Dear Amy: The #SMEtiquette of Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding's great. I've had friends who've managed to get fantastic projects off the ground because of it, others who've self-published books that look simply fantastic.Of course, with the rise of crowdfunding has come the rise of crowdfunding campaigns. And sometimes it seems as if everyone you know has some sort of crowdfunding project, maybe to pay for a trip to a conference or something else that in the olden days they would have paid for themselves or maybe just gone without.In some ways, that's great! In other ways, well, how do you deal with all the requests?That's what we focus on today.Don't forget! Submit your question.

Dear Amy:Someone I know recently launched a crowdfunding campaign for her book. She’s very nice, and maybe she’s even a good writer. But I’m starting to feel pressure to contribute to the campaign, and I just don’t want to. I feel funny even sharing the information about the campaign because I don’t even know if she’s a good writer, and I feel as if by sharing the campaign, I’m endorsing it and telling people I know that they should fund it.I really do wish her the best and hope she achieves her goals, but am I a rotten person for not helping out?Sincerely,Curious about Crowdfunding

Dear Curious:First off: You are not a rotten person.OK, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s take a closer look at the situation at hand.Crowdfunding, for those readers who might not know, is a way people can launch projects they might not otherwise be able to undertake, funded outside the typical sources. There are many platforms, such as Kickstarter, IndieGogo, RocketBoost, and Startsomegood, to name just a few. Generally, fundraising is kicked off by getting support from close family and friends, and moving out from there in concentric circles.Crowdfunding projects generally can’t achieve full funding just through the support of those closest to the person behind the project. It takes considerable time and effort to move through those concentric circles, and depends very heavily on others sharing the word about the project.That’s why someone who launches a crowdfunding project may seem a bit pushy about friends sharing the project with their friends – without that word of mouth, a project is likely to be dead in the water.That said, you are under no obligation to help spread the word. How much you believe in the project or in the person behind it may help you decide whether you want to, but there is never an obligation.Sometimes our finances are strapped, and that doesn’t allow us to contribute. That’s always understandable. And some of us find ourselves constantly bombarded with crowdfunding projects, to a degree where it makes it impossible to support them all. Also understandable.Frankly, maybe you just don’t want to contribute. The project doesn’t interest you. You don’t feel close enough to the person to know whether the project will come to fruition even if it’s fully funded. You don’t think the final product will be worth the investment.All are perfectly acceptable reasons for not donating.Frankly, you don’t need a reason not to donate.Same thing goes for spreading the word.But you may want to take some things into consideration: Is this a person who’s helped you out in the past? Is this someone who often goes out of her way to help others? Does this sound like a cool project that other people you know may well be interested in funding?Spreading the word does not necessarily mean an endorsement.“My friend Mary is working on this project and it sounds interesting. Take a look!” Even something as simple as that can help your friend by bringing her project to new audiences, without you saying, “This is the coolest thing ever and everyone should donate.” Your friends can look at it and make their own decisions as to whether this is something they want to support.If there are particular friends you know who are interested in the topic, why not send it directly to them, rather than publicly sharing? You can be even more blunt there – “Mary’s a friend of mine, and is working on this project. It’s not really something I’m interested in, but I know it’s one of your favorite topics, so I thought I’d share. No pressure to donate, or anything, I just thought of you.”You don’t need to become a salesperson for Mary, of course, but helping out in some small ways can mean as much as a donation – sometimes more than a donation.To be cliché, what goes around comes around. You never know when you may need someone else’s help with something, anything. Help who and when you can. Don’t compromise your principles, of course, but do the little things you can do.Now, if Mary is being extremely pushy and is asking over and over, without regard to how you feel, that’s just wrong, and I’d like to take a moment to speak to the Marys and other crowdfunders out there: Understand that not everyone can help you. Understand that not everyone wants to help you. And that’s OK.Reminding people occasionally about your project is fine. Just do it in different ways. Update people on your progress – both on fundraising and on aspects of your work. Remind them of deadlines, of milestones – you’re just $1000 from reaching the tipping point where you’ll be able to do the project no matter what; two days left until the funding deadline arrives. But do it gently.Be aggressive overall – you must be in order to achieve your goals – but don’t be aggressive to people who’ve chosen not to support you. Take the help you get and express your appreciation to those folks. Don’t use them as a bludgeon to get others to support you.Tell people that even if they can’t donate, that you appreciate any support at all – sharing the information, moral support, anything they can do or are willing to do.Don’t allow your crowdfunding project to come between you and your friends. At the end of the day, your project may not be funded, but your friends will help you through that, too.