Loken
Lieutenant Commander
I think there needs to be a thread on best practices for crowdfunding as the number of Kickstarter and Indigogo campaigns starts picking up.
Here is what we have so far:
SUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGNS
Star Trek Phase II Indigogo 10/26/2012 $ 7,705
Star Trek: Renegades Kickstarter 11/26/2012 $ 242,483
Star Trek: Renegades Indigogo 9/13/2013 $ 132,555
Star Trek: Continues Kickstarter 11/6/2013 $ 126,028
Star Trek: Axanar Kickstarter 3/31/2014 $ 101,171
FAILED CAMPAIGNS
Star Trek: Excalibur Indigogo 5/23/2012 $ 2,055
($ 75,000 goal)
Star Trek: Equinox Indigogo 3/03/2014 $ 256
($ 230,000 goal)
There are also small campaigns that were looking for $ 1,000 or so I am ignoring.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD CAMPAIGN?
So in preparing the Axanar Kickstarter I indentified a few things that made the Renegades Kickstarter successful.
1) Great Teaser/Trailer with known actors in familiar roles.
The teaser had Walter Koenig as Chekov and Tim Russ as Tuvok. Simple but established the legitimacy of the production.
2) Marketing
Articles in both geek and mainstream media is necessary. Renegades Facebook page was only at 13,000 Likes or so when they launched their second fundraiser. So having a huge presence isnt necessary (especially the way Facebook is making it harder to reach your fans).
3) Cast
Having a good cast adds legitimacy.
4) Good perks
People want stuff, so put a lot of thought into your perks.
Now, from the success of the Axanar Kickstarter, which did not have the benefit of a cool trailer, I would add the following:
1) Stretch Goals
Set stretch goals and have perks when you reach them.
2) Transparency of costs
We got SO MUCH positive feedback for letting everyone know the SPECIFICS of where our money was going. People loved that. Because donors are getting tired of black holes, where producers just raise money with no budget. And I don't blame them. People had confidence that we would use the money well, and we looked like pros. So even with no shot footage, we got $ 101,000.
3) Lots of Work
We had so much art prepared. Great VFX scenes from Tobias Richter, lots of concept art. You could look at our page and be blown away by our preperation. This is important. Show people what you are capable of.
4) Meaningful updates
Use the updates and give people good information, not meaningless fluff.
I hope this starts a meaningful conversation.
Alec
Here is what we have so far:
SUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGNS
Star Trek Phase II Indigogo 10/26/2012 $ 7,705
Star Trek: Renegades Kickstarter 11/26/2012 $ 242,483
Star Trek: Renegades Indigogo 9/13/2013 $ 132,555
Star Trek: Continues Kickstarter 11/6/2013 $ 126,028
Star Trek: Axanar Kickstarter 3/31/2014 $ 101,171
FAILED CAMPAIGNS
Star Trek: Excalibur Indigogo 5/23/2012 $ 2,055
($ 75,000 goal)
Star Trek: Equinox Indigogo 3/03/2014 $ 256
($ 230,000 goal)
There are also small campaigns that were looking for $ 1,000 or so I am ignoring.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD CAMPAIGN?
So in preparing the Axanar Kickstarter I indentified a few things that made the Renegades Kickstarter successful.
1) Great Teaser/Trailer with known actors in familiar roles.
The teaser had Walter Koenig as Chekov and Tim Russ as Tuvok. Simple but established the legitimacy of the production.
2) Marketing
Articles in both geek and mainstream media is necessary. Renegades Facebook page was only at 13,000 Likes or so when they launched their second fundraiser. So having a huge presence isnt necessary (especially the way Facebook is making it harder to reach your fans).
3) Cast
Having a good cast adds legitimacy.
4) Good perks
People want stuff, so put a lot of thought into your perks.
Now, from the success of the Axanar Kickstarter, which did not have the benefit of a cool trailer, I would add the following:
1) Stretch Goals
Set stretch goals and have perks when you reach them.
2) Transparency of costs
We got SO MUCH positive feedback for letting everyone know the SPECIFICS of where our money was going. People loved that. Because donors are getting tired of black holes, where producers just raise money with no budget. And I don't blame them. People had confidence that we would use the money well, and we looked like pros. So even with no shot footage, we got $ 101,000.
3) Lots of Work
We had so much art prepared. Great VFX scenes from Tobias Richter, lots of concept art. You could look at our page and be blown away by our preperation. This is important. Show people what you are capable of.
4) Meaningful updates
Use the updates and give people good information, not meaningless fluff.
I hope this starts a meaningful conversation.
Alec
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). There are also newsletters and other media promotional that can be done etc..
