What is crowdfunding and is it the right thing for me?

Crowdfunding offers new opportunities for the funding of ambitious initiatives, but one also has to know how to use it. Crowdfunding is no public cash machine where you just get in line and wait for the disbursement. Crowdfunding is also not a virtual funding agency where you submit your project and then wait and see what will happen. 

Successful crowdfunding is the successful mobilization of a crowd.

Let’s begin with the important questions:  

• Do I have a network which I can motivate?
• Is this topic also interesting for people other than my closest friends?
• Am I already active on social media and have built up an online community for my cause?
• Am I excited to share small victories with others and to challenge them to share the joy with others?
• Am I ready to invest a lot of time for several weeks into the start of a crowdfunding campaign? 

Important: You need to be aware that crowdfunding takes time. You have to communicate throughout the whole crowdfunding-phase and try to target your message through every possible channel.