Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend Invest Ottawa’s ‘Crowdsourcing 101’ information session, facilitated by Intersol’s Eric Collard. The session was brief and to the point: crowdsourcing can be extremely successful, but it’s a lot of work. Don’t we know it!

Collard offered some insight on how to crowdsource (and ultimately crowdfund) successfully if you: are crowdsourcing for the right reason or purpose; provide the right call-to-action that will appeal to your crowd; find the right crowd (and have diversity in your crowd); provide the right incentives for your donor (do they match your donor’s interests/wants); select the right community management tool (ex: what is the right platform for your crowdfunding initiative – where does your crowd live?); choose the right technology (use videos to tell your story instead of a ton of copy on your web site, if videos are the appropriate technology for your story).

It’s great to know we’re on the right track – thanks Eric!