How to Use the Crowdfunding Block in UniLink (Run a Fundraising Campaign on Your Page)

A step-by-step guide to adding the Crowdfunding block to your UniLink page so you can run a goal-based campaign with backer tiers, a progress bar, and Stripe or PayPal payments — without a separate Kickstarter or GoFundMe account.

The problem with Kickstarter and GoFundMe for most creators and small communities is the same: you drive traffic from your own audience to someone else's platform, pay platform fees on every pledge, and have no control over the page design, the data you collect, or what happens to supporters after they contribute. The Crowdfunding block in UniLink keeps the campaign on your page — your URL, your brand, your analytics, your backer list. You set the goal, write the story, define the reward tiers, and connect your own Stripe or PayPal to receive payments directly. The block handles the progress bar, the backer count, the countdown timer, and the tier selection checkout. What you get is the mechanics of a crowdfunding campaign without the platform middleman taking a cut of your community's money.

What the Crowdfunding block does

The Crowdfunding block creates a campaign section on your UniLink page that shows a campaign title, a rich-text story or description, a goal amount, a progress bar that fills as contributions come in, a backer count, and a primary call-to-action. Visitors who click to contribute are shown a list of backer tiers — reward levels you define, each with a name, price, description, and optional quantity limit. When a tier has a quantity limit and reaches it, it shows as "Sold out" and visitors can select a different tier. Payments process through Stripe or PayPal, and each completed contribution is recorded in your UniLink Dashboard with the backer's name, email, tier selected, amount, and date.

Campaigns can run in two modes: open-ended (no deadline, the campaign continues until you close it manually) or deadline-based (you set an end date and a countdown timer appears on the page showing days, hours, minutes, and seconds remaining). The deadline mode adds urgency that open-ended campaigns inherently lack, and for most creator campaigns — funding an album, a product run, a piece of equipment — a defined end date is the right choice. Indefinite campaigns drift out of visitors' attention because there is no reason to act today rather than next week.

There are things the Crowdfunding block is not designed for. It does not support recurring pledges, where backers contribute monthly for ongoing access to something. It does not send automatic backer updates or post-campaign fulfillment tools — if you want to send updates to contributors, you export the backer list from your Dashboard and reach out through email. It also does not integrate with fulfillment services; shipping a physical reward to backers requires you to manage that workflow separately. The block is the campaign front-end and payment processor — everything after the pledge is your responsibility.

Before you start

1. Connect your payment processor: Go to Dashboard → Settings → Payments and connect Stripe or PayPal. The Crowdfunding block's contribute button will not appear to visitors until a payment processor is live-mode connected. Test mode looks identical in the Dashboard but silently fails any real card payment — if your Stripe account is still in restricted mode, complete Stripe's identity and business verification before launching your campaign publicly.
2. Write your campaign story before opening the editor: The most important content you will add to the block is the campaign description. Prepare it in a document first: who you are, what you are raising money for, exactly what the money will be used for (line-item specificity builds trust), and what backers get in return. Two to four paragraphs is the right length. Vague stories ("I'm raising money to create more content") convert poorly. Specific ones ("I need $3,200 to cover studio recording for a 6-track EP — $1,800 for studio time, $900 for mastering, and $500 for physical CDs for backers who choose the $25 tier") convert well because they show you know what you are doing and have thought through the execution.
3. Plan your backer tiers: Design two to four tiers before adding them in the editor. Each tier needs a name, a price, a one-sentence description of what it includes, and optionally a quantity cap. The bottom tier should be accessible (something in the $5–$15 range) and labeled with a name that dignifies even a small contribution — "Supporter" is better than "Basic." Higher tiers should include something tangible: a name in the credits, a signed print, early access, a one-on-one call. Tier rewards that are real and specific get higher conversion on the higher-priced options.
4. Set a realistic goal: Goals that are hit in the first 48 hours feel good but kill ongoing urgency. Goals that are 10x what you can realistically raise in your launch window feel unachievable and depress early backers. A well-calibrated goal for a creator campaign is roughly 70–80% of what you think your audience can generate in the campaign window — close enough to feel achievable but not so low it looks like you sandbagged it for an easy win.

How to add the Crowdfunding block to your page

1. Open your page in the Dashboard: Log in to UniLink, go to My Pages, and click Edit on the page where you want the campaign to appear.
2. Add a new block: Click + Add Block in the editor. In the block picker, scroll to the Commerce or Community section and select Crowdfunding.
3. Fill in the campaign title and description: Enter the campaign name in the title field. Then paste or write your campaign story in the description field — this renders as rich text, so you can use bold text to highlight key numbers, paragraph breaks for readability, and line spacing to make the story scannable. Do not compress the story into a single paragraph; give it space to breathe.
4. Set the goal amount and currency: Enter the total amount you are raising and select your currency. The progress bar displays as a percentage fill and a dollar/currency amount alongside it (e.g., "$1,240 raised of $5,000 goal"). The progress-bar style toggle lets you choose between showing a dollar amount, a percentage, or both — for most campaigns, showing both is the clearest option.
5. Set the campaign end date (optional): If you want a deadline countdown, enable the end date field and pick a date and time. A countdown timer will appear on the live page below the progress bar. If you are running an open-ended campaign — a nonprofit collecting ongoing donations, for example — leave the end date blank.
6. Add backer tiers: Click Add Tier to open the tier editor. For each tier, enter: a tier name (e.g., "Supporter," "Fan," "Champion"), a price, a one-to-two sentence description of what that tier includes, and an optional quantity limit. Add two to four tiers. Tiers appear on the page in the order you set them, lowest price to highest by default — reorder them by dragging if you prefer a different sequence.
7. Configure backer count and share button: Toggle on the backer count display if you want visitors to see how many people have contributed (social proof). Toggle on the social share button to let visitors share the campaign URL directly from the page. Both are on by default and both help conversion — there is almost no reason to turn them off unless the backer count is zero and you are still in pre-launch mode.
8. Save and publish: Click Save, then Publish. Visit your live page in a separate browser tab (ideally on a phone, since most of your visitors will be mobile). Confirm the progress bar renders, the tiers are visible, the countdown is counting down if you set one, and the contribute button opens the payment flow. Run a real test payment using Stripe's test mode first if your account is not yet in live mode.

Key settings explained

How to write a campaign story that converts

The progress bar and the backer count do conversion work, but the campaign story does more of it than most creators expect. The page visitors land on when they tap your bio link is not the most persuasive moment — they are still evaluating whether they care. The campaign story is where that evaluation happens. A progress bar showing "$1,400 of $5,000" means nothing to a visitor who has not yet decided whether the campaign is worth $1,400 of anyone's money. The story is what tells them whether it is worth $25 of theirs.

The structure that consistently converts in crowdfunding descriptions follows a specific logic: start with the thing being created (not with your background or credentials), explain what makes it worth making, break down exactly what the money covers in concrete line-item terms, and close with what happens for backers specifically — what do they get, when do they get it, and what do they get to be part of. The details are what do the persuasion work. "Studio recording" is a detail. "$1,800 for 16 hours of studio time at Electric Lady" is a detail that signals you have actually planned this and know what you are talking about. Specificity is a trust signal.

Avoid the mistake of writing the story in the second person ("You can be part of something special"). It reads as marketing copy and campaigns convert better when they read as honest first-person communication. Write it the way you would explain the campaign to a friend: what you want to make, why you cannot make it without this, what they get, and what happens if you overshoot the goal. That last part — the stretch goal — is worth addressing explicitly even if you think you will not hit it. "If we raise past $5,000, I'll add a bonus instrumental EP available to all backers" gives backers a reason to share aggressively even after the goal is met.

Finally, put the story above the tiers. The natural instinct is to show the tiers first because they are the transactional element, but visitors who read the story before seeing the tiers convert at higher rates than visitors who see the tiers first. Story creates motivation; tiers capture it. Sequence matters.

Troubleshooting

Frequently asked questions