Well… how long is a piece of string? It really depends. We wouldn’t really recommend running a campaign for longer than 60 days. 30 days we think is really ideal though. Especially, if you prep your crowd for what’s to come.
Because, crowdfunding isn’t a piece of cake. You do need to tap into your crowd, you do need to promote what you’re doing, and you do need to get the word out there. We find the longer you run your campaign, the longer you need to try and keep the momentum going. And, when you find that the most pledges come in the first few days, and the final few days, the longer you run the more down time you have in between!
One interview I recently heard about crowdfunding a micro budget feature film in the US had some good pointers. They recommended having blog posts, media releases, and social media activity pre-prepared, and just ready to send once you start. They also promoted the idea of having multiple crowds – your friends, your family, your fans, people with the same niche interest that your project was exploring (in their case, blue grass music) and the media. They pushed tailoring your message quite clearly for each, and in the end they not only met their goal but exceeded it – with media releases to spare!
How long do you think you should run a campaign for? We’d love to hear from people that have run campaigns (successfully or not) around how timing / length affected their campaign.
