Kickstarter and Indiegogo

justinisfilming

justinisfilming

Is it possible for me to create campaigns for both Indiegogo and Kickstarter? Indiegogo is great because I can get whatever I raise without meeting the goal. While Kickstarter seems to to be more famous or well-known.

Any tips?
 
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Sounds like what you want is an IndieGoGo campaign given that it fills both your criteria. Kickstarter actually has a lot less projects launched through it (mainly due to the financing model).

I don't recommend doing both at the same time. I'm not sure whether it's against either of their terms of service but it's probably very close to being.
 
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The reason I wouldn't do both at the same time is, you're dividing the effectiveness your projects. If I'm on your mailing list and I decide to give, what if I don't give to the one that hasn't hit your minimum yet? Or what if I see you trying to fund two projects and I think, "Well, I could afford to give to one, but not both...should I give at all?"

It's hard enough trying to get one project to fund - I don't think I'd want to divide my efforts between two of them.

gelder
 
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I've had both kickstarter and indiegogo campaigns. They both work about the same. Right now if you go to indiegogo and put in Leading Lady my campaign will not come up in any way shape or form. It's like it doesn't exist at the site. When I had my kickstarter campaign for Trouble, it was the same way. I don't push enough to get contributors or even traffic.

After a certain amount of time, if your campaign doesn't have enough traffic, it just doesn't exist in the search browser.

That's because most people who contribute know the person they're contributing to, or they're already fans.

Most contributors hit directly from the link posted somewhere off indiegogo or kickstarter.

So, it comes down to simple math. Indiegogo you get part of all money contributed. Kickstarter you have to raise the amount you set or you get nothing.

Since the contributors are for the most part not absolute strangers, go where you'll get part of the money. I don't think there are that many people who will only contribute to kickstarter and not indiegogo. Because if they want to contribute they will. You just have to find and point them to your project.

I was going to contact some people who contributed to projects like my own. And the amazing part is, most people only contribute to one project. I've only found one person who has contributed to more then one project. The more incredible part is, I've seen people involved in projects give contributions. In some respect, that's where the indiegogo scam comes in.

Go indiegogo, at least you'll get most of what you raise, instead of nothing.

LEADING LADY INDIEGOGO leave a damn comment. :hmm:
 
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Well, I think the thing to remember is it doesn't matter which one you post your project on - the donors aren't going to come from the site that you run it on. It's not like there are thousands of people just browsing either site, looking for projects to contribute to. It's entirely up to you to find the people who are likely to support your project, and then make them aware of it - and as Steve mentioned there's nothing to be gained by splitting your efforts to do so between two different campaigns as one is hard enough.
 
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Because Kickstarter is owned by Amazon and uses amazon for processing their pledges, which helps A LOT for tax purposes. Kickstarter is also more reputable. I (as a casual pledger) will only donate to projects on Kickstarter.
 
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DeJager said:
Because Kickstarter is owned by Amazon and uses amazon for processing their pledges, which helps A LOT for tax purposes. Kickstarter is also more reputable. I (as a casual pledger) will only donate to projects on Kickstarter.
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So, you go to kickstarter and just browse? You're one in a few. Most people get their friends and family to contribute and spread the word.

Just for curiosity sake: If you contribute to film or music, how many of the projects that you've funded have been completed?
 
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ussinners said:
But, that's exactly why it does matter.
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When I say it doesn't matter, I just mean that neither one will bring in any money for you - you'll only get as much money as you are able to go out and raise yourself.

Indiegogo you get a % of ANYTHING. Kickstarter you need to meet your goal.

Why would you use Kickstarter?
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First off, I wouldn't try either with a goal that I didn't think I had a decent chance of reaching. I also wouldn't set a goal higher than what I actually needed, and if it is really what I need then only raising part of it still means I can't do the project. If I had somewhere else to raise the rest of the money in the first place, then I wouldn't ask for it on either site. So a % of anything doesn't really interest me. And to make it worse, if you don't hit your goal with indiegogo they charge twice the percentage fee on the whole amount so you actually bring home even less.

We did use kickstarter for a project I shot last year. We couldn't have done the project if we didn't hit the full amount so there was no point in doing it with indiegogo. And as we got down to the last week or so and hadn't yet hit the goal it really got us working to find people to donate - so that we even overshot our goal a little. So ultimately we could have probably run the campaign on either, but personally I think doing it on kickstarter meant we came away with more money than if we'd gone with indiegogo.
 
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DeJager said:
Because Kickstarter is owned by Amazon and uses amazon for processing their pledges, which helps A LOT for tax purposes. Kickstarter is also more reputable. I (as a casual pledger) will only donate to projects on Kickstarter.
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+1

@ussinners: There are a surprising amount of people who pledge casually to projects on KS. If I see something come up on my Twitter feed, visit the page and like the look of it, I will contribute. A lot of people feel the same way about KS but very few would do that on IGG.
 
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I've only contributed to one project, it was on kick starter, and it did get funded.

As everyone else is saying the perception is that Kickstarter is more "legit". As filmmakers w3e should know, perception is reality.
 
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Kickstarter might be better for tax purposes, it might even have more casual contributors. But, it still works exactly like indiegogo.

It doesn't matter which one you contribute to. It's still a crap shoot whether your money will go to actually finish a good or bad project. Unless you know the artist personally, there's no guarantee.

If you browse the sites looking for exceptional projects, it doesn't mean you'll find them. Because they both work exactly the same. The best marketers win.

That guy on indiegogo that set the goal low and raised over $200,000. Do you honestly think he's going to spend all that money on his movie? No. He wouldn't know how. If he had a kickstarter campaign and raised the same amount, would it be any different? No.

There's an artist that I've followed for years. Her music is phenomenal. She was signed to Arista for a blink and her album is still in my top 50 favorites of all time. Her indie projects, just as good. Everyone I've sent her music to loves her. She had an indiegogo campaign and didn't even come close to meeting the goal. I've found other musicians who have gone way over the top on their goal and their finished product for all purposes SUCK. Even their reviews have been awful.

I saw a few successful kickstarter campaigns from a long time ago (raising over $100,000 each). Their IMDB pages are still in pre-production. I have a friend whose movie will never ever, ever, get made. They've been working on getting it started for over 7 years, and they have an IMDB page. Leading Lady has been refused twice. If you looked at their "trailer" as opposed to my footage, there isn't even a comparison. I have Joel Reed in my movie and I still can't get an IMDB page. I can't even get the actors in my movie to share the indiegogo campaign. But, it doesn't matter. Leading Lady will get finished, and will have at a minimum good distribution. Look up how many indiegogo and kickstarters can make the same claim. Money helps immeasurably. But, in the long run, it's no match for talent and determination.

So, whether it's indiegogo or kickstarter, if at this level (basically begging for money) you really need five, ten, or a hundred thousand to make your short or feature, you're probably doing something wrong anyway. So, go with indiegogo and get what you can, and then make do with it.
 
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ussinners said:
So, whether it's indiegogo or kickstarter, if at this level (basically begging for money) you really need five, ten, or a hundred thousand to make your short or feature, you're probably doing something wrong anyway. So, go with indiegogo and get what you can, and then make do with it.
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And I'd say go with Kickstarter, go for what you really need to get your project done - and if you can't hit your goal then it's a good sign you're doing something wrong. Time to go back to the drawing board and figure out a way to make it work.

I'm sure there are campaigns out there that don't result in much of a finished product - but my experience is clearly different than yours. We ran a successful kickstarter for a documentary late last summer - started production literally the day after the campaign ended. Finished shooting in November and started editing last month. We've got nearly 40 minutes of edited material at this point, and premiered 20 minutes to a great reception at a local comedy festival last week. Our full ~90 minute rough cut will be done by the end of the month, final cut by May, and with luck premiering at a national event in June. We certainly couldn't have done things that quickly without kickstarter, and the material has a political theme so it was important to get it finished pre-elections in order to capitalize on heightened political interest this year.

Money helps immeasurably. But, in the long run, it's no match for talent and determination.
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You're absolutely right, money can't entirely replace talent and determination. But if you've already got talent and determination then you've got what it takes to get money through either indiegogo or kickstarter. It's certainly not the only way to do things, but it's a valid option and worth considering for anyone with the talent and determination to undertake an independent feature film.
 
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"started production literally the day after the campaign ended."

Pretty much the same plan here. I will doing the pre-pro on my project all through the kickstarter campaign and shooting is scheduled to start 3 weeks after the campaign ends, basically the minute the money is in my hands. If the campaign fails I guess I'll be getting a loan and/or pawning some stuff.
 
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steve gelder said:
Just met and exceeded our funding goal on my current Kickstarter project today, with four days left to go.
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Congrats! Our doc is based on the work of some comedians as well - clearly that must be the path to certain kickstarter success!

Gonzo_Entertainment said:
the minute the money is in my hands. If the campaign fails I guess I'll be getting a loan and/or pawning some stuff.
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Good plan! We didn't even wait that long though - we were literally on a plane the morning after our campaign, so we'd already started spending the money before we had it. Well, ok, it was actually the afternoon, not the morning - we missed the morning flight. Fortunately I already had the camera rolling:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayQffUcXa0I
 
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Thanks! The majority of those who contributed (probably 95%) are people who either know me or the star of the play, Jann. There have been a few folks neither of us knew who gave small amounts ($1 - 10). But, we'll take anything we can get, so those amounts were appreciated, too.

gelder
 
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