If you want to be successful at crowdfunding, you must offer good, tangible rewards. That’s almost a no-brainer at this point. However, your chances of success are always higher when your project comprises something that will make the world better somehow, such as those promoting a greener environment, like clean energy and so on. In fact, this kind of project is so appealing that it tends to be shared more often in social networks than other types of projects and, as a result, has more potential for bringing more media attention, thus increasing the chances of touching people who will be willing to back your campaign without an obvious personal gain.
However, funding success is limited for those projects that do not offer something useful to backers (and we’re not just talking about egoistic minds who will only consider their own convenience). Many people are willing to opt in for a more expensive and not so practical product if that means turning the world into a better place. They only don’t want, or don’t have, the means to spend much money in something that will not be “used” by themselves.
The solution to appealing to all of those groups, or at least the “green-savvy” ones, is offering a tangible product based on your initiatives. Much better if your initiative comprises an end-user product.
An example of the above strategy is FlowHive, one of the most successful crowdfund campaigns ever. The creators designed an artificial beehive that allowed people to gather honey from them directly, without the need for professional equipment and, better yet, without disturbing or harming the bees. In summary, an ecological way of extracting honey that appealed to people who had bees in their backyards, something common in America.
Another great example of convenience allied to an environmental cause is Solar X, a solar-powered battery recharger. It does not only save energy, but also provides a way for people in remote areas to charge their phones by using their portable solar cells, extending its usefulness.
In the same line, we can also cite EcoQube, an aquarium that’s filtered by a plant. It also saves energy while keeping the water clean. The water and aquarium particles keep the plant well fed and hydrated.