Kickstarter Passes Milestone in its Quest to Funds People’s Projects
Kickstarter, the website that popularized the crowdfunding model on the Internet, recently announced that it has surpassed 100,000 total launched projects. This milestone indicates the effect Kickstarter has had on both today’s creative and startup cultures, as the website gives many would-be artists and entrepreneurs the chance to fund projects when more traditional means aren’t available. The Kickstarter model is simple. Someone launces a project in any number of fields that Kickstarter lists on its site, including music, film, technology, games, art, and so on. Once a creator launches a project, other users pledge specific amounts of money in a fundraising effort so that through many donations, they completely fund the project. Those who fund a successful project are rewarded by the creator with “perks” for their support, which are often early versions of a product. Only completely funded projects receive pledged money and Kickstarter itself takes a small cut from those as well. Of the 100,000 plus projects launched to date, roughly 43% have been successful, putting the odds for a new project to reach funding goals at a bit less than one in two.
The numbers get a bit more interesting as you dig into the different categories on the website. Film and music are the most popularly launched projects, taking up nearly half of the overall total when added together. However, the categories with the highest success rates are dance and theater, with 70.92% and 64.39% of projects reaching completion respectively. While many technology Kickstarter projects have gotten significant press on blog and news site in the past, they make up less than three percent of the overall total and have a below-average 34.24% success rate.
While Kickstarter has led to many successful creations and projects, there is an element of risk with the site. Kickstarter takes no responsibility for funded projects that produce no tangible results. The website does not guarantee rewards offered to backers by project launchers. Similarly to Internet security issues such as phishing scams, users must have the proper judgment to avoid potentially phony projects. If someone conclusively proves a project to be fake, Kickstarter will shut it down. The website does not make it clear whether it included shut down projects in its total when it passed the 100,000 launches mark.
It is clear the crowdfunding model has made a serious impact. However, how long that impact is sustainable depends heavily on the ratio of future successful projects to potential scams that appear on sites like Kickstarter. If you have trouble using Kickstarter, you can always contact computer support for the proper help.
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Filed under: business, Internet, Uncategorized