Financing / Crowdfunding : Need some advice by Jacob Siciliano

All I can say is the only one I was associated with that was successful - and they raised $350k - spent hundreds of hours in social media posting, worked their own large email lists and spent like $40K on Facebook adverts. It can work but best if you have a large grassroots support base to draw on.

Jacob Siciliano You want to "start" the campaign before your official launch. That means build an online base, a presence, a following, an e-mail list, your brand, all before you launch. The word for that is called crowd-sourcing. Richard "RB" Botto has a very good book on how to successfully do that called Crowdsourcing for Filmmakers (American Film Market Presents) In addition to crowdsourcing, part of your advertising and press - you can pay someone to make a press kit for you or use a service. There's press kit templates all over the internet for free if you want to write it yourself. There are also services to send out your press kit to publications. For the crowdfunding portion, your momentum is important and will be directly affected by how well you crowdsourced.. The beginning and last days will have the most traffic. You want all of your friends and family to pledge first to start you off. Get them sharing your stuff at your launch. They are the most accessible to you and can kick-start your campaign's momentum.. People like to contribute to something already in motion, something that "looks" like it will achieve it's goal. It will definitely seem that way if there's already pledges by the time a stranger comes along. The space between the beginning and end of the campaign is crucial. It's extremely likely to slow up but you have to work through it like it's just another day. It's a marathon. All the way to sending out rewards to your contributors. Keep everyone updated. Communicate with your contributors, they will appreciate it and it could bring in more people. You'll want a campaign video 3-5 minutes long (less is more) that hooks the viewer. It helps if the style of the video is thematically relevant to your project. Be open, have good energy and explain clearly what the project is, what you're asking for and why. Otherwise you'll need a press kit and a good description of your project and why you're doing it. The more transparent and authentic the campaign and the information feels, the better. When calculating your goal take into account the fees that will be taken out (they vary per fundraising platform). For pricing, around $25 is the most popular with contributors (to my knowledge). For actual rewards, look at campaigns similar to your's for reference. Offer Unique experiences and/or wearable items specific to the project. Those will win and stand out. A good book on crowdfunding is

Crowdfunding for Filmmakers: The Way to a Successful Film Campaign- 2nd Edition by John T Trigonis,. I gave you some things here but everything you'd need is in those two books honestly. EVERYTHING.

First thing..... order & read/listen to RB’s book on Crowdsourcing before you do anything! I’ve been a part of 2 very successful crowdfunded award winning films & have consulted on many others! RB hits all the things you want & need to know about crowdfunding & crowdsourcing (which actually comes first)! All the best!

Becca, I am crowd sourcing Through an organization based in the UK with a presence in 163 countries... I would like to email back and forth through our private emails if you are open to it relative to the 3D animated series we are producing. Avoke Productions... steve_vandrilla@hotmail.com Thanks