I’ve been doing an extensive amount of research on Kickstarter campaigns, because Jack and I are discussing doing one for EEME. One of the things we wanted to wrap our heads around was, why in the world does anyone back a Kickstarter/Indiegogo/Rockethub campaign? What do people get out of it?
Here are 9 reasons I gathered:
1. “I’m helping out a friend.”
The majority of Kickstarter contributors are family and friends of the project creator. (Source: Kickstarter Tips with Stephanie Pereira)
2. “This is so cool. I want it.”
Examples:
- Pebble billed themselves as the “first watch built for the 21st century.” They raised over $10 million—that’s over 100 times their original $100K goal.
- 3Doodler is a pen that can draw in the air (watch the video). Do you, like me, have no idea what you would do with it? Do you, also like me, want it anyway?
3. “I love this idea. It should exist.”
I have no children, but I just backed this project which produces toy houses for popular children’s stories (like Hansel and Gretel and The Three Little Pigs). My niece will be getting a “Happy… June!” present.
Roominate almost had me wishing I had a daughter. The company lets girls build their own electric-powered dollhouses (and is tackling the problem of the acute shortage of women in engineering and tech).
4. “I’ve been waiting forever for someone to make this!” & “I can’t believe this doesn’t already exist!”
Everpurse is a handpurse that wirelessly charges your phone. Why don’t I own 10 of these?
5. “This person might be the next Leonardo DaVinci.”
Shoutout to Brian Foo, whose art concepts sometimes kind of blow my mind.
6. “I want to be a part of the community that seems to exist around this project.”
I am not a fan of Veronica Mars. In fact, I had not even heard of the TV show before reading about their Kickstarter campaign. But they are raising money to make a movie and after reading the letter from the show’s creator, I wish I were a fan.
7. “I want these really awesome rewards.”
For $10,000, one lucky fan will get a speaking role in the Veronica Mars movie.
8. “Contributing to this affirms something I believe about myself / something I really like about myself / something I want to believe about myself.”
Like the act of owning an early Mac or shopping at Whole Foods or liking an Indie band, supporting a Kickstarter campaign can send a message (to other people or to yourself) about the kind of person you are or want to be.
9. “Contributing to this affirms something I really want to believe about the world.”
I contributed to Love Ever After, which is a photography project featuring portraits of couples who have been together for over 50 years, because I want to believe that love like that not only exists, but is commonplace and attainable.
“We met when we lived in China. I was on vacation in another town and we only saw each other for three days. We lived very far apart and so, when I returned home, we sent letters. At that time we didn’t even have a telephone! We wrote letters each week but it took about 20 days for our letters to reach each other. We did this for five years.”
Did I miss any? Let me know!
