I was recently made aware of Kickstarter, a website devoted to creative projects and finding funding for them. It’s a great example of crowd funding where people make pledges from $1 to $10,000 to creative projects they find interesting.
I decided to give this a try for my own project, a documentary about people who are making a positive difference in the world. After my 99-day journey around the world, shooting this film, I am now in postproduction and I’m using Kickstarter to solicit funds so that I can hire a professional editor and colorist to “polish off” the final cut.
In less than a week’s time, I had met 30% of my goal. It’s typical for projects on Kickstarter to see most of the interest happen when projects are first launched and then taper off over time. As the creator, you can choose how long you want your project online – up to 90 days. But bear in mind that you need to create a buzz yourself via emails to personal contacts and mentions on social media platforms. There’s also an area on your project site for “updates” which is important for attracting new “backers” and keeping people who have already pledged, informed.
One thing I love about Kickstarter is how people have fun with the “rewards” they offer at various donation levels. For example, I offer a DVD of my finished film if someone pledges $25 or more. You need to think about the value of your rewards as far as what the market will bear because the majority of funding is met through modest pledges that will add up to meet your goal.
There is one caveat in finding funds through Kickstarter and that is if you don’t meet your goal by the date of your self-determined deadline, then all bets are off and you receive nothing. The pledge money is not collected until the funding deadline is over and the creator is not obligated to make good on the rewards if the project doesn’t get fully funded.
If you have a passion project you’ve been thinking about, but you need funding for, check out Kickstarter, by exploring other projects to get an idea about how it works. If you feel that your project is a good fit, submit it to Kickstarter and see how it goes. If accepted, it just may make your dream a reality.