Register as a Campaign Creator

Instructions

You can register as a campaign creator when you are affiliated with one of our Community Hosts or as an independent TLC Hero. If you are affiliated with a community, you will be provided a specific discount code to register for free. Use the instructions below to see how you can register with The Local Crowd.

1. Go to our registration page here: thelocalcrowd.coop/register/
2. Fill out the form with your information, username and set a password.
3. Under “Choose your annual membership level” – select the membership you want to sign up for. If you are affiliated with a Community Host, click on TLC Premium Membership. If you are an independent campaign creator you can choose to run your campaign at the Basic level or Premium level.
4. Enter the Discount Code (if you have one) and click the blue Apply button.
5. Under Community Details, select the community you are affiliated with. If you are an independent campaign creator, choose TLC Hero.
6. Finish registration by paying if prompted, agreeing to our Terms & Conditions and clicking the blue Register button.
7. You will receive a welcome email and confirmation of your registration. If you signed up at the Premium Level, you will get immediate Campaign Dashboard access on the community you chose during registration. If you signed up as a Basic member, we will notify you when your campaign dashboard is accessible.
8. After registering, you can access your educational materials on our membership portal: thelocalcrowd.coop/membership/

Navigating Your Campaign Dashboard

Instructions

1. Navigate to thelocalcrowd.coop and log in to your account.
2. Under the “Campaigns” tab across the top, use the drop-down to find your community. Click on the community you are affiliated with.
3. Once you are on your community’s page, you will see “Campaign Dashboard” along the top navigation (if you are not seeing this please make sure you are logged in).
4. Click on that link and you will be directed to your campaign dashboard where you can manage campaigns, contributions and your profile.
5. Campaigns Dropdown:

Navigating the Dashboard

• Campaigns Dropdown > My Campaigns: Manage all campaigns and updates
• Campaigns Dropdown > Contributions Received: View all contributions to your campaigns
• Pink Add New Campaign button: Directs you to the form to start a new campaign

Connecting Your Stripe Account

Instructions

It is very important to connect your Stripe account prior to starting any campaigns. Without the Stripe account connected, contributors will not be able to pay online.

1. Set up a Stripe account at https://dashboard.stripe.com/register.
2. Navigate to your Campaign Dashboard.
3. At the bottom-right of your dashboard, under “Payment Info” click the blue “Connect with Stripe” button.
4. You will be redirected to a Stripe page which will prompt you to login using the email and password you set up for your Stripe account. You will be asked to enter a verification code during this process so make sure to have your phone nearby.
5. Finally choose the account that you would like to link to your Campaign Dashboard.
6. When the process is complete, you will be redirected to your dashboard and you will see the account is connected.

How to Start a Campaign and Save, Soft Launch or Launch

Instructions

1. Navigate to your Campaign Dashboard.
2. Click the pink “Add New Campaign” button.
3. You will be redirected to the Campaign form.
4. At the bottom of the form, you will need to check the Terms & Condition box each time you start, edit or launch a campaign.
5. Once you have filled out the campaign form, you will have three options at the bottom.
6. Save Draft: You can save your campaign and come back to work on it later. Note that their are certain mandatory fields you much input content for before you can save. This information can be changed later.
7. Soft Launch: If you want a live link to view your campaign and share it with your team and early contributors, use this option. Your community will need to approve the soft launch request since it will provide a live link for sharing. However, the campaign will not appear on the community platform until the formal launch.
8. Launch: When you are ready to launch your campaign, you can click this button to initiate the final review process. Once you formally launch, the campaign will be sent to your community host for final approval and launch.
9. Once the campaign is launched, you can come back and make edits or add new rewards/matches throughout the campaign duration.

Adding Your Campaign Title & Summary

Instructions

1. While on your campaign dashboard click the pink “Add New Campaign” button, this will take you to the campaign form.
2. Title, Campaign Story, Campaign Introduction: In Module 4 of our TLC Classroom, you give your campaign an inspiring title and draft your campaign’s story. Now it’s time to add those to your campaign along with a brief introduction. Feel free to go back to Module 4, copy what you wrote down and paste it into your campaign form.
3. Category: Next, select a category from the drop-down menu that best fits with your campaign.
4. Tag: Add tags to help with your keywords and search engine optimization and for others to understand what your campaign is about.

Adding Visuals to Your Campaign

Instructions

1. Feature Image: Set your featured image (600×400 px) by clicking upload image. Drag and drop your image into the media uploader. Click “Insert Into Post” button.
2. Gallery Images (optional): If you do not have a video, you can add one or multiple photos to your gallery by clicking on upload gallery. This will provide several images for contributors to look through. Use the same process as the featured image and click and hold Shift to select multiple images.
3. Video: Lastly, copy and paste the Vimeo or YouTube URL of the video you created in Module 4. If a video link is provided, this will replace the image on the main campaign page.

Setting Your Campaign Dates & Funding Goal

Instructions

1. Start Date & End Date: Under Start Date and End Date click inside on the gray box to get a drop-down calendar. As you select your start date, please keep in mind that your community manager will need to approve your campaign before it will go live to the public so make sure to give yourself enough time for this process to take place.
2. Minimum Contribution Amount: Next, you will be able to edit the minimum contribution amount for your campaign. The minimum contribution amount is $1, so be sure to at least set it to 1. You are not limited to just $1, other minimums can be $5, $10, $25, etc.
3. Funding Goal: Now set your funding goal. This is where you will enter the total amount that you are hoping to raise for this campaign. Keep in mind crowdfunding best practices suggest that campaigns with $10,000 or less are more likely to reach their goal.
4. Predefined Pledge Amount: Next, you can set a predefined pledge amount. These allow contributors to select a quick option for a donation amount. Setting predefined amounts is optional.
5. Contributor List: The next step is to choose if you would like a contributor list to be displayed on your campaign page. If you choose this option, your campaign page will have a tab with a table showing everyone who has contributed to your campaign with their name, location, and date of contribution. This table will not show any donation amounts. Backers who wish to remain anonymous will show as such in this list.
6. Campaign Location: Lastly, make sure to add your city and state in the campaign location space provided.

Adding Rewards & Matches

Instructions

Rewards are not mandatory, but they provide a significant advantage to any crowdfunding campaign. You can also choose to add a match to your campaign, meaning a company can match dollar-for-dollar up to an amount you set. That number is reflected in your campaign total as the match runs.

REWARDS:

1. Reward Amount: Working with one reward at a time, start by entering an amount for your reward. This is the amount a contributor must pay to claim the reward.
2. Reward Image: Next, upload an image of that reward using the blue “upload image” button on the right. If you have a sponsored reward such as a coffee punch card or massage certificate, feel free to add a logo of the business that has donated that reward.
3. Reward Title: Now give your reward a title.
4. Reward Description: Next, write a short description of your reward. If you have a gift basket for example, this could be a good space to list everything inside.
5. Estimated Delivery: Let’s now talk a little about the delivery of rewards. If you have any rewards that can/need to be shipped, please indicate in the space provided when that reward will be shipped. If you have any digital rewards a delivery month does not need to be selected and you can leave this field blank.
6. Quantity: Lastly, you will want to add a quantity for your reward. If your reward quantity is unlimited make sure to leave this space empty.

To add another reward simply click the blue “+ Add” button at the bottom right.

Please note once your campaign has launched, you will not be able to delete rewards. If you no longer want a reward to be visible, please click the “Hide” button to remove it on the front-end. You can continue adding rewards throughout the duration of your campaign.

MATCHES:

1. Match Amount: You can use matches if there is a business or an individual/group that would like to offer a matching reward to your campaign. You can add the amount in which they would like to match dollar for dollar in the match amount space.
2. Match Image: Next, you can add an image of a business or individual/group that is offering the match using the upload button off to the right.
3. Match Title: Following your image, you will want to add a title for your match.
4. Match Description: Next, make sure to add a brief description about/for your match.

To add another match simply click the blue “+ Add” button at the bottom right.

Make Edits to Your Campaign or Add an Update

Instructions

Once a campaign is saved or launched, you can continue editing your campaign if you need to make revisions. You can also add updates to your campaigns to let your contributors know when a milestone is reached or exiting news about your campaign.

Editing a Campaign:

1. Start by navigating to your Campaign Dashboard, hover over Campaigns and click “My Campaigns.”
2. You will see a blue “Edit Campaign” button. Click that button to go into the form for your campaign.
3. Make any edits you wish to your campaign, such as changing your Funding Goal or adding/hiding rewards.
4. At the bottom of the form you can check the Terms & Conditions box and save your changes to your campaign.

Adding an Update:

1. Start by navigating to your Campaign Dashboard, hover over Campaigns and click “My Campaigns.”
2. You will see a blue “Add An Update” button. Click that button to go into the updates section.
3. Once on the update screen, click the blue “Add Update” button on the bottom left side.
4. Add the date for your date.
5. Give your update a title.
6. Then in the space provided add text, images and/or videos for your backers to be informed on how the campaign is doing, how it finished, and anything else important that you would like to share.
7. Lastly, make sure to save your update by clicking the blue “Save” button on the bottom right.

Each time you make an update and hit “Save”, an email will be sent to all your contributors informing them that there has been an update to your campaign. To add another update simply click the blue “+ Add Update” button at the bottom left. Feel free to add as many updates as you would like, there are no limits to how many updates you can post.

Adding an Offline Payment

Instructions

1. Login to your account, navigate to your campaign dashboard and select the campaign you want to contribute to.
2. In the space provided next to the “Contribute Now” button, enter the amount that has been contributed to your campaign. Then click the “Contribute Now” button.
3. Once you are on the check-out screen, on the right-hand side, you will now have access to make an offline payment.
4. Next, enter the information for your backer on the left side of the check-out screen or enter something general. If the backer would like to remain anonymous you can select that box. Then click the “Contribute Now” button.
5. Lastly, you will be taken to the checkout confirmation screen where you will be able to see that the offline payment has been submitted.

View Your Contributions & Fulfill Rewards

Instructions

1. Log in to your account and navigate to your campaign dashboard.
2. Hover over the Campaigns drop-down menu and click on “Contributions Received”.
3. You should now have access to a list that will provide information on all contributions received as well as any rewards purchased showing in the rewards column.
4. If you select View next to one of the rewards purchased, you will be able to view information on the reward selected, such as the contributor information, reward selected (if any), the delivery date of the reward, as well as the backer address listed under “customer details.”
5. You will also see an option to download a report for your campaign(s). If you choose this option, you can select which information you want to download and export a CSV file.