What We Can Learn About Crowdfunding From Bread Making

Before we talk shop about crowdfunding, I’d like to ponder another favorite thing of mine: food. Especially, carbs.

Like, matzoh and bread, for example, both are tasty and are made with flour & water. But one is flat and crispy, the other round and fluffy.

What sets the two apart? Yeast and time.

Yeast is what turns a pasty mixture of flour and water into buoyant dough. It doesn’t take much to do the trick; it just needs to be activated to work its magic. Even then, yeast is still low maintenance: add warm water & sugar, and voila – the bread party has started.

Baking bread is a simple process, but it takes time. Unless you get that instant activating yeast. Still, you need time for the yeast to work its way through the dough for it to rise.

Then, you need to knead the dough, which takes time and some muscle. But ya gotta knead it just right: too little leaves your bread flat, too much gets you an edible paperweight.

Crowdfunding is like baking bread, it involves a few key ingredients and a simple process.

Now let’s break down this delicious analogy to crowdfunding:

• Flour + Water + Salt = Story, Campaign Goal
• Yeast = Supporters
• Water + Sugar = Social Media
• Kneading = Engagement

In more detail…

Start with a story and campaign goal

No flour & water, no bread, right?

Your crowdfunding campaign should have substance. Fortunately, your nonprofit does have a compelling story. Do make sure that your campaign goal is well-defined in scope. A vague goal is like too much water mixed with flour – you’ll end up with a batter rather than a base for dough.

Let it grow with supporters

Remember how a little goes a long way with yeast? It’s the same with growing your audience.

Start with your fans, however few or many of them they are. If they’re as gung-ho about your mission as you are, you’ll eventually draw the crowds. Passion has a magnetic effect on people.

But you need to help your supporters help you. Yeast needs water and sugar to grow (yes, yeast is a living thing), and your supporters need help in multiplying.

Social media extends your reach

Since crowdfunding is done online, you’ll need online tools – namely, social media. Social media allows your supporters to spread the word about your organization and the campaign.

Engage your community

After your dough is “proofed”, as they say in the trade, it needs kneading.

Crowdfunding is not a “set it and forget it” enterprise; you’ll need to get hands-on with the campaign. If you’re not marketing it enough, you won’t get very far; however, if you’re over tweeting and every Facebook post is about the campaign all the time, you’ll get tuned out.

Avoid the extremes: people who are aloof or desperate repel people.

All of this takes some time. Once in a while, you might be able to throw something together fairly last minute. But mostly, you’ll find that building relationships with your supporters, and planning out your campaign takes time.

You need to give supporters and their networks time to respond to your calls to action. Time to preheat the oven and time to let the dough actually bake into bread.

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So what’s the lesson to be learned? Like breadmaking, crowdfunding isn’t rocket science but it isn’t a quick-fix, either. There are rules and an order to things, but some of it is mastered more by intuition than hard-and-fast rule-keeping. It’s an art that requires creative precision.

I tip my proverbial hat to Emma Christensen, author & recipe editor for The Ktchn, for schooling me on kneading bread through this post.