The psychology of crowdfunding – part 1.

When it comes to crowdfunding, it has to do with a lot of things but above all else, it has a lot to do with psychology. So much, that it would be impossible to put it all in one post so we decided to make a little series out of it. We are still not sure if there will be 3, 30 or 300 posts in the series but what we are certain about is that you will benefit greatly from it.

There are people who talk about psychology to get more sales and there are plenty of books you can read. It can seem like mind control or manipulation but we hope that you will not see it that way. It only means that you will be using the basic principles of psychology to your advantage, and trust us, this is something that marketers and advertisers have been doing for years. In this first post of the series, we will talk about emotions and narcissism, two important things you have to keep your eye on.

Next time your tv is on, take a closer look at commercials. What do they all have in common? Have you ever seen a commercial that only has facts in it, black letters on white background, no music, no people, nothing to move you? You did not. That is because from shoes to drinks, commercials are selling emotion first and product second. A thing that you need to do too. You will buy something because you want it or need it and people will donate to your project because they want to or feel they need to. If you do not trigger an emotion in them, your project will fail.

Every donation you will get, will start with an emotion. Your Backers and Supporters will feel a need to help. However, emotions need to be backed by reason before an action of donating money takes place. This is because giving money away always has two steps. The first step is impulsive emotional triggering. The second step is rationalizing and using facts to convince ourselves that a certain thing is the right decision. You need to appeal to emotion but you also need to provide facts that will back those emotions. A lot of people only act with step one in the start but those will not come back and will not promote you further. Maybe you will get some money with those people, but not nearly enough. You need people who will donate and come back. Those that will promote you to their friends and family because their emotions will be backed by more information and facts. They will see their support as the only logical thing to do and feel good when they help you.

Narcissism is always considered a bad thing but the funny thing is, we are all little narcissists inside, at least the healthy ones among us. Self-respect, a need for attention and a wish to be respected and accepted are present in everyone. Use that to your advantage. When creating your project, try not to talk only about yourself and if possible, do not start a sentence, any sentence, with the word "I". There are plenty of other words out there that you can use so forget about that one. You should give your credentials and tell your story but be smart about it. Focus on the project and people.

We have seen projects where founders start with "I need to raise money for..." or "Help me raise funds for my...". Would you be surprised to hear they are not very successful? People need to hear about the benefits for them, not for you. Talk about how the project will impact the world and them directly, you are not really that important in this story. However harsh this may seem, it is the truth. People will help because it feels good to help. Remember that. You need to convince people that your project will benefit their lives in some way, even on a global level. They need to feel connected and they need to feel like your project is something they will be included in. What is in it for them?