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Background

Alarmed by the climate and environmental crisis, Alice Shopland went vegan in 2004 and loved its far-reaching positive impacts for animals, people and the environment. Whilst able to shift most of her diet to plant-based sources, she was still searching for a good non-dairy cheese option. A search for vegan cheese in her beloved Aotearoa turned up only dire choices. Alice wanted to help veganism become mainstream and she knew that great vegan cheese alternatives would be a key part of this, because it is in so many of the comfort foods and other familiar favourites which bring us so much pleasure. And so, Angel Food was born in 2006.

It wasn’t long before her efforts were paying off and it wasn’t just vegans who were getting on board. Alice remembers a woman shedding tears of joy when recounting how their cheese sauce allowed her to make macaroni cheese for her dairy-allergic child — a childhood favourite that she hadn’t been able to share until then.

Timeline

What worked well

Time and space to prepare and stay on track

Alice freed up time and space to study IMs from past successful campaigns. The team also had a dedicated time for weekly campaign check ins, which helped to keep things on track and ensure accountability for everyone involved.

Linking in their wider network for support and social proof including a private preview. Existing shareholders were integral in creating momentum for the public launch. Existing relationships with NZTE and the Ākina Foundation for advice and support, also gave credibility to the company and campaign.

Activating a new crowd

83% of the $385,000 raised was from 173 new shareholders! The campaign was terrifically placed to deal with the newly widespread awareness and interest in plant-based food options in NZ.

What could be improved

Crowdfunding tools are new to many pledgers.

In hindsight they would have gotten more familiar with the tools and processes involved. This would mean they could make it even clearer and simpler for people to pledge to the campaign.

The silver bullet

A core part of what worked well was having a disciplined and coherent comms and social media strategy.

They were prepared with a dedicated comms and marketing resource to support the campaign and a strategy to find new investors.

They prepared their crowd by promoting the campaign through their June and July ‘Recipe Club’ newsletters and announcing the campaign 1-2 weeks before launch on social media. As a teaser, they also shared their campaign video a week before launch.

They followed up in multiple ways. Throughout the campaign they used Facebook to nudge people and remind them to pledge. They individually emailed the pre-registrants that hadn’t yet pledged. They used paid promotion and actively engaged on socials throughout the campaign.

Conclusion

Angel Food raised $385k through 194 Shareholders.

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