Crowd Power: Success and Failure – The Key to a Winning Campaign

Abstract

This report is intended to offer campaign-makers and potential campaign-makers, working in the off-grid energy space, with the tools and knowledge to develop a successful crowdfunding campaign. We identify trends common to successful energy access related campaigns (measured as reaching the campaign target) across donation, reward, debt and equity crowdfunding. The report explores success across 3 broad stages: choosing the right platform and passing platform due diligence managing a successful campaign period implementing campaign goals, as well as long run success of the entity raising funds from the crowd Our research has found that successful campaign makers explore and plan across all three areas, and do not simply focus on the ‘campaign-live’ period. While the report is intended for campaign-makers, those working with early-stage companies via incubators or other facilities will likely find this informative, as well as those wanting to learn about energy access related crowdfunding in general. This paper was supported by the UK Department for International Development’s Crowd Power programme and is the third in a series on energy access related crowdfunding in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia