So ... now that there is a new expedition date, are we going to dust off the crowd funding resources?
Our foray into crowd funding was an interesting experiment and quite an education. It's easy to think that a subject as widely popular as solving the Earhart mystery would be a prime candidate for crowd funding. That's why we tried it. The reality is that the key to crowd funding is reaching the crowd who might fund you. At any given moment there are thousands, maybe tens of thousands, of crowd funding campaigns going on a mind-boggling variety of platforms (We chose Indiegogo because it's second in size to Kickstarter and, unlike Kickstarter, you can set it up so that you receive the money you raise even if you don't reach your goal.) You can't rely on people just stumbling across you campaign. You have to go out "on the street" and ask people to come visit your campaign. Most of the people who visit your campaign are shopping for "perks." You have to have a selection of goodies for them to "buy." During the time our campaign was running I spent at least two hours every day setting up,improving, maintaining and promoting it. What you want is for people who do visit and contribute to spread the word to their friends. Some do. Some don't. It's like priming the pump. Clearly we do not have a big enough following to prime the crowd funding pump. Setting up and servicing a campaign to raise $10,000 takes just as much time as for a million dollar campaign. We got a total of about $4,100 in donations. After Indiegogo took their cut, we ended up with a check for $3,600 sent about three weeks after the campaign ended. Not worth it.
Lesson #1 - Before you go crowd funding you need to have a really big following that you can direct to your campaign.
Count me in regardless.
Bless you. This is a particularly crucial time.
The level of funding needed for the 2015 Niku VIII expedition is a fraction of the 2014 expedition budget, but we still have payment deadlines that must be met.
The Nai’a charter will cost $264,0000 plus an estimated $12,000 in fuel.
• An initial deposit of $41,300 must be paid by the end of October, otherwise the boat will be released for other charters. At this writing we have $11,900 in hand toward that goal. We have firm pledges for another $15,000.
Needless to say, it is essential that we meet this goal if there is to be an expedition in 2015. Please do what you can now.• A payment of $111,350 is due December 10, 2014. Our plan is to raise this amount primarily through the sale of Sponsor Team Member berths. We have three available for $50,000 each. We have a number of prospects but nothing firm yet.
• A final payment of $111,350 is due March 10, 2015. The fuel estimate must be paid before departure. We have a pledge from a major foundation to cover the last $100,000 so if we can make the December payment we’re in good shape to complete the budget.