Throughout the course of the campaign, you will be making impactful connections with many individuals and potential investors. If these individuals invest they become shareholders and brand champions of your company for years to come. To keep these interactions moving swiftly and positively, we have put together a best practices guide.
Doing Personal Outreach ✉️
Having some direct contact with investors can be a great way to build a personal connection; however, you should be mindful of how often you engage with investors. Some investors can feel overwhelmed or uncomfortable with overly persistent communication.
If you are reaching out on LinkedIn, send direct InMail to your contacts who you think might be interested in learning more about the opportunity. You can take the approach of sending them your campaign video to ask for feedback which then leads to discussing the investment opportunity. Or you can simply ask them to share the campaign with their network.
We do not advise sending several messages to followers of the campaign who you are not connected with on LinkedIn. We also do not recommend sending text messages to purchased contacts lists or to investors in finalization. If you want to reach out to an investor, it is best to do so over the phone or via email.
Scheduling Meetings 📅
Some investors like to have one-on-one conversations with the leadership team of the company they are considering an investment in. We have seen companies find success by making themselves available for 15-minute Calendly meetings. This keeps the conversation moving quickly, but also makes the investor feel comfortable for having spoken to someone on the team. You can promote this opportunity in your campaign updates.
For these meetings we recommend the CEO and another one or two members of senior leadership set their availability. Calendly let’s you block off hours of time throughout the week/month that investors can view to book a 15-30 minute meeting with you. Calendly will automatically send a notification to both parties when a meeting has been scheduled.
For these conversations it can be beneficial to have a fact-sheet with key financial metrics and KPIs (key performance indicators). For example, an investor may be interested in your monthly burn rate. Others might ask about the competition and what sets you apart. Treat all investors and their questions with equal importance and follow up on any items you may need to look into.
Sharing Financials 📊
Most companies raising on our platform choose to not have financials made publicly available to investors on the campaign page. For investors who would like to review this information, they can reach out to our support team.
Our Investor Relations team will confirm with you in advance which financials you are comfortable sharing with investors. When the investors reach out, they can then pass along this information directly. There is also the option to have investors sign an NDA prior to receiving the financials. The FrontFundr team would facilitate this. Note: some investors are uncomfortable with this process.
Investors who inquire about financials are typically more sophisticated investors. Some investors will conduct thorough due diligence on each company they are investing in, including a review of financial statements, and projections. In these instances, we recommend sending the investors the files so they can review at their own convenience. We do not recommend having a meeting to review these where you are only sharing a high-level summary of the finances. For questions about sharing financials or processing investors, you can reach out to the Investor Relations team.
Building trust with investors over the course of the campaign cannot be understated. It is so important to have investors feel comfortable and confident about the opportunity. These investors can become some of the greatest brand champions for your brand. By following these best practices, we are confident that you will be able to build a positive connection with investors. Reach out to your Campaign Manager with any questions.