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Background

Established in 2000, Mungalli Creek Dairy produces dairy products bio-dynamically. They provide a fair price for the farmers they work with and aim to demonstrate best practice regenerative farming as a solution to environmental issues – their motto is “regenerate the earth one farm at a time”.

For the past 30 years, family-owned Mungalli Creek Dairy has been producing its dairy products bio-dynamically (one of only two milk processors in Australia to do so). 

Their aim is to sustain good health and vitality in all that they do - across their farms, production and community. Over the years, they built up a community of supporters who loved their products and what they did. 

In 2015, they purchased more farms to convert to biodynamic farms, increasing the amount of milk they could ethically and sustainably produce (which had been limited up until that point). 

Customer requests for more sustainable packaging and new products, in addition to the costs of a new processing facility made founders Rob and Dan realise they needed more working capital to fund it all. They decided to turn to their crowd and offer them company ownership through an equity crowdfunding campaign in April 2019.

Timeline

What worked well?

Recommendations for future campaigners.

Diverse skill sets in the team

With a big team, and passionate supporters, Mungalli were able to activate the skills they needed - from their daughter Beth writing documents, a local colleague making their pitch video, and another contact designing up the offer document. 

Great at getting local media coverage

Another team member, Michelle, is great at making friends with media and was able to get a lot of local press coverage for the launch of the campaign as well as articles throughout. 

Sweet, sweet cow pictures

Throughout the campaign, the team were able to share funny images and on their social media. They tried to keep a balance of campaign related posts and fun company aligned jokes.

Crowd came on board

They had everything from an old school teacher pledge, through to Rob’s mum, through to an ice cream producer in the Daitons.

What could be improved?

Recommendations for future campaigners.

Took a while to start First 50 conversations

Some of the team jumped into their “First 50” conversations with their close crowd. However Rob, the founder, didn’t really start his conversations until the final week. He later told us that he should have started those sooner, and that it was great going to the markets and chatting to customers! Rob and his partner Michelle would highly recommend getting out to see your crowd in person and at events both pre-launch and during the campaign.

Pre-Education of Crowd is Key  

A lot people still are new to the concept of equity crowdfunding, so talking pre-launch in person to create understanding is critical to success.

Deadline magic hit again

Despite us telling folks that this might be a thing, it is still scary when most of the funding comes in the final few days! Mungalli hit their goal three days before they closed, and ended up raising 35% more than their minimum goal in the final few hours. People really do need a deadline!

Conclusion

Mungalli Creek Dairy raised $711k through 411 shareholders.

Mungalli Creek Dairy was able to mobilise their crowd of supporters to raise the funds they needed to grow their business and expand their biodynamic farming practices. They did this by reaching out to their closest supporters (friends and family) to help with the campaign, communicating well with their crowd through their channels and in person, and reaching out to local media.

Your action plan

Putting it into practice

Cultivate the relationship with your crowd

Without a dedicated crowd, you cannot crowdfund your business. Engage with your clients and supporters in a genuine way, and gauge their interest before you create your campaign action plan. Make sure you really go out to your crowd and make yourself available for questions before the campaign goes live. 

Communicate well with your crowd during your campaign

Prepare content for your channels that will be engaging and targeted for your audience. Don’t go silent at any point during your campaign.

Use your Network

If you are connected with people who possess skills who could help with your campaign, reach out to them! 

How can PledgeMe help?

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