Crowdfunding Field Case ② | Is Falling Short of Your Goal a Failure? Why I Don't Judge Results by Total Funds Raised Alone
機械翻訳 / Machine-translated
When a crowdfunding campaign ends,
"How much did you raise?"
That's naturally the first thing on everyone's mind.
Of course, I value the funding goal too.
When you run a crowdfunding campaign, you aim to hit your target.
That hasn't changed.
But I do not judge the results of a crowdfunding campaign by total funds raised alone.
I think about it in three broad categories.
The most straightforward category is the financial outcome.
The amount raised.
The number of backers.
The achievement rate.
Which rewards were chosen.
I always check these.
If you need capital to execute your project, whether or not you hit your funding goal matters enormously.
So this is not about saying,
"The numbers don't matter."
That said, I also look at the other two categories.
Running a crowdfunding campaign can bring new connections into your life.
People who backed you for the first time.
People who discovered your product.
People who helped you along the way.
Corporate sponsors.
People who spread the word.
I think of these connections as
"supporter assets."
Even after the campaign ends, they may:
Buy your product.
Cheer you on in your next challenge.
Introduce you to someone new.
These relationships hold real potential.
They don't show up in your total raised, yet they can become one of the most significant outcomes for your business.
The other thing I consider equally important is what I call
"challenge assets."
The experience of putting your idea into words.
The experience of posting on social media.
The experience of asking people directly for support.
The experience of being cheered on.
The experience of being turned down.
The experience of seeing a project through to the very end.
None of these show up as money.
But they stay with anyone who has thrown themselves wholeheartedly into a crowdfunding campaign.
As I wrote in my previous article,
in 2017, my first crowdfunding campaign raised about ¥30,000 against a goal of ¥1,000,000.
Judged purely on financial results, that's a significant failure.
But because of that experience, I started asking myself,
"Why didn't the funds come in?"
Pre-launch preparation.
Prospective backers.
The difference between posting on social media and actually reaching people.
The failure that lies at the heart of how I think today — after being involved in more than 150 crowdfunding campaigns — is that very experience.
In other words,
my financial results were small, but I was left with enormous challenge assets.
When a crowdfunding campaign wraps up, I look back on all three:
Financial Results
How much was raised?
Supporter Assets
Who did I connect with for the first time?
Challenge Assets
What did I experience through this challenge, and what did I learn?
The funding goal absolutely matters.
If you fall short, you should think carefully about why.
And beyond that,
I want you to ask yourself what you were left with besides the money.
Crowdfunding is not simply a mechanism for raising funds.
What remains after the challenge can be the very thing that propels your next one.
If you'd like to discuss crowdfunding, please check my profile page.
