Tips for promoting your CrowdJustice campaign:
- Make sure you have ten people (friends, family, colleagues) who will pledge to and share your campaign as soon as it launches. Early momentum is key!
- 48 hours ahead of time email, call and message as many people as possible individually (no group emails!) telling them about your campaign and telling them you would really appreciate them pledging and sharing after you launch. Send as many personalised messages as you can.
- As soon as your campaign has launched, email, message and call everyone you can with a link to your case page and ask them to pledge and share.
- Plan launch messages for every social media network that you’re part of and then post every day with an update. Also try to make time to like and share any mentions of your campaign as well as responding to comments.
- If you’re on Twitter, search for any relevant hashtags and use these in your tweets so people following them will see your campaign. If you’re on Facebook, search for any relevant groups that you can post about your campaign to.
- Tweet or email local journalists and bloggers about your campaign to see if they might write about your story. Are there any national journalists who have covered similar cases before? It may also be worth emailing or tweeting them.
- Search for community groups, charities and national campaigns that might support your CrowdJustice campaign. Email/tweet/call them asking for their support.
Tips for promoting your campaign by email
48 hours ahead of launch, email potential supporters
- Email/message/call as many people as you possibly can (friends, family, colleagues, supporters). Individual messages are always best! Explain what your case is about and explain you would be very grateful for their support. Give them the link!
- Keep the explanation short and concise, and focus on the reason the case is important rather than what has happened so far.
- Ask them to pledge a specific amount (this generally makes people more likely to pledge at all) and ask them to share.
Here are two examples of pre-launch emails:
Dear [name],
Last month, I was dismissed from my job because of the amount of sick leave I have taken. As you probably know, I have been suffering from clinical depression, and that’s why I have needed time off. I think this is grossly unfair, and even worse is that there are people like me across the country losing our jobs through a sickness that is being discriminated against.
I want to take my employer to an Employment Tribunal claiming discrimination arising from disability, but the hearing fee of £950 is a stumbling block. I am therefore launching a crowdfunding campaign on CrowdJustice to try and raise the hearing fee.
I will be launching my campaign on Monday morning at 9am on CrowdJustice and I would be very grateful if you could help me make it a success.
If you’re able to pledge £5 or more then I would be extremely grateful. Please share with any friends who might be able to support me!
Thanks in advance for all your support. I hope you don't mind me being in touch with you again on Monday with the link to give.
Thank you very much.
My Friends,
This coming week is a big one for me: we’re launching a CrowdJustice campaign to challenge the new shopping centre planned for just outside of St. Albans.
Thank you for your support and encouragement over the past few months. It’s been a long journey to get to this point, and it wouldn’t have been possible without you.
If you’ve got any more to energy to give in support, this next week will be when we could really use it. Here are the things we would really value:
1. Chip into the CrowdJustice campaign as early as possible. We launch at 10am on Tuesday morning and the first 24 hours for a campaign is critical. The story of a quick takeoff is appealing to local press and any media coverage will help boost the campaign a lot.
So at 10am on Tuesday, please set aside a few moments to pledge £20 or whatever you can afford on CrowdJustice :)
2. Send emails about the campaign to your 10 closest friends and family who you think will be interested in our cause.
3. On Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook could you turn on notifications (here’s how you do that for Instagram, Twitter iPhone / Android, & Facebook) for our content and like, comment, and/or share as appropriate when we post. All these services employ algorithms to determine what content users see, so the faster and more enthusiastic the response, the wider reach we’ll have.
4. I flatter myself to think that I’m half as creative and talented as the friends I’m lucky enough to have (that’s you). As such, I’m certain you’ll have creative ideas I haven’t thought of to reach new audiences and convince them to pledge to the campaign. If you’ve got ideas, please tell me and I’ll see what I can do to make them happen!
Thank you again for all the help you’ve given so far, and thank you for helping us make this campaign a success.
Send a second email as soon as your campaign is live!
- Ask people to pledge a specific amount and to share
- Include a link to the campaign
- Remember to say thanks in advance!
Here is an example launch campaign:
Dear [name],
My crowdfunding page is now live on www.crowdjustice.co.uk/case/residents-before-profits
I, along with the residents of Morden wish to conserve our green space by preventing the the development of the Lionsgate housing scheme consisting 25+ new homes.
We are fundraising to take legal action against this scheme, and we are hoping that the impact of our legal action will have a wider impact outside of Morden. For that reason, we need your help to join our community and help protect our local green spaces and yours. Here are two ways you can help right now:
- Pledge £20 or any amount you can on: www.crowdjustice.co.uk/case/residents-before-profits
- Share the campaign on your social media networks and email two friends asking them to pledge and share: www.crowdjustice.co.uk/case/residents-before-profits
We can't do this without you. We will update you of our next steps so please pledge and be part of our movement.
Thank you very much.
Tips for promoting your campaign by social media
- Facebook is one of the most powerful ways to spread the word about your campaign. Share a link to your campaign on your own Facebook Wall, and try to get more traffic for your campaign by finding relevant groups or page – for example, if the case is about the environment, find pages of others who are passionate about the environment – and post the link there as well.
- In your Facebook update, ask people to pledge AND to like your post. The more likes your post has, the more of your Facebook friends will see the story in their own news feed.
- If you’re new to Twitter, this is a great tutorial: http://mashable.com/guidebook/twitter/
- When tweeting about your campaign and why it matters, always include a link!
- Tweet at any organisations, campaigns or celebrities that you think might be interested in your campaign and ask them to RT!