Crowdfunding Aborted - Defeated but Not Done
Chapter 8: A Tale of Swiss Pride & Payment Processing
You can donate directly on the $HARE website now: share-tvseries.com/donate.
Last week, I tripped over my Swiss national pride and fell flat on my face.
When researching a reliable crowdfunding platform for our female-powered TV Series $HARE, I decided to forego Kickstarter and Co. for a crowdfunding platform in Switzerland. Because who if not the Swiss could provide superb payment processing for a crowdfunding campaign?
(Spoiler: This story doesn't end well.)
Day one of the $HARE campaign, I got a message from somebody experiencing payment issues on our crowdfunding platform. Did I worry? Nah! I blindly trusted my compatriots’ efficiency. Surely, this was just some foreigner typing in their credit card number wrong.
At the same time - the trickle of incoming payments was concerning. Yes, crowdfunding is hard, but given our outreach efforts, the response seemed unusually slow. Was the film industry right after all about audiences not wanting to see stories from and about women 50+ on our TV screens?
Then came the wake-up call. Sari Botton, publisher of the Oldster Substack with its incredible 56,000 readers, wanted to feature $HARE on her platform and tried to make a payment. Keyword: tried. The payment failed.
Having our crowdfunding platform reject support from someone who's offering both financial backing AND exposure to a huge number of potential supporters? Not great.
I immediately contacted the crowdfunder's helpline. This was our chance to reach exactly the audience we're making $HARE for: people who care about stories of women over 50. Oldster was going out on Friday - we had 24 hours to turn this ship around!
That’s when the renowned Swiss clockwork of meticulous precision and iron-clad efficiency kicked into gear!
Err… nope.
Nobody answered my email. I tried to call but couldn't find a helpline number on the website. I sent another email. And another. (Thanksgiving isn't a thing in Switzerland. Thursday was a common working day.)
Pro tip: if you plan a crowdfunding make sure to check out the platform’s helpline options beforehand. Our platform promoted a 24/7 helpline on their website. Don’t just believe it. Ask them if they can guarantee this. Also, ask if they have an emergency protocol if a payment option is down…
With nobody answering, me, myself, and I spent the rest of the afternoon attempting to make payments to our own campaign - desperate times, desperate measures - and discovered that Google Pay wasn't working on the site.
Not giving up on the helpline I sent another missive at 5 pm - just in case Google Pay being down might be the sort of useful and slightly frightening discovery that kicks up a bit of frenzy at a crowdfunder’s office.
And - hallelujah - this time I heard back right away!
I got a friendly message informing me that their developer had already left the building but would take a look when he returned the next morning.
THE NEXT MORNING?!?!
I asked whether it was possible to reach him by phone.
No response.
Sometimes the wise thing to do is to accept defeat.
I sent Sari an email saying that with bleeding heart, we had to forego the spot on her newsletter.
After that, I started to seriously worry. What had I gotten myself and the entire $HARE team into?!?
I activated damage control and spent a sleepless night frantically sending messages everywhere - warning people to stop payments, posting on social media, telling the team to halt promotion, updating our website... Turns out emergency protocols are useful. At least if you have them (hint, hint).
The bottom line?
We lost round one. But we're not giving up. We're just regrouping and reassessing. This story isn't over - it's just getting interesting.
With determination (and slightly wounded Swiss pride).
Katja
PS. About that donate option on our website: send me an email (mail@zenkafilms.com) in case something doesn’t work. Turns out I’m quite good at running an improvised helpline (-;
PPS. Remember the other time when I lost 50k in Switzerland? This seems to become a bit of a recurring theme in my life…
PPPS. Did I already say that we have a very cool TRAILER? So proud of the $HARE team for making this happen!
You can donate directly on the $HARE website now:
Oh darn, this must be so frustrating for you. I am sorry to hear this. I hope it gets sorted soon.
Oh my goodness, Katja, I'm so sorry to hear this! I think I know which platform you're talking about. A friend of mine launched a crowdfunding campaign with them last year and it was a hit...but her project was very irl/Swiss based and her clients we're not intl (or if intl, they had a CH card).
Last night I went to bed and couldn't stop crying after paying a ton of overdue tax bills, etc....things that the American in me doesn't understand why she has to pay. But, this js Switzerland, and everything costs money. Like the call to one of those organizations I owed money to for clarification on a call... 😫
In so sorry this happened and especially on the heels of a feature with Oldster! And I'm so glad you make the decision to pull the campaign for now.
Oof. Sending a hug to you. Thank you for sharing this experience