Hi Prince,

Thank you for your comment. That is a really great question. I agree that Kickstarter is probably not the best option for you. In fact, I don’t believe Kickstarter allows for projects that are primarily in search of people and/or resources, as opposed to funds.

I think that finding what you’re looking for may come down to the terminology being used. Rather than “crowdfunding,” you may have better luck with “crowdsourcing,” which is a slightly different term used to describe an effort to source employment, talent, ideas, etc, rather than funds. Here is a website that has a lot of information about crowdsourcing…

http://www.crowdsourcing.org/

The website includes information on crowdfunding, but it also has a range of other topics, including crowd labor and crowd creativity. It also includes a list of crowdsourcing websites broken down by category, which you can see here…

http://www.crowdsourcing.org/directory

I hope this helps. You raise a good point about finding the right website or community to promote your particular project, and in many cases Kickstarter, Indiegogo or other crowdfund websites are not the best option. Hopefully you have better luck with crowdsourcing.

Thanks,
Steve Bulger

Hi Madeline, thank you for your comment. That’s a great question!

When choosing a crowdfunding platform for your campaign, there are a number of factors to consider, and one of them is your target audience. You may find this page helpful…

http://artofthekickstart.com/crowdfunding-demographics-understand-kickstarter-and-indiegogo-backers/

The stats are about a year old, although the general demographic information should be similar today. As you can see, the user demographic does differ between Kickstarter and Indiegogo, the two largest crowdfund platforms. For example, the percentage of men on Kickstarter is greater than on Indiegogo. Kickstarter also has a younger demographic that makes a little more money. With Indiegogo, the users tend to skew a little older, and they’re more mobile. With Indiegogo, as mentioned in my post here, you’re able to collect any funds you raise, rather than an “all or nothing” approach with Kickstarter.

So my advice would be to analyze this demographic information, along with any more recent info you can find, and compare that to your target audience. The other thing to of course consider is that the audience overall is much larger on Kickstarter. For example, if your target audience is primarily women, it may look like Indiegogo is a better platform. However, while the percentage of women may be 12% higher on Indiegogo, given the size of the audience on Kickstarter, the actual number of women on there may still be higher than on Indiegogo.

I hope this helps. I know there’s a lot to consider, and with any promotion or marketing, the more targeted and relevant you are, the more successful you’ll be. And also keep in mind that you can try your campaign on multiple platforms. Many of the crowdfund order fulfillment clients I work with do just that.

Thanks!
Steve Bulger

Hi Michael,

Thanks for the comment. You’re absolutely right, Kickstarter offers very little protection for backers. Their claim is that they’re more of a platform than a business, and these sorts of transactions are solely between backers and project creators. They are supposed to remind Kickstarter creators to keep their backers up-to-date on production and order fulfillment, but they largely rely on the community to apply pressure. They also claim to support law enforcement if they get involved, but initiating that is up to the community.

I have also heard arguments from Kickstarter that pledges are generally low, so it’s not worth it to get law enforcement involved if Kickstarter rewards and orders are not being fulfilled. However, while the average pledge is under $80, in your case, you made a substantial contribution, so I certainly understand the frustration. You bring up a very good point that backers need to be wary when funding projects, and do what they can to ensure the Kickstarter and Indiegogo creators have a solid plan in place for production and order fulfillment. Even with due diligence, though, unfortunately there will still be cases that this sort of thing happens.

Thanks again for the comment.

Steve Bulger

Hi George –

Thank you for the comment!

We specialize in order fulfillment, and we do work with many Kickstarters and crowdfunders. When it comes to how to be successful with a crowdfund campaign, we have put together this guide, 10 Tips for a Successful Kickstarter Project.

Aside from that, I’d recommend checking out http://www.artofthekickstart.com, which has several interviews and podcasts from former crowdfunders, and a ton of great info on how to run a successful campaign.

And if you ever need help with warehousing and order fulfillment, we’d love to chat further!

Thank you,
Steve Bulger

George Snelling.

Hi Bowie,

Thank you for the comment!

You bring up some very good points, and also ask some great questions.

Regarding the crowdfunding category, you typically have to choose one primary category. On most crowdfund websites, you also have the ability to choose a subcategory. For instance, on Kickstarter, you could choose Games as your primary category, and then have Video Games as your subcategory. There are actually tools out there, such as Krowdster.co, that will analyze various categories that may be applicable to your project, and help you choose the one that will most likely lead to a successful campaign (BTW, we are not affiliated with Krowdster, nor have I used that tool….I have just heard of it).

Regarding your question on crowdfunding R&D projects, yes, there are strategies that you can take to be more successful with those types of projects, starting with the crowdfunding platform you choose. For example, I don’t believe Kickstarter actually allows you to fund scientific projects. You may find a workaround for this, such as claiming it is “educational” instead of scientific, but you may just be better off choosing a different platform, especially with their “all or nothing” approach to reaching your funding goal.

There have been several cases of organizations and universities funding research projects, so you may find some case studies out there with some helpful tips. Here’s one example of a group that reached their goal on RocketHub to fund research for autism spectrum biomarkers….

https://www.rockethub.com/projects/11806-autism-and-protein-markers

With this type of crowdfund project, you’re right, the rewards can be a bit tricky. A key to getting support is successful marketing, and explaining to the community why they should care about your project and your cause. It’s always a good idea to have small reward options, such as allowing for a small $5 or $10 donation and, in return, a simple reward such as a public announcement or thank you. If people care enough about the project, they won’t necessarily want a whole lot in return.

Thinking a bit more creatively, you could come up with a reward or two that utilizes your invention once it’s complete. I don’t know too much about your idea, but you mentioned it helps with predicting random events, such as the lottery. Once developed, assuming it works the way you intend it to, could it be used to benefit your backers in some way? If so, that could be a reward for larger donations.

I hope this helps. It sounds like you have a very cool, creative, innovative idea, and I hope it does indeed come to fruition!

Steve Bulger

I am researching and developing a predictive model based on cellular automata and Voronoi diagram that I hope can predict random events that are generally free from a coterie of human influence. Think from lotteries and stock movement.

I have reached a stage where I need some serious computing muscle (hardware, software and human) and time to further develop the model and test in the real world.

The idea is so exotic that I am thought only crowdfunding can help me raise the money to buy the hardware and retain the services of an expert programmer.

The only thing I can think of offering as a reward is the idea itself in the form of a book but then I am afraid that would mean giving away the idea and competing with my readers to bring the idea to fruition.

I thought about patenting the idea, but then again it’s just a theory and somewhere I read you cannot patent a theory or a discovery – I cannot claim it an invention because I have not used the idea to predict anything …. yet.

The idea has spawned a game that I have fully designed and partially developed… and I could potentially offer this as a reward without fully giving away my idea.

So, first of all, am I allowed to crowdfund in more than once category, in my case, writing and games?

Is there a better ways to crowdfund “research and development” BEFORE an idea is proven?

Eagerly awaiting your insights,
Bowie