Get 1,000 people to give a dollar

Here's a hypothetical question for debate. "Is it easier to get 1,000 people to give $1, or 1 person for $1,000?" Say you needed $1,000. Would you ask 1,000 people for a buck or try to find a single person to give you the lump sum?

I don't know if there's a right answer and I would guess the method you choose depends on the situation and what that money is going towards. I'm sure there's a formula or algorithm somebody created or some basis to go off of. Let's try to break it down ourselves.

I see two variables or factors to consider. One being how much money you need, which I will refer to as variable "m" and the other being the reasoning to give up said amount, or return value that I will call variable "v". The target "customers" or the people who will be giving you the money will be called variable "p".

Every one should have a dollar to spare and far fewer people have a thousand sitting around so in essence, it should be easier to get a dollar from many people. If you tried asking for more money then your potential targets decrease in size because not everyone has fistfuls of crash to handout. So as variable "m" increases, "p" will decrease, as "p" is the amount of people.

This leads to the next variable, "v" the return. What does someone get in return for giving you money? What sort of value or incentive is there? You would expect the return value to increase when the amount you ask for, variable "m", increases.

Let's look at the premise of a Go Fund Me campaign. In case you don't know, GoFundMe is a crowdfunding platform for people to setup campaigns to raise money for various reasons. The reasons could be very silly such as pants for my cat, or to more serious situations such as chemotherapy for my cat. Generous and kindhearted people can then donate money to help a person's GoFundMe cause. When looking at some of these campaigns what would compel a person to give money to support it? Obviously they believe in the cause and you could infer the more money donated the more they believe or support the cause. In the end it is an emotional feeling received for donating.

Accepting donations is no different than selling goods or services. The good or service for sale has a certain price which we refer to as variable "v" above, and some people are willing to spend money on it.

In conclusion, I'm sure some math wiz can create an equation based on the above variables. On a higher level what should we take away from all this? I think this shows that you should really do your research and define who your target audience will be because that will dictate the price. You don't want to overcharge and ask more money than your targets can afford and likewise you don't want to lose out and undercharge.

What do you think is easier, getting a $1 from 1,000 people or getting $1,000 from one? What about trying to get 1 million dollars?