Crowdify recipe for success: “Veganuary”

While we may have many good intentions, it is often hard to put them into practice. The people behind Veganuary are making it easy for those who are interested to try being vegan for a month – and are also very successful as Crowdifiers. Here, they share helpful tips for anyone who wants to start a Crowdify project and may be curious about how a vegan lifestyle works in practice.

Veganuary has started: one month of eating vegan. How do you support those taking part, and how do you make Veganuary as enjoyable and long-lasting an experience as possible for them?

After registering here www.veganuary.ch, participants will receive daily emails throughout January with tips and tricks, background information and, of course, delicious recipes. The campaign is also being championed on our social media channels and on our blog, so that the support is as comprehensive and complete as possible.

You are now Crowdify pros; your “Veganuary” Crowdify project has been successfully funded as in previous years, with over 450 boosters supporting you. Have you done anything a little differently this time?

Not only have we provided lots of personal goodies this year, but we also wrote to several companies to seek their help in providing goodies. This definitely worked in our favour, and by mentioning and presenting these goodies on our social media channels, we were also able to give something back to those companies. What’s more, we kept our project video a little shorter this time. Sharing all the key information in a short, sharp way meant that even the wavering boosters were quickly picked up.

What tips can you give our project initiators?

• Plan a sound social media campaign thoroughly in advance. Use all available social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc.), build your community in the best possible way and appeal to them so that they engage with you.
• Don’t upload all your goodies in one go, but instead stagger them to always make it worthwhile for every booster to check the site.
• Share regular personal updates, e.g. via video, explaining how the crowdfunding project is going and encourage people to donate.
• Use well-maintained email distribution lists and send emails tailored to each target group. That’s how you get the most boosters.

It is never too late: how can you convince latecomers and those who are still undecided to join in with Veganuary?

Basically, people can subscribe to the Veganuary newsletter at any time of the year, so our support doesn’t stop simply because someone joins in a little later. Having said that, January is certainly the easiest time to start since retailers and restaurants are also involved and make it particularly easy for participants to try out a vegan diet.

(Annina from the Swiss Vegan Society)