Kickstarter is an online platform that allows creative people and small businesses to raise money for their projects.
Think of it as a digital version of a community fundraiser, but instead of donating to a local cause, you're supporting someone's big idea.
We use Kickstarter as a way of testing the waters and to gauge the market on new concepts and products we want to create.
We might think a new knife or tool is amazing and want to make hundreds of them, but in reality there might only be 4 other people that would actually like it and purchase one, Kickstarter allows us to see if there is interest in new products and rewards people who pre-order with a better than retail price.
Here's how it works:
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Project Creation: Someone with a cool new product, app, or creative project comes up with an idea and creates a Kickstarter campaign page to share it with the world. They explain what they want to do, how much money they need to make it happen, and what rewards backers will get for supporting their project. E.g. A new knife
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Funding Goal: The project creator sets a funding goal, which is the minimum amount of money they need to raise in order to bring their project to life. If they don't reach this goal by the end of the campaign, they don't get any of the money.
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Backing a Project: You, as a potential backer, can browse through all the different Kickstarter projects and decide which ones you want to support. You can pledge as little as $1 or as much as you want, depending on the rewards offered.
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Rewards: In exchange for your pledge, the project creator offers different "reward tiers." For example, if you pledge $25, you might get a t-shirt. If you pledge $100, you might get the actual product they're making. The higher you pledge, the better the rewards.
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All-or-Nothing: If the project reaches its funding goal by the deadline, all the backers' credit cards are charged, and the project creator gets the money to make their idea a reality (minus a cut that Kickstarter takes).
If the goal isn't met, no one is charged, and the project doesn't happen. -
Rewards Delivery: Once the project is funded, the creator has to actually make the product or complete the project they promised.
This can take months, depending on the complexity of the project.
How to Back a Kickstarter Project (Step-by-Step)
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Go to Kickstarter.com and browse through the different projects. You can search by category, location, or popularity.
Example: Search for The Superb Fairy Wren Pocket Knife -
Find a project you're interested in and click on it to read more about it. Look at the rewards, the funding goal, and the campaign deadline.
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If you want to back the project, click the "Back this project" button.
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Choose the reward tier you want and enter the amount you want to pledge.
Example: A reward tier for the Willy Wagtail Pocket Knife is $145AUD + shipping -
Enter your payment information. This could be a credit card, debit card.
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Review your pledge and make sure everything looks correct.
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Click "Pledge" to complete your backing.
Your card won't be charged until the campaign ends and reaches its funding goal. -
Sit back and wait for the project to be funded (or not).
If it is, you'll get your reward once the project is complete.
That's it!
Backing a Kickstarter project is a great way to support creative ideas and get some cool rewards in return.
Just be sure to only pledge what you can afford, and understand that there's always a risk that the project might not be completed as promised.
