Faceless Illusions  wrote:
So I have an idea for a project and started a kick starter for it. My question is has anyone on here:
1. Used a kick starter
2. Gotten any success from one.

Let me know

1. Yes

2. Yes, from several.

mophotoart wrote:
fool and his money are soon departed...give a homeless person money at an intersection, soon he will be at the liquor store...your giving money to nothing you have control of regardless of your nobel intentions

Im pretty sure
a) the OP wasnt looking for shitty stereotyping of homeless people
and
b) they're not asking if they should give to a kickstarter, they're talking about starting one themselves and asked if any people have had success with their own fundraisers.

mophotoart wrote:
"If you just share your kickstarter on your fb which is full of other broke people/people trying to do the exact same thing, you're not going to get anywhere"

wow...think people would think twice before they throw stones at comments

yes, I see how you're making the correlation between my saying that people who dont have any money, cannot contribute money to a fundraiser, so they dont make a great target audience for fundraisers...

and you calling all homeless people drunks.

Alabaster Crowley wrote:
I'm doing a crownfunding site for my thesis in a year and a half. I don't know which site to chose though; there are a bunch now. I don't know which are the best, and why, and things.

It's my understanding that kick starter won't release the funds raise unless you meet your total goal. Which in a way is smart, it forces you to keep your expenses realistic and operates under the premise that if you didn't raise enough to cover your project, you cannot do the project so people who backed you for the purpose of seeing/getting your finished product aren't out money you're free to use on something else entirely


On the other hand, you don't get to do something like that twice, so if you try and try and try like hell and fall only 5 bucks short that you're positive you can do without/get later...it would be really great if you could actually access the funds donated rather than starting back at zero.

As the person doing the fundraiser you're better off with a site that releases the funds regardless of meeting your goal (or let's you extend your deadline), but from a donator standpoint, they might be more wary of those sites, afraid you'll take the money and run (which you could still do with kickstarter, of course, it just seems less likely)

Laura UnBound wrote:

It's my understanding that kick starter won't release the funds raise unless you meet your total goal. Which in a way is smart, it forces you to keep your expenses realistic and operates under the premise that if you didn't raise enough to cover your project, you cannot do the project so people who backed you for the purpose of seeing/getting your finished product aren't out money you're free to use on something else entirely


On the other hand, you don't get to do something like that twice, so if you try and try and try like hell and fall only 5 bucks short that you're positive you can do without/get later...it would be really great if you could actually access the funds donated rather than starting back at zero.

As the person doing the fundraiser you're better off with a site that releases the funds regardless of meeting your goal (or let's you extend your deadline), but from a donator standpoint, they might be more wary of those sites, afraid you'll take the money and run (which you could still do with kickstarter, of course, it just seems less likely)

I knew that about Kickstarter but didn't know about other ones. Securing it seems like a good idea, but makes me want to keep my goal pretty low and realistic, which might not actually be enough money for what I need. I know I'm not going to make all of it.

Alabaster Crowley wrote:

I knew that about Kickstarter but didn't know about other ones. Securing it seems like a good idea, but makes me want to keep my goal pretty low and realistic, which might not actually be enough money for what I need. I know I'm not going to make all of it.

I like it that it forces people to actually figure out what they will need and be smart about it, rather than just pulling a "I probably need 30k!" Out of their asses. And if you don't get anywhere near your goal, then yeah I don't see why you should get the money when you're obviously going to be unable to complete your project on such little funding. The ones that I've seen get like, within a hundred bucks of the goal and then fail are the sad ones, they could have easily made that up later if they needed it.


And as that guy ^^^ pointed out, percentages are also a big thing, and something you have to consider when creating your goal

mophotoart wrote:
I stated fact...and have contributed ....never seen result....

So you fact is all homeless people are drunks and you don't like kickstarter - perhaps thet is contributing in your mind.

To the OP

I have been involved in kickstarter projects, some work but most don't anymore.  It's not the fault of kickstarter itself, just that it's become so widely known that there are tons of stupid projects now that skew the percentages.

Laura UnBound wrote:
It's my understanding that kick starter won't release the funds raise unless you meet your total goal. Which in a way is smart, it forces you to keep your expenses realistic and operates under the premise that if you didn't raise enough to cover your project, you cannot do the project so people who backed you for the purpose of seeing/getting your finished product aren't out money you're free to use on something else entirely


On the other hand, you don't get to do something like that twice, so if you try and try and try like hell and fall only 5 bucks short that you're positive you can do without/get later...it would be really great if you could actually access the funds donated rather than starting back at zero.

As the person doing the fundraiser you're better off with a site that releases the funds regardless of meeting your goal (or let's you extend your deadline), but from a donator standpoint, they might be more wary of those sites, afraid you'll take the money and run (which you could still do with kickstarter, of course, it just seems less likely)

But this is also why kickstarter is still number one.  The other sites tend to be more like "give me a handout".  If you don't raise enough to actually do a project how can you comp the people who funded it?  Hell I have seen photograper projects, and I use that phrase very lightly, on other sites for things like buying new gear; WTF

Laura UnBound wrote:
I haven't done one myself, but Ive witnessed many. Some do very well, others tank.


You need a very well written, concise but clear statement about what it is people are funding and why they should do it. "I just wanna make some pretty art but Im broke so please help?" isn't good enough. You're selling something to them, be a good salesman.

You need to know your audience and market towards them. If you dont have the right audience, you need to first figure out how you're going to reach them. If you just share your kickstarter on your fb which is full of other broke people/people trying to do the exact same thing, you're not going to get anywhere. You have to make connections with the type of people who both have the money to support it and have a strong interest in whatever your product is.

You need to be fantastic at keeping up with promotion of your project. Your supporters are not going to seek you out, you have to go to them. Use social media and use it well. Daily spam everyone everywhere you possibly can sometimes work, a more targeted personal approach sometimes works, you have to figure it out. If you have connections to someone who can help get the word out, use them.

And finally you need to offer incentive. The "prizes/gifts" in return for donations matter, as does your finished product. People asking for funding for a thing that everyone can enjoy when its finished (books for example) do a lot better than people who are asking for you to fund whats basically their vacation around the continent doing whatever they want and maybe you'll see some pictures of it later or something.



Map all that out in detail, along with solid timelines and what you promise to return before you even think of asking for money, you only get to make one first impression, you need to look like you have your shit together and your cause is worthwhile.

While some often give a meaningless one-liner...you always give a thorough and well thought out answer.  You're a great contributor...even if I don't always agree with you!

mophotoart wrote:
fool and his money are soon departed...give a homeless person money at an intersection, soon he will be at the liquor store...your giving money to nothing you have control of regardless of your nobel intentions

What a warm and cozy blanket statement

mophotoart wrote:
fool and his money are soon departed...give a homeless person money at an intersection, soon he will be at the liquor store...your giving money to nothing you have control of regardless of your nobel intentions

Cayleigh Chaos wrote:
What a warm and cozy blanket statement

OTOH, it's a goldmine of material for the malapropisms thread.