Organization:Kickstarter

Overview

Kickstarter is a funding platform for creative projects. Everything from films, games, and music to art, design, and technology. Kickstarter is full of ambitious, innovative, and imaginative projects that are brought to life through the direct support of others.

Since their launch on April 28, 2009, over $850 million has been pledged by more than 5 million people, funding more than 50,000 creative projects. 

Purpose

"Our mission is to help bring creative projects to life."

Kickstarter is an independent company of 75 people based in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. They spend their time making Kickstarter a little bit better every day, answering questions from backers and creators, and finding new projects to share. If a project is successfully funded, apa 5% fee is applied to the funds collected.

At Kickstarter, they believe that creative projects make for a better world, and they thrilled to help support new ones. Building a community of backers around an idea is an amazing way to make something new.

Distinct Differences From Other Offereings

Thousands of creative projects are funding on Kickstarter at any given moment. Each project is independently created and crafted by the person behind it. The filmmakers, musicians, artists, and designers you see on Kickstarter have complete control and responsibility over their projects. They spend weeks building their project pages, shooting their videos, and brainstorming what rewards to offer backers. When they're ready, creators launch their project and share it with their community.

Every project creator sets their project's funding goal and deadline. If people like the project, they can pledge money to make it happen. If the project succeeds in reaching its funding goal, all backers' credit cards are charged when time expires. If the project falls short, no one is charged. Funding on Kickstarter is all-or-nothing.

Why is funding all-or-nothing?

All-or-nothing funding is a core part of Kickstarter and it has a number of advantages:

It's less risk for everyone. If you need $5,000, it's tough having $1,000 and a bunch of people expecting you to complete a $5,000 project. 

It motivates. If people want to see a project come to life, they're going to spread the word.   

It works. Of the projects that have reached 20% of their funding goal, 81% were successfully funded. Of the projects that have reached 60% of their funding goal, 98% were successfully funded. Projects either make their goal or find little support. There's little in-between.

To date, an incredible 44% of projects have reached their funding goals.

Impact Achieved For Students and Campus

California State University, Bakersfield

The Csub Arts Humanities Matter were looking to bring a Visiting Sculptor from the Ivory Coast to work with their students to create a sculpture of MLK for our campus. They achieved rheir $3,900 goal thanks to Kickstarter. You can check the story out here.

Steps Required To Bring Resources To Campus

The great thing about Kickstarter is that is is open to everyone. Projects on  come from artists, designers, and creative people all over. They may be modest or ambitious, new ideas, or classic ideas with a twist. Every project is unique and is something that someone wants to exist in the world. 75% of submissions have been accepted. If you’re doing a creative project, you’re good. If you’re unsure whether your idea would make sense for Kickstarter, get in touch. They will be happy to help.

The categories with the lowest acceptance rates are Design, Food, and Technology. That's because they're also the broadest categories. Their names alone encompass pretty much everything in the known universe, so we have a few additional guidelines to define what they mean on Kickstarter.

Contact Information

Have questions that weren't answered here? More Frequently Asked Questions are available for both creators and backers. If you're a member of the press looking to reach Kickstarter, you can visit the Pressroom for lots of great resources or email press@kickstarter.com directly. If you'd like support for a specific issue, you can also reach out to the Kickstarter Community Support team directly here. Thanks!