Everything you need to know about Communities

Not every idea calls for a one-time crowdfunding campaign. Some need something that lasts: people who support you month after month so you can keep creating. That’s exactly what Communities on wemakeit is for.

With a Community on wemakeit, you’re not just funding a single project – you’re funding your creative work. Your supporters stay with you over the long term, giving you more independence and a direct connection to the people who believe in you, your work, and what you stand for.

What is Communities?

Communities is wemakeit’s solution for long-term community funding. Instead of raising money once for a clearly defined project, you build a community of supporters who contribute every month. It’s especially suited to people who regularly put something out into the world: music, content, art, sport, activism, knowledge, ideas, recurring formats, or work that simply doesn’t fit into the boundaries of a single project. In short: it’s for people creating something of their own.

• Crowdfunding funds one project.

• Communities fund your work over the long term.

Both can be the right choice – it all depends on what you need right now.

How Communities work on wemakeit

A great Community doesn’t appear overnight with a dramatic «3, 2, 1… live!» moment. It grows when your offer, your story, and your communication all fit together.

1. Define your idea

   Start by clarifying why your Community exists, what you create, and why you’re asking for support. The clearer you are, the easier everything else becomes.

2. Build your page

   Create your Community page, define your three membership tiers, and show supporters what they’ll receive. Our built-in Starter Kit guides you through every step – from your introduction to your rewards. Your rewards don’t have to be elaborate. Quite the opposite. Honest updates, meaningful insights, and making supporters feel closer to your work than the rest of the internet often matter much more.

3. Let us review it

   Before your Community goes live, the wemakeit team reviews your page. We’ll check whether your page is clear, your membership tiers make sense, and whether your project is a good fit for Communities – just like we do with crowdfunding campaigns. If needed, we’ll send you practical feedback and suggestions before your page is published.

4. Prepare your launch

   Your first backers will almost always come from your existing network. Think about how you’ll reach them: email, social media, your website, personal messages, or your wider network. And yes, email is still surprisingly effective. Just like crowdfunding, Communities follows the 4Fs: Family, Friends, Fans, Followers. Start from the inside and work your way out.

5. Launch your Community

   Once we’ve approved your page, it goes live and people can join. Now it’s your turn to keep telling the story: explain why your work deserves support and regularly show people what’s happening inside your Community.

6. Keep showing up

   Communities thrive on consistency, not constant noise. Bring your backers along for the journey, share your process, and communicate honestly. That’s how monthly support becomes a lasting relationship.

What successful Communities have in common

There’s no magic formula. But there are a few things that consistently make a difference.

• A clear story

  People should quickly understand who you are, what you do, and why your work deserves support. If it only becomes clear after seven scrolls and two philosophical paragraphs… you’re making it harder than it needs to be.

• A realistic offer

  Successful Communities don’t promise what they can’t deliver. It’s much better to consistently provide valuable insights than to promise spectacular rewards that quietly disappear after a few months.

• Direct communication

  If you want people to support you over the long term, you need to communicate with them directly – not only through platforms that decide whether thirty or three thousand people see your post. Communities gives you a direct connection with your backers. Pretty great, isn’t it?

• An engaged first circle

  Your first backers are often the most important ones. They create momentum, credibility, and your first recurring income. It’s very similar to crowdfunding: people trust people. With traditional crowdfunding campaigns, new backers usually start joining once around 30% of the funding has already come in. The same principle applies here. Make sure the people who’ve been waiting for an opportunity to support you are the first to join your Community.

Why Communities is worth it

Community funding isn’t just another channel. At its best, it’s a calmer, more sustainable alternative to the endless race for attention. That’s why we deliberately designed Communities as a funding platform, not another content platform. The features stay intentionally simple. You’re already creating across countless channels. Your community funding should simply work – and finally allow all those other channels to pay off. Literally.

• More independence

  Build a reliable source of income that’s largely in your own hands, making you less dependent on grants, sponsorships, loans, or other external funding.

• A direct connection

  Reach your Community without advertising or algorithms getting in the way. You know who your backers are, and your updates arrive directly in their inboxes.

• Greater value for the work you’re already doing

  You don’t need to invent entirely new content. Instead, you can fund the work your community already appreciates. Often, your best rewards already exist: behind-the-scenes moments, work-in-progress updates, exclusive photos, or personal insights.

• A Swiss alternative

  Communities is built in Switzerland and deliberately offers an alternative to international Big Tech platforms.

You’ll also benefit from wemakeit’s experience. Since 2012, we’ve helped thousands of creators fund their ideas through crowdfunding, and we’re bringing that expertise into Communities as well.

You may be wondering: Is Communities basically the same as Patreon and similar platforms? We asked ourselves the same question. The short answer is no. We haven’t reinvented the wheel – but there are several important things we do differently. We’ve put together a complete comparison of today’s leading platforms for long-term community funding.

You don’t have to figure it out alone

We’ve been working with community funding for years – not just as a buzzword, but in practice. Since 2012, wemakeit has helped creators mobilise support for their work, and that experience is built directly into Communities.

Not sure whether your idea is the right fit? We’ll happily help you assess it.

Ready to get started? We’ll help you refine your story, your membership tiers, and your rewards.

Already working on your page? We’ll review it with you before you create membership tiers you’ll later regret having to maintain.

Do you have any questions about wemakeit Communities? Write us at: hello@wemakeit.com

Book a check-in Join the free live webinar

Ready to build your Community?

Then get started. Or take one more honest look at your idea, your community, and the time you can realistically invest. Both are perfectly valid. The important thing is not to launch something that feels like a second full-time job after three weeks. That would be the exact opposite of what we want Communities to be.

With a strong idea, a clear story, and a little persistence, Communities can become what many creators are missing today: a direct, independent, and sustainable source of income for their work. And for backers, it’s an easy way to back the people and projects they genuinely care about.