Crowdfunding is a brilliant concept. Everything from personal fundraising to indie films to product development can be helped along by crowdfunding, and the internet has several great sites to set your project up and get funded.
I’ve backed several projects, mainly on kickstarter and indiegogo. One or two of these have been cancelled, but mostly I have had an overwhelmingly positive experience of being a backer. I’ve got one which is running late right now – more on that below.
Our disposable income is pretty tiny, especially on months that I don’t bring much in, so I never back a lot of money. One of the great things about crowdfunding is the different levels of funding – you get to choose your reward, which can start with token size donations for thanks, going all the way up to high amounts of money for bulk orders of products or exciting rewards.
Some of my favourite projects are ones I have backed in the past, and there are a couple running now that I like & have backed.
Past Projects
I backed both Season Two and Season Three of the New Adventures of Peter and Wendy, which is a web series bringing the adventures of Peter Pan to a modern day setting. It’s a lot of fun with some excellent actors and great storylines. I’m really looking forward to Season Three! Another web series I backed in the past is Con Man, which is incredibly funny and not to be missed for Firefly fans, in particular. I now have the blu-ray thanks to my contribution – I’m looking forward to watching some of the extras!
I am a Marshmallow, and proud of it. The Veronica Mars Movie is probably my favourite ever crowdfunding campaign – the entire process from the day I backed was so brilliant, with constant updates, behind the scenes action and a fab selection of rewards to enjoy. I was so pleased that the film was SO good and have really enjoyed the two books that came out afterwards, too.
For Lydia, I backed the Tinyme Name Puzzle and she still loves her personalised puzzle – when she gets older I might glue it together and put it up on her wall as a name plaque type thing.
Current Projects
This one belongs in the past really, as the funding is long closed and I was supposed to receive my product last winter, but I am still waiting. However – it’s due in a few weeks so hopefully by my birthday I will have a fancy new action camera! They’ve been delayed because of production issues and had to change the colours available, but on the plus side the features are now better than originally planned!
Crowdfunding can also be used for social or charitable projects. A friend of mine and fellow blogger is currently hoping to fund a new power chair to help her get around – her project is here and I will be donating once James gets paid… spending my husband’s hard earned cash on a worthy cause.
Another great project is Message in a Bottle – personalised adventure books for children, packed with adorable illustrations. It seems like a lovely unique concept, and will make a very special gift. I’ve backed this and I really hope they reach their target as I want them to succeed… and to get my book!
The last project I’m going to share is a handy pocket tripod for your smartphone. I take SO many photos with my phone but am definitely guilty of balancing it against things I shouldn’t to take a pic! The combo of a pocket tripod and the camera remote on my apple watch will be great. It’s a neat little thing and it is unsurprising they have surpassed their goal many many times over.
Have you ever backed anything with crowdfunding? It can be a little unnerving the first time!
As a member of a Message in a Bottle launch team, it’s great to see you feature the kickstarter campaign Zoe, thanks. 🙂
How exactly does it work? You give them money and then when the product is launched you receive a copy?
Yes, that’s right. It’s like a very advanced pre-order and they use the money raised to create the product. It saves them going to a larger company for funding and allows a lot of independent projects and very innovative products to be created. People funded, not corporation funded.