relevant examples. This will give them the confidence that they are on message and allow them to focus on acquiring projects, promoting the program and distributing communications. Links to Hubbub resources - the crowdfunding handbook, the rewards guide and the promotion guide. Any branded images, templates and materials you are using for your crowdfunding communications.

23 THANK YOU We hope you find this toolkit helpful and wish you the best on your crowdfunding journey. If you have any questions, please get in touch. Best wishes, The Hubbub Customer Success Team CONTACT US