The Crowd Supply Guide: The Life Cycle of a Crowd Supply Campaign

Most of a Crowd Supply campaign takes place via a private git repo on GitHub. We use project repos as a simple way to manage content and collaborate on project details, so there’s no need to already be a professional git or GitHub user. A project manager will shepherd the creator through batches of issues which are the tasks that must be completed before, during, and after a campaign.

Submission

  1. Once your project is ready for a Crowd Supply campaign, you'll submit a form describing the project, which must be in a late-prototype stage.
  2. Crowd Supply will review the submission and ask any questions needed to determine suitability. If the submission is accepted, Crowd Supply will return a Statement of Work (SoW) for your signature.
  3. Once the SoW is signed, Crowd Supply will assign a Project Manager (PM) who will create and subsequently manage a private GitHub repo for your project. Those PMs will be your main points of contact for the duration of the campaign, and that repo will be your primary means of communication, organization, file storage, and content staging.

Get Started

When your GitHub repo is up, you’ll start creating your pre-launch page and preparing the foundation for a crowdfunding campaign by working your way through a first batch of GitHub issues:

Batch One

  1. Messaging: define the basic elements of your campaign's message to backers
  2. Mouser setup: provide basic company documentation so we can begin the process of getting you set up as a Mouser supplier
  3. Images and prototypes: provide images for the pre-launch page, if possible, and send a prototype that Crowd Supply can photograph, film, and possibly share with reviewers
  4. Pre-launch page: provide basic information so Crowd Supply can populate a "coming soon" page
  5. Outreach plan: gather information and engage resources for your campaign's outreach effort

Pre-launch

Once your pre-launch page is accessible to the public and gathering email subscribers, it’s time to begin working toward your campaign launch:

Batch Two

  1. Pledge levels: detail each of the products that will be available through your campaign
  2. Funding goal: determine how much your campaign must earn to be successful
  3. Comparison table: generate a table comparing your project with its competitors
  4. Campaign page draft: prepare a draft of the content that will appear on your campaign page, including value propositions, features & specs, images & videos, documentation resources, etc.
  5. Video: write an outline for your campaign video or, if Crowd Supply is producing your video, provide specific project details that the video should cover
  6. Export compliance: provide details that our compliance team can use to classify your product for export (country of origin, encryption functionality, part numbers, etc.)
  7. CE guidance: determine European certification requirements, if any
  8. Plan weekly project updates: make a list of weekly updates you plan to post during the campaign, outline the first few updates, and draft a launch-announcement update that we can post as soon as your campaign goes live
  9. Wholesale order: work with Crowd Supply to prepare for post-campaign sales through your project page and through Mouser's website

Live Campaign

Coordinate with your PM to launch your campaign on an agreed-upon date. During the campaign, you will work through the next batch of GitHub issues:

Batch Three

  1. Respond to backer questions
  2. Write a weekly update each week that your campaign is active

Post-campaign

If your campaign reaches its funding goal, post-campaign sales will continue while you put your manufacturing plan into action and keep your backers updated:

Batch Four

  1. Orders and funds: approve the balance sheet for your campaign and verify that you have provided the information that Crowd Supply will need to transfer funds (bank routing, transfer method, etc.)
  2. List your providers: let us know about any of your providers that you would recommend for our Providers Directory
  3. Post-campaign updates: continue producing updates on topics such as manufacturing progress, shipping schedules, etc.
  4. Fulfillment preparations: exchange fulfillment-related information with Crowd Supply (label designs, photographs of packages, packing slips, etc.)
  5. Field reports: reach out to your backers, identify those who have used your project in particularly interesting ways, and ask them to produce a field report (or introduce us so we can ask them)

Orders Are Filled

As orders ship to backers, we will prepare for long-term sales:

Batch Five

  1. Prepare your project page for stock status: turn your crowdfunding page into an informational page for items that ship from stock
  2. What's next: just because crowdfunding is done doesn't mean the project has to be. You can continue creating relevant updates, garnering Field Reports, answering technical questions from potential customers, tracking stock sales, filling additional stock orders from Crowd Supply (or Mouser), and, of course, launching new projects!

Question not answered here? Contact us to see how we can help.

The Crowd Supply Guide: Table of Contents

For Everyone

For Backers

For Creators

Getting Started

Before Your Campaign Launches

During Your Campaign

After Your Campaign Concludes

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