How Kids Company raised £100k+ in two months using crowdfunding
Howard Lake | 12 February 2015 | News
Kids Company, the charity that helps vulnerable children in London, Bristol and Liverpool, successfully raised over £100,000 in under two months over Christmas using crowdfunding for the first time.
It used the Crowdfunder site, so we asked the site for their views on the success of the campaign.
Jessica Ratty, Brand Communications Manager at Crowdfunder, confirmed that the Kids Company campaign was the site’s most successful charity fundraising campaign so far.
She added:
“Charities are now behind one third of Crowdfunder’s campaigns, enjoying the benefits of a platform that will help them both campaign and fundraise – ideal for organisations with little or no marketing budget. Other charity crowdfunding appeals with Crowdfunder have included Hearing Dogs for Deaf People and Save the Nightshelter, between them raising nearly £40,000”.
Strengths of the campaign
The Support vulnerable children this Winter campaign ran throughout December, a popular month for giving, but equally a time when there are many competing charitable appeals.
Ratty said that Kids Company staff planned the campaign well, and started to create a buzz about it with their supporters using social media weeks before it launched.
The campaign benefited from a simple message – let’s give a child the gift of Christmas.
“This is a message that’s easy to understand and connect with emotionally, as well as, crucially, share”, commented Ratty.
Kids Company’s presence in London, Bristol and Liverpool meant that it could reach a large pool of supporters in each location. Their reach allowed the campaign to grow fast, and expand to touch many individuals throughout the UK.
The campaign raised over £30,000 towards its target from 1,000 donors in just one day.
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Rewards
As with all crowdfunding campaigns, Kids Company offered backers a reward. These ranged from tea with its founder, Camilla Batmanghelidjh, to clothing by a well-known designer and tickets to see Annie Mac Live, together with a wide selection of other donated gifts. These rewards were continually updated throughout the campaign.
Supporters could give as little as £10 and as much as £10,000.
Suzie Curran, Fundraising Manager at Kids Company said:
“Crowdfunder attracts an average pledge that’s higher than other UK-based crowdfunding platforms, a big draw for any organisation. And the team there gave us lots of tips for planning and launching our campaign, making sure we made the most of every single opportunity. We are now planning our next campaign which may be on a more local level”.
Crowdfunder provides free advice to charities wishing to crowdfund on its site through its Crowdfunder Academy, covering issues such as how they can launch their projects and boost their income from their campaign.
The Crowdfunder campaign enabled Kids Company to provide a Christmas to more children than they had expected.
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.