Have you heard of crowdfunding? Here’s how it works at a site called Kickstarter.com: Artists, writers, film-makers or others propose a project, come up with a fundraising goal and make their case to Kickstarter via letter, video tape or web site.
If Kickstarter accepts the proposal, they issue a formal invitation to the creator, who then puts his or her pitch on the website.
Often the creator suggests levels of funding and associated rewards. For instance, if its a children’s book, if you donate five dollars you might get a digital version of the book when its done; if you donate ten you get a copy of the book; if you donate twenty you get an autographed copy; if you donate fifty you will be mentioned on the book’s thank-you page, and so on. The creator also decides how long the fund-raising drive will last—it can be a few days or a few months or longer.
If the project fails to reach its financial goal in the allocated time, the people who pledged money are not charged and the project doesn’t go ahead. If it does, then they are charged and the site takes 5% commission on the total raised. Some projects raise more than their minimum amount (that’s allowed).Kickstarter is not the only site doing this; there are others that specialize in bands and music projects, fashion, art and other creative niches. To explore further, you can Google “crowdfunding.”
I’m going to be experimenting with this for some smaller projects I have in mind and I’ll report back to you how it all goes. If you try it, let me know how you get on.