Gofundme campaign to get our farm running

Also constructive, why would I donate since it is a "keep all $" scenario? With kickstarter, if you don't reach your goal you don't get the money.

gofundme "What if I don't reach my goal?
No problem. With GoFundMe, you keep each and every donation you receive. Reaching your goal is not required."

So you say you need $250,000. Let's say I donate 1K, and you only reach $3100. Where does that money go? You can't start a farm but you have my 1K. Then I am pissed. Just something to think about.

Also people are more likely to donate in the kickstarter scenario. Why? Because they may see a goal as unrealistic, and pledging is a good will gesture but they think there is no way you will reach the goal. If enough people think this way, then the pledges go up, and you may reach your goal. Then, it's yours!

Take all of what was said here as constructive.
 
If you can refund, I'd switch from GoFundMe to KickStarter as suggested many times. A solid business proposal for what you plan to do would help you tremendously and is really no different than any investor including banks would require.
 
I have 100 acres that I hunt that I'd love to do the exact same thing with but I am going to more conventional methods currently.  
 
 
Best of luck
 
JoynersHotPeppers said:
If you can refund, I'd switch from GoFundMe to KickStarter as suggested many times. A solid business proposal for what you plan to do would help you tremendously and is really no different than any investor including banks would require.
 
And to this point, for Kickstarter raising this kind of funding would be really, really difficult for many reasons. Primarily because you'll have a maximum of 60 days to raise the funds. That works out to $4166.66 per day.   :doh: 
 
And as I previously mentioned and as JHP states, you'll need a business plan. 
 
Finally, since it's KS, you'll need to provide rewards - and those are going to cut into the return from your campaign substantially. KS and their payment processor will knock 10% off the top, and you'll likely be hit with 40-60% overhead from the rewards fulfillment. 
 
So to raise $250K you'll have to do a KS for $400-500K.  Or you'll do $250K and net ~$100K at best. 
 
Not to mention the unfathomable task of fulfilling rewards for 10-12K people. I had just around 500 to fulfill and it damn near killed me. 
 
It's just an awful lot of $.  
 
hogleg said:
 
 
Cool link. Not sure how it is elsewhere but out here banks won't give you a loan for bare land. Looks like a cool option.
 
Here in Louisiana, there are many "land banks" that lend to people to develop farms, hunting leases, camp sites, etc... they see opportunity in funding the outdoors for a profit. Especially with so many people wanting hunting and fishing camps, farms, etc. The banks over there should rethink their position. Lots of folks here secure their home loan by using their land as collateral. Land is valuable. In my area, it's going for anywhere form $20K to $40K per acre... undeveloped. My wife has about 22 acres of inherited land we plan to build on a portion of. Hopefully, we can sell enough of the other land to totally pay for the house.
 
Perhaps i didnt go into enough detail on the campaign and let people know a bit more. I think right now I am in a very odd place to be in. The economy and the direction our country is going in and in fact the entire world put things in a different perspective. One that sees that things are not what they seem. That the world is on a grinding path downwards and it does not appear to be changing that path anytime soon. In a stable environment even a few decades ago, I would take greater risks. I think taking a loan out with a large down payment on a piece of land is taking enough of a chance, and pretty damn close to "all in". As I said I don't want to finance any further, as debt right now is foolish to acquire imho. So I  have my liveliness and responsibilities outside of a business to be wise with. I don't believe taking on another loan would be wise at this stage considering. I live by certain financial standards that I just don't deviate from, unlike most. Keeping things this way have greatly benefited us, and in this economic environment it can become a big advantage. 
I do agree its a stretch to ask for 250K however if you don't try you don't get. I may not, but you never know. Again if someone would consider paying for another to go on vacation then why is it a stretch for what I am asking, lol? I am looking at several options but it cannot hurt to consider everything. I have never done a Kickstarter or Gofundme, so this is new to me. I know these things have a real possibility of taking off, so I wanted to give it a try.
Basically one of my chief goals which appears here not to be valued lol is to be debt free. As most view my unwillingness to do so as negative, it makes it hard for others to understand and see my position. Instead its viewed as if I am not "all in".  I will accept that view from you and others, but it does not make it correct. Perspectives mean a lot in life. We live and believe and do things based upon perspectives. I do want to consider others perspective, but hope others afford me the same. I also understand you may not agree with my perspective. From my own, I see starting a new business to be a huge risk right now. Yes there are some places in the economy surging, but its very specific. So to me just doing what I have done already puts us in position to be all in. This farm is also going to be our primary residence. I am putting most of our savings into this as well, and so we are putting ourselves on the line and putting "our money where our mouths are". I just don't want to be a fool and put too much on us, as I want to keep this business and property for a long time. Taking too high of a risk can put yourself and family in a precarious position. The extent of that position would be too high in my opinion by taking out another loan. I err on the side of less rather than more when it comes to debt what can I say. I believe if you have an outstanding loan on whatever, you don't own it. I want to truly OWN my own business, not be owned. If I owe anything then its not mine. Not until its paid completely, and even then I still have to pay taxes. Call me crazy, old fashioned but I call it the truth. Years ago the ability to pay back those loans were pretty solid. Now?
Well thanks all for the input. I might not be successful with this campaign, but I believe I will be with the farm. Perhaps funding will have to come another way. You cannot fault me for trying though. At least what I am using it for benefits our economy, not just myself.
I do indeed have a plan, but I don't like it lol. I'm trying to enhance it and speed it along. But to do so without flooring us.​ In regards to not making funding I intend to use every dime I can towards this farm that is donated. I understand though people might not believe me.
 
If you raise, say, $800, what are you going to do with it? You can't start a farm but you get the money. I would never donate to a campaign with such a high goal and they keep my donation. You might want to rethink, or state what you will do with it.
 
I myself have done a campaign, and it was indiegogo where you also keep all funds, but we were very clear how they would be used and it was a small goal. We were making a record and all money donated was used for it even if we didn't reach the goal, and we made the record, and sent it as a perk.
 
The Hot Pepper said:
If you raise, say, $800, what are you going to do with it? You can't start a farm but you get the money. I would never donate to a campaign with such a high goal and they keep my donation. You might want to rethink, or state what you will do with it.
 
I myself have done a campaign, and it was indiegogo where you also keep all funds, but we were very clear how they would be used and it was a small goal. We were making a record and all money donated was used for it even if we didn't reach the goal, and we made the record, and sent it as a perk.
 
I would use it towards expenses for the farm. I can understand that your going to tell me that I cannot prove that I will use it for that. Indeed that is true. Part of it is a requirement of good faith. Anyone could turn around and use that money for another purpose than stated, so that goes without saying. I would personally determine what is needed the most at this point towards the goal and apply the 800 dollars to it. The record is a good idea, and not one I would be opposed to.
 
The Hot Pepper said:
I myself have done a campaign, and it was indiegogo where you also keep all funds, but we were very clear how they would be used and it was a small goal. 
 
In general, the recommended practice is to have a small goal and if it captures people's hearts and minds, it can take off beyond expectations. 
 
Just my opinion, but having a goal of a quarter of a million dollars will be seen by many as both greedy and unrealistic.
 
And to THP's point if $1500 is raised, that's just .006% of your goal, which could never possibly be used towards that goal. So you'd simply be pocketing the $. 
 
So it's not just a matter of people having a negative opinion - it's a realistic opinion based on what you've put in front of them. You put a lot of work into stating the "why" but from what I can see almost zero effort into stating the "how".  You have no track record of prior success with such an endeavor, which means your business plan has to be twice as good to convince anyone to help. And yet you've posted no detailed business plan. 
 
"Wanting" something isn't good enough for people to get behind this. And not incurring risk - not "going all-in" is not an option.  You have to go all-in to do what you're saying you want to do. $250K is not a trivial amount of money. Your analogies to people getting vacations funded or buying a video game fall well short of even resembling a fair comparison. 
 
Sorry to be so blunt, but following your dream means risking it all. If you're not prepared to go "all-in", this will never be successful. I understand your position of wanting a fully funded business without incurring debt, but I think it's completely unrealistic.   
 
Best of luck. 
 

 
 
AaronTT said:
I would use it towards expenses for the farm. I can understand that your going to tell me that I cannot prove that I will use it for that. Indeed that is true. Part of it is a requirement of good faith. Anyone could turn around and use that money for another purpose than stated, so that goes without saying. I would personally determine what is needed the most at this point towards the goal and apply the 800 dollars to it. The record is a good idea, and not one I would be opposed to.
 
No I meant we made a musical record (a cd) lol... we were making it anyway, so we set the goal to "help make it" and get a perk. We paid mostly out of pocket but the $1100 went a long way and those fans got cool stuff.
 
Last words, honestly you will get more donations with a detailed business plan, a video (a must!!!), and using kickstarter, where people will pledge not knowing if you will reach the goal instead of them not pledging knowing you automatically get it.
 
There are some strangers on KS that do pledge, because it is not guaranteed unless the goal is met, and some go viral. On the other sites, those never go viral and strangers rarely donate to such campaigns, because why should they just hand over money to you when you are so short of the goal and they don't know you?
 
Also the KS model forces realistic goals.
 
Hope that makes sense good luck brother!
 
oldsalty said:
Man I'm shocked at some of the replies!! :( Just plain mean!! Aaron has been a member for awhile now so let's be nice!! :) send him best wishes and all the luck we can muster!!

Juanitos I love that idea!!!! :) that's the response AaronTT was looking for not a punch in the face!!
 
Maybe you're looking at them as a personal attack on Aaron...they're not. The sentiment is general in nature...and it's probably coming from folks like myself who had to build their business with their own sweat equity and risks. Losing your job doesn't count as a risk for a new venture; it just means you're in a tough spot. The risk is there regardless if you start a new business or not...everyone has bills to pay. I wish the man success but asking strangers for money without offering a thing in return is bad business. period. I don't care how good of a person you are. To me, this looks like a campaign to raise as much money to help with day to day living until he can start the business which he will definitely need a loan or grant for that big of a number; and that's not going to sit well with anyone. 
 
A loan is the only answer in this situation...if a qualified lender won't lend you money then the project was probably doomed anyway. Private financing could work that's really expensive money...
 
AaronTT said:
 
I do agree its a stretch to ask for 250K however if you don't try you don't get. I may not, but you never know. Again if someone would consider paying for another to go on vacation then why is it a stretch for what I am asking, lol?
 
Hey, it wasn't too long ago a few of us here caught flak for pitching in a few bucks (like $20 or less) to some kid through Paypal so he could buy a legit bag of garden soil! lol!
 
It comes with the territory of asking for money. I hope you're prepared to catch a little extra flak for asking for a quarter of a million dollars, just so you can own your farm and be "debt free"... which is what I think is rubbing folks the wrong way. We'd all like to be debt free. If you succeed in convincing people to just hand over money to make your way easier, In your case, the president would be right when he said "You didn't build that!"
 
Say it out loud, slowly..... "I'm asking people to give me a quarter of a million dollars so I won't have debt... so I can minimize my risk of hardship"
 
Best of luck!
 
I'm not trying to be ugly or rude, just real. 
 
One of the guys at work put a gofundme on Facebook for a new HARLEY .  i couldn't help but ask him at work the day after Why he put it on there .(  cause he already has a nice bike ). he said why not  (and then Laughed )  got nothing to lose , everyone else is doing it . I had to agree with him . Needless to say no one donated . lol    
 
I will not be debt free. I still have the property and I need quite a bit for the farm, so its not quite the way your portraying. That is what you call jumping to conclusions. What I said is I don't want to take on additional debt. Yes I work to the end to be debt free, but that is not the same as saying I am trying to get this farm debt free. Don't put words into my mouth.
 
Phil said:
 
Hey, it wasn't too long ago a few of us here caught flak for pitching in a few bucks (like $20 or less) to some kid through Paypal so he could buy a legit bag of garden soil! lol!
 
It comes with the territory of asking for money. I hope you're prepared to catch a little extra flak for asking for a quarter of a million dollars, just so you can own your farm and be "debt free"... which is what I think is rubbing folks the wrong way. We'd all like to be debt free. If you succeed in convincing people to just hand over money to make your way easier, In your case, the president would be right when he said "You didn't build that!"
 
Say it out loud, slowly..... "I'm asking people to give me a quarter of a million dollars so I won't have debt... so I can minimize my risk of hardship"
 
Best of luck!
 
I'm not trying to be ugly or rude, just real. 
 
AaronTT said:
I will not be debt free. I still have the property and I need quite a bit for the farm, so its not quite the way your portraying. That is what you call jumping to conclusions. What I said is I don't want to take on additional debt. Yes I work to the end to be debt free, but that is not the same as saying I am trying to get this farm debt free. Don't put words into my mouth.
 
 
I say this nonhyperbolically - this can be seen as none other than a parody of crowdfunding ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAD6Obi7Cag
 
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