Make sure your project has an ending

“Projects. Projects. Projects. Kickstarter is for the funding of projects – albums, films, specific works – that have clearly defined goals and expectations.” – Kickstarter.com guide lines.

Why is Kickstarter so obsessed with projects? Because they are tangible and help focus creators and their audience. Projects have specific goals, deadlines, and outcomes. This makes it easy for potential backers to understand where their money is going. Ideas without specific objectives are harder to support because the outcome is unknown. Projects also work well with Kickstarter’s all or nothing model, because patrons have an easy way to tell which projects are definitely going to happen.

A Creative Edge

Kickstarter describes itself as “a new way to fund & follow creativity.” It is geared toward, and is an important site for the creative arts.

Perry Chen explains:

“The landscape for creative ideas has been really constrained, because ideas need to be revenue generating… so most ideas are thrown away. What we are hoping is that other 99% of ideas can now come to a place like Kickstarter and get community funded.”

“By not forcing things to have to generate revenue, you give them a chance to really come to life… [In the past] those [projects] have been supported by grants, rich uncles, and foundations.”

Kickstarter provides a space for these creative ideas to be funded.

In order to post a project on the site it must be within the parameters Kickstarter establishes.

“Kickstarter can be used to fund projects from the creative fields of Art, Comics, Dance, Design, Fashion, Film, Food, Games, Music, Photography, Publishing, Technology, and Theater. We currently only support projects from these categories.” – Kickstarter.com guidelines.

What if your project is not in the “creative arts?” Don’t get discouraged, for Kickstarter uses the term liberally. Many projects that you may not think would be classified as “creative arts” get accepted by Kickstarter. However, all projects must have some creative element in them. If you are considering using Kickstarter to raise funds, make sure you read through the guidelines in its entirety.

All Shapes and Sizes

With over 20,000 successful campaigns, there are a wide variety of Kickstarter projects. However, most are trying to do one of the following.

Kickstart a Larger Project

Kickstarter is a great way to fund parts of larger projects or businesses. I used the site to start Identifying Nelson. Others have used it as a way to launch a product which turned into a business.

Finish a Project

Zach and Jonathan used Kickstarter to save Blue Like Jazz (the movie) and raise money to complete the film. They are not the only movie that used Kickstarter to help put the finishing touches on their project.

Pre-sale

One of the most famous Kickstarter projects, TikTok+LunaTik Multi-Touch Watch Kits, used Kickstarter as a way to pre-sell their kits. It’s a great way to test the market for a product before actually committing to making it. If the product doesn’t sell, you haven’t put any of your own money on the table.

Support a Community

The team behind Diaspora used Kickstarter to create an open-source Facebook alternative. Since the final product was free to download once they were done, you did not necessarily have to support the campaign on Kickstarter. However, by supporting the project, the whole open-source community benefited.

Spread an Idea

Because of the viral potential of Kickstarter, it is great for spreading ideas. If your project really resonates with an audience, it might spread far and wide. The Manual, a project about improving design principles, used the site to publish a book and spread the idea of better design to a larger community.

Do Something Fun

Ever wanted to build a giant Robocop statue in downtown Detroit? That’s exactly what the Imagination Station Detroit team did. They used Kickstarter as a way to get a life-sized Robocop statue built the heart of Detroit. They even got the actor who played Robocop on board. How cool is that?

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A Kickstart’s Guide to Kickstarter TOC:

pssst…you can read all of this offline by downloading the e-book.