As some of you may know, I just wrapped up a huge crowdfunding undertaking with my husband for our film, My Father Lives Here.  It was one of the most challenging things I’ve done in my life! If you have never done crowdfunding before, just know that it is not for the faint of heart. The premise is you post your campaign and  beg   encourage those who support and love you to fund the project with the promise of perks like posters or warm and fuzzies for getting you that much closer to your dream. Easy enough, right? Wrong!

I’d like to believe that I have a higher tolerance for rejection than most. It’s simply the nature of the business I’m in.  Crowdfunding rejection is on another plane! I sent  out countless posts on email,  facebook, messenger, twitter, instagram, and  text message. There’s the good, the bad, and the ugly of responses.The good: Of course, I’ll give!. The bad :  Sorry, no can do. The ugly: I have received your message, but I am intentionally ignoring it as well as you. Ouch!

All of that to say that at the end of the day, I learned a lot about my crowd, but I learned even more about myself.

1.Patience
Patience seems like one of those lessons God never gets tired of teaching me. I became anxious waiting for responses from my sent messages. In due time the responses I needed happened.

2. Gratitude
The more “nos” or ignores I encountered,  the more grateful I became for the “yeses”.  Every share was a step towards moving the project forward. Every dollar someone donated was a form of sacrifice.  I learned to express gratitude frequently.You never can say thank you enough for those that invest in your dream.

3. Courage
The “yeses” gave  me courage to ask more. The positive responses began to fuel me.  I started to believe that if one person believed then there were many more out there that believed the same. I no longer became afraid of a negative response.

 

4.. Perseverance
It ain’t over until it’s over. On the last day of our campaign, I was extremely exhausted. I didn’t want to make another post or send another message. I was drained. I figured why post. I’ve been posting over the last 60 days. If people really wanted to give , they would have given by now.

I finally got up the nerve to give it one last shot and BAM! The last day of our campaign was HUGE! We received our largest donation in the history of the campaign ( which rocked our faith into a new stratosphere) and the most donors in a single day. It was such a rewarding way to close out the event.

 

Crowdfunding was a very vulnerable process, but at the end of the day I learned a little bit more about asking for what I need unashamedly. There are people out there willing to help you at the exact moment you need. They might not be the people you expected, so leave a little room for surprises. As always, leavealilroomforgrace…