Has anyone had a successful crowdfunding campaign? If so, what are some pointers and a checklist of must-do's?

Reach out to me and I can give you some pointers.

Thanks for the input! This is what I am trying to avoid. We are mainly doing the crowdfunding for marketing, so a successful campaign doesn't mean we got funded but rather raised enough awareness and a following to market to. The planning and research continues!

I did not. I searched the internet for days, read mulitple articles and played my hand and failed. My product was shortly copied by some competitors and said design lost. Only a small portion of people are successful with crowd funding. It is a good idea, but you show your hand early. If you think you have something truly special, patent it, put it up and give it a shot. Some of the good advice I did get was, take your time, do some research and put together a professional and tight proposal (something it seems like you've already started doung, by asking). Good luck.