Tips on How to Crowd-Lend
How to Approach asking your network to contribute to your Kiva campaign?
People want to support you and are just looking for a way to do so
7 easy steps to successfully crowd-lend your loan:
Start With a High-Quality Profile
Your narrative section is your pitch to your potential lenders. Between your photo, optional video, and write-up, you have to convince your community and the Kiva community to believe in you and your business. Look over loans that are actively funding in the U.S. right now here and check out the this link for a Profile guide for tips on how to craft an effective narrative section.
Prep Your Local Community Before Your Loan is Posted
Your community is more likely to lend to you if they already know what Kiva is. Before your loan is posted (while you’re working on your application and when it’s in review) tell your family and friends about Kiva. Have them check out the website and news articles, so when the time comes they already have the information they need to feel comfortable lending to you.
Create an Artificial Deadline
While you have 15 days during Private Funding, the faster you get your community on, the faster and more successfully the loan funds in Public. This also helps to avoid trouble with last-minute tech problems and forgetful family members. Try saying “I need my community to lend by X date, but my personal goal is to get everyone on by Y date. Will you help support my loan?”
List Your Private Lenders
Write down the names of people you can count on to lend you $25 on Kiva. Ask them to lend to you and check them off as they do. You can download this form and use it to keep track of your lenders and who you've contacted.
Being Personal is Better
It’s good to have a wide range of outreach on social media like Facebook and Twitter. Yet you can’t rely only on blanket status updates to draw people into action. Post on Facebook, send personal messages and emails, make phone calls, Skype, and talk to people in person. Make sure to stress that you need their help to show support for your business, that it is a loan, not a donation.
Ask For Support, Then Follow Up
Your language is important. Stress that it is a character reference in the form for a small loan, and as a loan (not a donation), they will get their money back as you repay your loan. Make sure you ask your community members if they will support your loan and share your loan link. Once they say yes, ask when they will support your loan, and then follow up with them on that day. The more specific you can get to pledge, the more likely they will follow through (for example, someone who says “I will lend to your Kiva loan on Wednesday when I get home from work” is more likely to lend than someone who just says “Sure, I’ll lend”).
Frequently Thank and Update Your Community
Every time someone lends to you, they are showing their support for you and your business. Each time you reach a milestone, thank those who have helped you so far. Update your community about your progress, and send out a call to action. Kiva has even made it easy for you to update your lenders all at once, check out our guide on How to update your lenders on your borrower portal!
Do you feel self-conscious about asking for help? Do you find asking your family and friends for money to be difficult?
If you answered “yes”, you’re not alone - we’ve heard this a lot from Kiva entrepreneurs over the years.
To help you start thinking critically about asking for help we had the Co-Founder of Outlaw Soaps and a two-time Kiva entrepreneur, Danielle Vincent, write a blog post all about the art of asking and her insight may be helpful to you! Check it out!
Your business deserves to have a leader who asks for things. And that leader is you.
Additional tips on Successful Crowd-lending!
Storytelling can be crucial for crowdfunding success!
Lenders will decide to fund you based on your story. Since they're not earning interest on their loans, lenders' reward is seeing you and your business grow. Telling your story is the perfect chance to show lenders what they'll be helping you achieve!
To get your story out in the world, consider sending updates as your loan progresses. You can do this on your social media accounts, on your loan page, website, or in emails to your network.
Here are four tips to help you along the way:
Create stories that are both clear and compelling. Expand on your loan profile. Why did you start your business? Who are you serving? How will your loan create value for yourself, your customers and your community?
Be transparent. Give details about your project and include links to other information if appropriate. Identify the potential challenges you face and how you plan to solve for risks.
Create a sense of urgency around your campaign. Make your funding timeline visible. Challenge your lenders to be “the one” to get you to your next milestone (eg. the next $1,000 raised or $500 raised by the end of the week).
Keep it regular. Sending updates every few days shows your lenders that you're engaged and can help you build momentum. This is also a good time to thank your lenders for their support and to encourage new lenders to take part.
Telling your story can make all the difference! Take some time today to start sharing yours.
Posting about your loan on your social media accounts can boost your fundraising speed.
Use your social accounts throughout your Kiva campaign to keep your audience engaged and up-to-date with how things are going.
Here are a few thoughts to get you started:
Which social account do you post to most often? Which one has the most followers? You’ll want to promote most frequently on the account where you’ll get the most engagement from your followers.
Try not to just ask for money. Instead, try using some lead-ins like the ones below, followed by the link to your Kiva loan:
Help me spread the word about my crowdfunding campaign!
Who can help me find the next lender?
Be sure to post to social media all throughout your fundraising process to keep your followers engaged. Announce your progress on a routine basis to show that you are gaining momentum.
Be sure to respond to each person who engages with your posts. Say thank you to your lenders and your supporters who “like”, share or retweet your posts.
Always include a link to your loan page on each post!
Email can be a quick and personal way to effectively reach out to your network for assistance during your Private Fundraising Period.
If you haven’t already contacted your community of supporters, now is the time to reach out with a personal email.
Thousands of entrepreneurs like you have passed their private periods, and we’d like to share three steps for success that they’ve used to move on to their public fundraising periods:
1. Make a list of 30-50 people in your network. Think outside the box! In addition to immediate family and friends, your network can include your neighbors, peers, members of your religious community, carpools, customers, suppliers, and members of associations or clubs that you belong to.
2. Prepare an email template that tells the reader about Kiva, your business, and your request for help in crowdfunding the loan.
3. Send the email to each person on your list individually –personalize it by using the reader’s name and some other fact about your relationship if relevant. Avoid sending a generic email – we’ve seen that these are much less effective.
If you’re looking for help getting started, check out some of our sample private fundraising period email templates:
Reach out to your loyal customers
Talking to your customers about your Kiva loan is a great way to turn them into your lenders.
To help you succeed as well, we put together a quick list of four ways you can reach out to your customers:
1. Put a flyer in your shop where your customers can see it. Here's an example template.
2. Host a lending party where your customers can learn why you’re raising money and lend all at once.
3. Reward customers who lend to you with a discount the next time they buy one of your products.
4. Email your customer list and tell them why you’re raising money on Kiva.
If you follow these steps, your customers will support your business in a new way! They'll become your newest lenders. The more active you are in reaching out to your network, the more likely you are to succeed.
Don't forget your Industry Network
Your network isn’t limited to your family and friends, your professional community can also help fund your Kiva loan. Your industry network, suppliers, and neighboring businesses want to see you grow too!
Here are 3 tips on spreading the word about your loan and leveraging your business resources:
Send a targeted email to your professional network describing your loan and how it will help your business grow. Remember to include the link to your loan! Here's a template to get you started.
Host a gathering at your business with food and drinks. Your attendees can sign up for their own Kiva accounts and lend to you right at the gathering.
Amplify your message via LinkedIn if you are active on that platform. Here's an example!
Don’t be afraid to enlist help from your professional network. Think of it as a down payment from your business associates who will engage your help in return in the future.