If you're trying to figure out which platform to use for your rewards crowdfunding campaign, you'll want to know what each of them have to offer. Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and Crowdfunder all share many similar features - but each has a few unique options to help you drive your campaign. I'd strongly suggest that you also…
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Indiegogo’s Trust & Safety initiative
At the beginning of this month, Indiegogo rolled out new Trust & Safety programs, including a Crowdfunding Trust Alliance with GoFundMe (The Verge describe GoFundMe as Indiegogo's 'rival', which is a bit of a stretch - the two platforms tend to run very different types of campaigns) I talk a lot about how backing a…
Finding backers for your live campaign
If you've already launched your crowdfunding campaign, but you're trying to increase reach and find new backers, what are your options? Let's assume you don't have a time machine to go back to before launch... How to find new audiences There are really three ways you can find new audiences for your crowdfunding campaign once…
Supporting climate emergency crowdfunding
Last week saw the release of the IPCC's latest report, confirming that climate change is 'widespread, rapid, and intensifying'. And humans have already made some irreversible changes - 'some of the changes already set in motion—such as continued sea level rise—are irreversible over hundreds to thousands of years'. With over 200 authors and over 500…
Flexible funding vs all-or-nothing
There are two main models of consumer crowdfunding - flexible funding (keep whatever you make) and fixed funding or all-or-nothing (keep everything if you hit your target - but get nothing if you don't). Both models have advantages, but lots of people new to crowdfunding think flexible funding is less risky. I strongly advise most…
All The Business Bits podcast
Huge thanks to Ingrid Fernandez at All The Business Bits podcast, with whom I chatted about all things crowdfunding - why your audiences are so crucial, what creators get out of running a crowdfunding campaign (other than money!), and why it's really about community and connection. https://videopress.com/v/JBJLQFv5?preloadContent=metadata Listen/download All The Business Bits at the podcast…
Monthly incomes on Patreon
I've had a couple of conversations recently about what counts as 'success' on Patreon, and something that's maybe not obvious from the outside is that creators who earn over $1k a month there are pretty rare. From February 2020, a paper from Tobias Regner in the Journal of Cultural Economics says: Our data show that…
Whose needs will your campaign fulfil?
Most crowdfunding campaigns start with a person or team who've got three things: 1) a brilliant idea, 2) no money to make it happen, and 3) willingness to put in the time and hard work. Sounds great - what else do you need? For crowdfunding, you need a crowd - you need backers. You can't…
Product vs project crowdfunding
What's the difference between product and project crowdfunding - and which type is your campaign? It's worth thinking about ahead of time, as it can really help you pin down who you're talking to and why they'll care about your work. When you're running a rewards-based crowdfunding campaign, both product and project campaigns share a…
Deciding not to run a crowdfunding campaign
There are plenty of good reasons to decide against running a crowdfunding campaign - but a few that might not be so great. If you're having second thoughts about your campaign, and you've done your research, it might be a great business decision to delay it. But how do you know if you're being realistic,…