Little Wise – aka Sophie Klein – ran a great crowdfunding campaign on rewards-based platform Pozible. At the end of the five-week campaign more than 100 individuals had pledged support; with pledges ranging from $15 right up to $1,000. In total the campaign raised $8,305, well above the $8,000 MATCH funding target. 

At a glance:

• Project: All Aboard! New Little Wise Album
• Platform: Pozible
• $ raised: $8,305
• Donors: 105

Congratulations on a great campaign! Tell us a bit about the campaign’s achievements and any unexpeected outcomes.

Sophie Klein: The successful campaign and matched funding from Creative Partnerships Australia enabled me to complete the album production, post-production and conduct associated release activities. The campaign also achieved the underlying goal to engage audiences and develop lasting connections with pledgers to ensure the sustainability of future projects.

Following the campaign, I was able to add 78 new subscribers to my mailing list. Surprisingly, 75% of pledgers were not existing mailing list members. The growth of my mailing list was one of the major outcomes, going from 266 subscribers prior to the campaign to 344 following the fundraising exercise. The campaign was highly successful in mobilising existing friends, contacts and fans to reach the next level as supporters.

The growth of social media followers was notable with 10% Facebook follower growth before and after the Pozible campaign, and 36% Facebook follower growth from before the campaign, up to this current period through the album release and tour activities.

The campaign also enabled me to reach new fans via Pozible networks. Some of these newly engaged fans attended shows on my recent five city solo tour circuit, and I predict I will meet more of them in person during my upcoming extensive national tour promoting the album’s release.

An unexpected outcome of the campaign was the promotional opportunities that arose from the Pozible campaign, including live-to-air interviews on Joy FM and RRR FM in Melbourne. In addition to being positive publicity opportunities, these interviews also provided me with the opportunity to forge new relationships with broadcasters, who have since assisted in the promotion of the single and album.

Another unexpected outcome was that many of the individuals contributed large amounts such as $50 or more. I was expecting smaller pledges from more individual pledgers.

The campaign also proved to be a good way to test the market for vinyl LPs. 16 copies of vinyl were pre-ordered through the campaign, thus validating the market, although perhaps not enough to make the activity viable for the future.

Was there any part of the campaign that you would do differently?

Some of the pledgers didn’t select any rewards and chose to ‘donate’ in an altruistic fashion. Rewards are key to crowdfunding as they help maintain a connection and leave something lasting with the person. In hindsight, I would have done more to encourage selection of rewards.

I am unsure whether I would offer vinyl again, but this will be reassessed according to album sales in the future. The fact that I had pre-orders essentially bound me to deliver on my promise, despite the costly and complex process involved in vinyl album production.

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