Kickstarter for Artists Part 1 of 2
Kickstarter is a powerful tool for creatives. This is the first of a two-part series where I am introducing Kickstarter for artists and in the following article we'll be looking at what it takes to create a successful Kickstarter campaign by looking at some funded projects.
Ok so first let's talk about what Kickstarter is. It's a crowdfunding platform. Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project by accepting small portions of money from a large number of people instead of looking for a small number investors who will invest large sums of money. It is an internet platform that allows the public to attempt to fund their projects while taking 5% of money from projects that succeed in meeting their funding goals.
One important note: if you don't succeed in meeting your financial goal you will not receive ANY of the moneys raised.
Here are 6 points to help you get better-acquainted with Kickstarter:
1. Your project must fall into one of the 13 categories that exist on Kickstarter.
They are:
Film & Video Music Publishing Art Games Design Fashion Food Photography Technology Theater Comics Dance
2. Backers (the people who fund your project) can come from all over the world.
3. The pages created for your project are permanently archived by Kickstarter.
4. Donors choose from multiple rewards that they receive for funding your project ( of course, they only receive the reward if your project is successful ).
5. You should be realistic in setting your goals. Your ability to create a budget that is air tight is going to help you immensely. Imagine that you under-estimate your budget needed for your project. What happens then is that you can't complete the project with the amount raised and your public failure to fulfill your promise to your backers will leave you with a bad reputation and potential legal issues.
6.It's normal for projects to take a little longer than expected - but if you are clear about this in your outline and keep people updated about delays and bumps in the road you should be fine.
Kickstarter for artists is an amazing method of raising funds for big projects but make sure you know what you are doing before you ask for funding. Ready to start brainstorming for that dream project?