The Most Common Mistakes Made by “My City” Project Authors

Crowdfunding is a powerful tool for implementing socially important initiatives, especially when traditional funding sources become less accessible. “My City” brings together hundreds of projects, yet statistics show that far from every campaign ends up successful.

By analyzing the experiences of our authors, we identified the most common mistakes that hinder effective fundraising. Understanding these pitfalls will help future creators better prepare for their campaigns and significantly increase their chances of success.

1. Trying to Do Everything Alone

One of the most critical mistakes is attempting to manage the entire project single-handedly. Authors often overestimate their capacity, believing they can simultaneously handle content creation, marketing, donor communication, and project delivery.

Crowdfunding is a team effort where each person has their own area of responsibility. When everything falls on one person, challenges are inevitable: someone can’t respond to comments in time, someone forgets to update the project page, and someone inevitably burns out under the pressure.

What to do: Before launching your campaign, assemble a team of 3–5 people, and distribute roles and responsibilities. Decide who handles content, who is in charge of communication, and who oversees planning and coordination. It’s crucial that everyone is consistently involved, not just occasionally.

2. Poor Understanding of Digital Marketing

Many project authors believe in the illusion that “if the project is good, people will find it on their own.” In reality, even the strongest initiatives remain unnoticed without proper promotion.

Digital marketing is not just “posting on social media.” It’s understanding algorithms, creating viral content, knowing how and when to publish materials, and understanding the difference between organic reach and paid promotion. Without basic marketing knowledge, your project risks staying in the shadows.

What to do: Invest time in learning digital marketing fundamentals, or bring a specialist onto your team. Create a content plan for your entire campaign, study successful cases, and experiment with different content formats. Remember: promoting your project is 50% of its success.

3. Unrealistic Expectations

Many authors expect a direct correlation between effort and immediate results: “I posted once — now I should get donations.” In reality, crowdfunding is a long-term process of building trust and audience engagement.

Donors rarely contribute right after first hearing about a project. They observe, read updates, evaluate the team, and only then decide whether to donate. Every action taken by the author influences trust, and your job is to steadily strengthen it

What to do: Prepare for a long-term effort. Recognizing that crowdfunding is a marathon — not a sprint — helps manage your energy more effectively. Monitor not only the amount raised but also other metrics: audience growth, engagement levels, and the number of shares.

4. Internal Psychological Barriers

“I don’t want to beg,” “someone else needs it more” — we often hear such phrases from project authors who unintentionally sabotage their own work. These internal biases become a major obstacle on the road to success.

Inability to articulate the value of their project or reluctance to ask for support limits authors to a couple of timid social media posts. Yet donors expect confidence and conviction from project creators.

What to do: Work on your mindset. Remember, you are not “begging”; you are offering people the opportunity to support something meaningful. Your project is a chance for others to make the world better. Practice your pitch, test different communication formats, and push yourself outside your comfort zone.

5. Dry, Formal Communication

Organizations often speak to their audience in the language of reports: “We distributed 500 aid packages,” “held 15 events,” “reached 300 beneficiaries.” This kind of communication doesn’t inspire or motivate anyone to donate.

Real stories, emotions, and human experiences get lost behind these dry figures. Potential donors don’t see the impact and don’t understand why their support matters. As a result, audience engagement stays low, and fundraising stagnates.

What to do: Shift your communication approach. Tell stories of real people, show “before and after,” and share emotions and experiences. Use visual content, create infographics, record videos. Remember: people donate to people, not to numbers.

6. Targeting the Wrong Audience

Humanitarian organizations fall into this trap most often: their core audience consists of beneficiaries — those seeking help, not those ready to provide it. Followers stay for updates on assistance programs, not because they want to support the project financially.

This creates the illusion of a large audience with very little fundraising potential. Authors see thousands of followers but don’t understand why donations are coming so slowly.

What to do: Analyze your audience, and identify the segment that can realistically become donors. Develop strategies to attract new supporters: build partnerships with other organizations, engage opinion leaders, and host offline events. Diversify your audience acquisition channels.

7. Rushing the Launch

Many authors launch their campaigns impulsively, without proper preparation. They start learning crowdfunding fundamentals mid-process, which often leads to critical mistakes and missed opportunities.

Crowdfunding is a complex process that requires thoughtful planning — from analyzing your target audience to creating a communication strategy. Improvisation rarely works here.

What to do: Spend time studying successful cases, analyzing competitors, and developing a detailed campaign plan. Prepare all materials in advance: texts, videos, images. Test different approaches on a smaller audience before launching at full scale.

The path of crowdfunding is filled with challenges and hidden obstacles that can halt even the most promising initiatives. Mistakes are an inevitable part of any process, especially one as multifaceted as raising funds for socially important projects.

But the greatest wisdom lies not in avoiding mistakes — that’s nearly impossible — but in learning from the experiences of others. Each mistake described above has become a lesson for dozens of teams, and each failure has brought someone closer to understanding how crowdfunding really works.

Remember: behind every successful project are months of preparation, a team of committed people, and a deep understanding of their audience’s needs. Your future success begins long before you launch your campaign — at the moment you commit to thoughtful preparation and to learning from those who have already walked this path.