Hardy Crowdfunder exceeds targets

• An online campaign using the Crowdfunder platform to raise £5000 for the Thomas Hardy exhibition.  
• Generating content – text and video.
• Generating and planning social media content to promote the campaign.
• Generating rewards for donations.
• Establishing external partners to help promote the campaign.
• Securing VIP patrons to help promote the campaign.
• Working with museum partners to promote the campaign.
• Fulfilment of campaign rewards.
• Processing of gift aid from donations.

Pictured below: One of the rewards was to adopt Thomas Hardy’s notebook for The Trumpet Major.

• Our main aim was to raise £5000 for the Thomas Hardy Exhibition.
• A secondary aim was to utilise this campaign as a ‘soft launch’ for the exhibition to test the water with the press and public as to how it might be received.
• Another aim was to try a new way of fundraising and, within that, fundraising directly to the public.

Was extensive… We developed a Gantt chart project plan that all members of the team had access to. This helped us to keep on track. However, the whole programme did take much longer than we thought, and we ended up pushing back the launch date.

• We started off by researching prior Crowdfunding campaigns of a similar style, e.g. Wiltshire Museum, Mary Anning Rocks and Dorset History Centre.
• We took on board key learnings from them:
  • The need for external partners and patrons.
  • The time commitment required, especially for social media.
• We wrote an extensive project plan – trying to divide up the responsibilities across the team in order to avoid overloading one individual.
• We planned and sourced our rewards – considering allowable gift aid limits.
• We researched and contacted around 50 external organisations who we hoped might have an interest in helping us to promote the campaign.
• We contacted individuals who we hoped would be patrons of the campaign in order to maximise publicity potential.
• We developed a bank of content – written, film and images – to use on the Crowdfunder page and for social media.

Pictured below: Lord Julian Fellowes of West Stafford, President of the Thomas Hardy Society, and one of our Crowdfunder patrons, with Harriet Still, our Hardy exhibition curator. 

• The campaign raised £5235 (plus £867 estimated in Gift Aid).
• There were 97 donors.
• Fifty-eight donors chose no reward.
• The average donation amount was £43.28.
• The most popular rewards were the tote bag at £25 and adopt-an-object at £60.
• There was a notable influx in donations after a BBC piece featuring Lord Julian Fellowes of West Stafford was broadcast speaking about the campaign.
• The middle two weeks of the campaign were much slower in terms of engagement and donations – most donations were made either in the first or last week.
• Twenty donations came directly from click-through on Facebook.

Pictured below: One of the adopt-an-object rewards – the only known painting of Hardy with his mother. 

• We surpassed our fundraising target.
• Donors could opt-in to our mailing list, and many did.
• We created a buzz around the exhibition, which we were able to build on subsequently.
• It strengthened our relationship with the patrons.
• We received many lovely comments from all over the world, enabling us to see Thomas Hardy’s reach.
• We received an influx of press interest, which we could capitalise on for the exhibition.

Pictured below: One of the adopt-an-object rewards – Emma Hardy’s notebook, where she writes about her husband. 

• Agree on text with all parties before inputting it onto the Crowdfunder site. The system is clunky and takes time to input – moving photos and aligning text is tricky. Strict character counts mean detailed editing.
• There is an automatic thank you email sent from the website that cannot be edited – we were unaware of this, and the wording didn’t suit our campaign – to mitigate this, we emailed a separate thank you to all donors.
• Keep all rewards separate – we initially put adopt-an-object as one reward with each of the objects as separate options – but realised it couldn’t work as we were limiting each object to two adopters. Our original setup meant that multiple people could adopt the same object. We had to get the Crowdfunder support desk to put this right. 
• You can’t change the text on a reward after one has been adopted.
• No images are possible on the reward sections, so they must be shown in the general text. Have less rewards? It would make it easier to upload all images.
• All these elements meant it took more time than anticipated:
  • Uploading took longer than envisaged (the platform was new to us, and it’s a slightly clunky system).
  • Media interest and enquiries, especially sorting out interviews, were very time-consuming.
  • Responding on social media, not just posting.
  • Re-doing or filming new videos in reaction to the take-up of Adopt an Object.
  • Adding new rewards.
  • Sending out virtual rewards.
  • Sending out additional thank you emails.
• Think carefully about Gift Aid and permitted benefit allowances on rewards.

• Planning is key.
• External partner support is crucial – allow time beforehand to get them on board.
• Having patrons and trustees with high public/social media profiles is beneficial to the campaign.
• Have an overall social media plan with suggested posts but be flexible. You have to change as the Crowdfunder develops – pushing objects that haven’t been adopted, etc.
• The Art Fund platform may have more capacity for visuals in respect of rewards. The Crowdfunder platform is more well-known.
• Time of year was potentially a factor in terms of rewards take-up, time intensity of producing rewards etc., as we finished our Crowdfunder in mid-December, which meant battling with Christmas posting dates etc.
  
  
• Pictured below: One of our adopt-an-object rewards – Hardy’s print of Les Violettes.  

• You get out what you put in – what we mean by this is that the more preparation work you are able to do, the better. This especially applies in terms of communicating with like-minded organisations who may help publicise the campaign, get patrons on board and plan the promotion.
• Do not underestimate the amount of time it takes.

Cathy Lewis

Marketing & Digital Officer, Wessex Museums

cathy.lewis@wessexmuseums.org.uk