Set Your Goal
Project owners must ultimately set a financial goal (their funding target) and a length of time within to reach it. Every project is different however, and it is worth bearing in mind a few things before setting you ultimate goal.
All Or Nothing
PleaseFund.Us runs an All or Nothing policy, meaning that there is no limit to a project's funding target but the project owner only receives the money raised providing their target is fully reached. On the flipside, there is nothing to prevent a project from exceeding its funding target, which is why you shouldn’t always necessarily aim for the stars.
Consider Your Own Networks
It’s worthwhile considering your own networks when setting your goal. Remember that it is up to you to build momentum for your project.
Funding comes from a variety of sources: your project’s target audience, your friends and family, your broader social networks and (hopefully) the PleaseFund.Us community. Every project is different, and the degree of funding will ultimately depend on how great a following your project possesses and how extensive your own networks reach.
Pledge Rewards
Take into account what you are offering as rewards; the cost of producing and delivering them to backers and put that figure against your funding target. There’s not much point asking for £1000 if your rewards are going to cost you £2000. Similarly if you say that you only have a limited availability of your pledges, check that it is actually possible to reach full funding.
Set Your Deadline
You set your project lifespan. A longer project is not necessarily better: They tend to lose interest and fizzle out. Shorter projects are easier to manage and keep an ongoing interest: There is a sense of confidence and urgency that helps motivate potential backers to reach your funding target. We recommend that a project should be no longer than 90 days.
Choosing your goal
With all these factors considered, you can figure out how much money you need to complete the project as promised (while considering how much money you think you can generate), then select an amount close to that. Choosing your goal needs to be a well balanced decision: Too high, and you run the risk of not successfully reaching your target and too low, you run the risk of not raising enough to fund your project. Sometimes people deter from projects that have already reached their funding target; other times people want to join in and be part of a project’s success, regardless if they’ve exceeded their target or not. Do your research and choose your goal wisely. Don't forget that Paypal will charge between 1% and 3.5% per transaction, so with the PleaseFund.Us fee and Paypals fees budget for an extra 8% within your target.
