Kickstarter, the relatively new internet platform designed to help artists raise money for their creative projects, might be just the solution to your cashflow needs. Like other crowdfunding sites, (Indiegogo is another popular one), the Kickstarter concept relies on contributors receiving something tangible for their donation. You provide various rewards at different funding levels. Your contributors are not investing in your project, so no worries about Blue Sky laws and other securities regulations; and your contributors are not donating per se and getting a tax deduction, so you don't have to achieve non-profit status or necessarily find a fiscal sponsor, (though with Indiegogo, you can include this kind of approach).

 

I recently embarked on a Kickstarter campaign for my new film Pig, which is set to world premiere in London and Nashville next month. We're finishing the film now and using Kickstarter to raise funds to help us complete it. I did an awful lot of research before launching my campaign and while my journey is far from over, I've gathered a few useful tips for any of you who might be contemplating a Kickstarter run. (You can check out my page here: http://kck.st/hILgAs)

 

1.) Kickstarter can really pay off. The conventional wisdom used to be that Kickstarter was only good for raising small amounts, start-up costs or finishing funds, amounts in the $10k-$20k range. First of all, if you're a no-budget filmmaker, that can be your whole budget. Second, bigger amounts are being raised every day. Check out Kickstarter's Hall of Fame.

 

2.) Kickstarter can be a bust. While some folks are raising over $100k, I've seen several struggle to raise even $3k. You have to know your own strength. Do you really know 100's maybe 1000's of people who will give you money? Is yours the type of project that will get passed all over the internet and funded by strangers, (like this Indiegogo Hava Nagila project)? Do you have the time and intestinal fortitude to mount a successful campaign? Set your fundraising goal conservatively and accordingly. Remember, it's all or nothing.

 

3.) Kickstarter is a lot of work, and it's not for the feint of heart, the lazy, or the easily discouraged. I thought my film was a mind fuck; Kickstarter is the biggest mind fuck there is! Some of your closest friends will ignore you. Others will give you hardly anything, even though you've always been there for them. People with money will not share it. These are universal constants in the world of fundraising. Still, others you don't know at all will support you, and many folks will surprise you in a good way. Get your self esteem in it's best possible shape before attempting. See #11 about the hard work.

 

4.) The conventional wisdom changes every day. In other words, there are really no rules. Every time there seems to be a rule or a principle to follow, a new project comes along and breaks that rule and succeeds fabulously. The bottom line is, it's just too early in Kickstarter's inception and things are developing too quickly for many hard and fast rules to take foot.

 

5.) Actually, there are some rules, at least I think there's some, (and of course, that's why I'm writing this). I've visited countless Kickstarter pages and have donated to around 14 or 15 projects so far on the two sites, and I've observed some good and bad practices. I will have more observations surely when this is all done.

 

6.) Make a video. There's nothing less impressive than going to a Kickstarter page, where there is the option to post a pitch video, and there is nothing but a still image. Personally, it just makes me think you're being lazy. But more than that, you're missing a huge opportunity to reach out and grab your potential donors by the balls. I can tell you with certainty that some of the most successful campaigns were successful due in a big part to their videos. One of the most successful campaigns I know of, I Am I, which is being produced by a couple of friends of mine, raised well over $100k. Yes, they have celebrities in their film and yes, the filmmaker worked her butt off to get the word out and establish relationships with donors, but it's no coincidence that this project also had one of the most creative and impressive videos I've seen on Kickstarter. The first thing I did after seeing it, (actually the second thing I did--the first thing I did was sigh at how much better their video was than the one I was going to make), was pass it along to friends. I'm certain that most people passed it along. The filmmakers reported that over 80% of their donations came from people they didn't know! So make a video, put yourself in it, (no matter how bad you are on camera--see my video!), and be sincere. Talk directly to the camera, to your audience of potential donors. Don't just run a trailer or a clip from your project. If you can come up with a clever idea or make it look great or blow people away in some other fashion, then great. But if not, then be yourself and tell your story. Scrappy, earnest videos go a long way on Kickstarter.

 

7.) Money is the third reason to do Kickstarter, not the first. You will get money from people you don't know, which is why money isn't the most important reason to launch a Kickstarter video. According to distribution strategist and crowdfunding expert Peter Broderick, the first reason to do Kickstarter is to get feedback on your project or on the way you talk about your project. If you're about to spend $100k on a film that no one seems to give a shit about, you may want to re-evaluate that decision. The second reason to do Kickstarter is to build awareness for your project and to build a network of people who, as Peter says, want your project to succeed. I've heard many stories of Kickstarter supporters providing valuable resources to projects, going way beyond money. And what I'm discovering about Kickstarter specifically, is you can raise "stranger dollars" from the platform--money from people who just discovered you on the site. These are the best dollars because they represent folks who were moved by your material so much they gave you money to see it succeed. No arm twisting of friends and relatives; these are true fans.