Online Fundraising With Kickstarter

by Devon Akmon

A few months ago I learned of Kickstarter, a new and emerging website designed to “fund creative ideas and ambitious endeavors.” Sounds interesting, no? It is!

Kickstarter provides an intuitive platform for launching a fundraising campaign. As a campaign manager, you establish the parameters for your Web-based project. This includes the duration on the campaign and the amount of money you seek to raise. Once the campaign begins, you need to raise all of the funds by the deadline or the project doesn’t get funded. Yes, it’s an all or nothing funding scheme. It’s that simple.

Launch a project.

Now, for those familiar with fundraising, this might not seem like the most desirable approach. It takes a lot of time and energy to run a successful campaign. So, why would you want to proceed in this fashion when you run the risk of losing those hard earned dollars? And why not host the campaign on your own website?

The Advantages

Kickstarter offers several major advantages. The first is that the format creates a sense of urgency for both the campaign manager and the backers. There is X amount of time to raise Y number of dollars. Both parties want to meet the goal because both are passionate about the cause. Campaign managers need to provide updates on the project while mobilizing supporters and reaching out across the web to potential donors. Backers want to see the project succeed and they help to build momentum and spread the word about the project.

The second advantage is the rewards-based format. Kickstarter promotes the idea of offering “something of value” to all backers, big and small. In fact, the majority of donations on Kickstarter are $50 or less. According to Kickstarter, “Projects without a reward less than $20 succeed 35% of the time, while projects with a reward less than $20 succeed 54% of the time.” In short, give ALL donors something of value and make the gifts fit the donation level.

The third advantage is the Updates page. Here, campaign managers can keep the audience up-to-date on the project’s developments. Are there news articles on your project? How about some new pictures or video? Keep backers and potential donors hooked. It’s really hard to do this with appeal letters and other forms of traditional fundraising.

The fourth major advantage is the back-end for managing the campaign. Campaign managers have access to several beneficial tools and simple services listed on a “Manage Your Project” toolbar. The first is an Activity page. Here, information including donations and updates to the campaign are displayed in chronological order. Next is the Backer Report. This contains the names of the backers at each level with the corresponding reward. Additionally, there is a button that allows managers to export the data as an Excel-compatible spreadsheet. Next is a Messages page that allows managers to directly communicate with individual backers. Following that is a button to Edit your campaign. And, last but not least, is a button to post a new update to the Updates page.

Recent activity.

Backers report.

The Campaign Page

Let’s take a quick look at the anatomy of a Kickstarter campaign profile. On the Project Home page, information is arranged in two columns. On the left, campaign managers can display a photo or video of the project. Below this is the location for the “About the Project” narrative. There are three additional tabs located above the project’s photo/video: Updates, Backers, and Comments.

The right column includes real-time information on the status of the project and a pledge button. Below this is the hierarchy of rewards and the number of backers at each level.

Project Home page.

The “Updates” page is essentially a blog. This is a place to provide emerging details on the project. The updates keep backers connected with news and information while also providing prospective donors with additional details on the project.

The Updates page.

The Backers and Comments page are quite basic. The Backers page lists the profiles of those who have supported the project in order of their pledge (i.e. first person listed is the first donor). However, the amount pledged by each donor is not visible to the public. This information is only made available to the campaign manager.

The Comments page is simply a place for people to leave feedback on the project. From what I have gathered so far, it is not possible for campaign managers to moderate comments. I think this is somewhat troubling, especially if you are running a perceived “controversial” campaign.

The Fine Print

If you’ve read this far and you think you might me interested in utilizing Kickstarter, then I think you should begin with the FAQ page. Keep in mind that Kickstarter is still in beta format, so you will need to submit a project idea through the Kickstarter website for approval (we heard back with a response in less than a week).

While there is no maximum amount a project can raise, donations can only be made in the range of $1 to $10,000. To begin a project, you will need to setup an Amazon Payments account. This will require a credit card and a bank account for depositing funds. Furthermore, if the project is funded, Kickstarter will charge the project a 5% fee. Additionally, Amazon will charge credit card processing fees (note: there is no Amazon fee for backers!). As for duration, projects can last from 1 to 90 days. However, we were advised that campaigns lasting 45 days or less have a higher rate of success.

More To Come

We launched our 45-day campaign to raise $10,000 on Tuesday, July 27. We are now 10 days into the campaign and we’ve managed to raise 31% of the funds. I’ll follow up in a few weeks at the conclusion of the fundraiser with more information on the actual project. I also look forward to posting additional thoughts on Kickstarter as a campaign platform. Until then, take a peek at these additional resources: