As you’ve probably already learned, there’s no way to get fully funded (or even more than 100% funded) if you don’t do the work beforehand and find your tribe. 

But you know what, I get it – “generating leads” and “getting an audience” can be daunting. In this process, you’ll have to get out of your comfort zone and create a landing page, set up email marketing, and we’re not even counting the other questions you might have right now:

How many leads do I have to get?

How big does my crowdfunding email list need to be?

How much should I budget for it?

Sometimes it seems like you’re supposed to just pull out numbers from thin air.

Today we’re going to go through the steps to calculate the exact number of leads you need in your crowdfunding email list to launch your campaign.

The 30% Rule For Your Crowdfunding Email List

There’s a little-known “30% rule” for crushing it on Day 1.

Forget the 100% funded (that’s a nice personal “stretch goal”), you only need to get to 30% of your total funding goal on Day 1.

There are 3 reasons for this:

1. Hitting 30% on Day 1 tells the crowdfunding platform team that the campaign is worth keeping an eye on. This can mean additional promotions, like newsletter inclusions or Project We Love badges, on the crowdfunding platform.
2. A campaign that is 30% funded right off the bat makes newcomers more likely to contribute. It’s just psychology of the masses; they want to get in on the ground floor of something new, exciting and looks like it will be funded.
3. Getting to that goal makes journalists much less wary of your campaign. Every time a journalists publishes an article, it’s their name on the line. By having at least 30% funded and a large number of backers right off the bat, it gives journalists the peace-of-mind they need to write about your campaign. They’ll be less likely to think that the campaign will not be fully funded and unsuccessful. It’ll truly make your personal PR efforts much less of an uphill battle.

There’s an incredibly simple formula you can use to determine what the right size needs to be for your crowdfunding email list: 

N = (0.3 * A) / P * E

N = Number of leads required at launch

A = Total amount you need to raise (your funding goal)

P = Price point of your main reward tier

E = Email list conversion rate (this number can range from 0.05%-5% depending on your list)

That’s it. No tricks.

Just plug and play to know the EXACT number of leads you need right off the bat.

An example of the 30% Rule at work

I have a $1,099 product with a $50,000 goal on crowdfunding.

I see a 2% conversion rate on my email list thus far and believe it will hold for my Day 1 email.

N = (0.3 * $50,000) / ($1,099 * 0.02)

N = 683 (rounded up)

Therefore, I need get 683 leads in my crowdfunding email list in order to meet the 30% goal on Day 1.

BOOM!

If you’ve gotten this far, here’s some bonus content for you!

Budgeting For Lead Generation

If you’re running lead generation advertisement, there’s even an exact amount you should budget for to reach that 30% raised on Day 1.

Firstly, you need to look for an average of up to $2 CPL (cost per lead) for your advertising.

Anything lower than that and you’re getting into non-converting email list territory. Anything higher than that the audience is not targeted enough and it is just not worth it to gather more of them.

Here’s the formula to figure out the EXACT budget you need to gather enough leads via advertising:

B = N * $2

B = Budget for generating leads via advertising

N = Number of leads required at launch (from above)

Again, that’s it. No tricks at all.

Now take these two simple formulas and go out to CRUSH IT on crowdfunding!

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