Indiegogo and Kickstarter: Comparing the Two

By Brandi Calhoun

A few weeks ago, we talked about crowdfunding and how it can help a business or product. It’s great to get things started or to make advancements, like a bigger space or improved/updated tools.

There are several successful platforms, like Crowdrise and Fundable, but the most recognizable sites are typically Indiegogo, Kickstarter and GoFundMe. Go Fund Me is not as business focused, so we’ll stick with the former two.

Indiegogo

Indiegogo is a crowd-funding platform geared toward business and entrepreneurial ideas. They offer funding choices, analytics so you can reach your target audience and a comprehensive app for iOS and Android to help you keep up with your campaign. They also offer equity crowd funding, which lets anyone invest in innovative startups and growing companies. Indiegogo is another way to break beyond the traditional methods of funding without a middleman dictating the product and terms.

Who uses Indigogo?

Indiegogo hosts funding opportunities for games, movies, gadgets, breweries, books, inventions, clothes, causes and more.

Here are the facts: 

 

  • Nearly 250,000 people have raised money 
  • Equity is available through Indiegogo 
  • Free to create a campaign 
  • Paypal and credit card support 
  • International deposits 
  • USD, EUR, CAD, GBP, AUD 
  • Payments or fees 
    • 5 percent platform fee 
    • PayPal and Stripe (credit card processor) charge a processing fee based on several factors, including the funding type and currency you choose, and the country in which your bank is located.

Kickstarter

Kickstarter is a crowd-funding platform that helps artists, musicians, filmmakers, designers, and other creators find the funding they need to get started or expand. With Kickstarter, every creator has complete creative control over their work. To date, tens of thousands of creative projects — big and small — have been created with the support of the Kickstarter community. Kickstarter aims to give each individual a chance to fund their ideas, starting directly with the people who are closest to it (friends, fans, community-fellows.) And it’s a way to break beyond the traditional methods — loans, investment, industry deals, grants — to discover that we can offer each other value through creation without a middleman dictating the product and terms.

Here are the facts: 

 

  • Payments or fees 
    • Kickstarter collects a 5 percent fee from a project’s funding total if a project is successfully funded. There are no fees if a project is not successfully funded.
    • Pledges on Kickstarter are collected and processed by our payments partner, Stripe. These payment-processing fees work out to roughly 3-5 percent. 
  • You keep 100 percent ownership and control over your work.
  • 12.5 million people have backed a project on Kickstarter.
  • $2.91 billion has been pledged to projects on Kickstarter.
  • Kickstarter is specifically for creative projects in the worlds of Art, Comics, Crafts, Dance, Design, Fashion, Film & Video, Food, Games, Journalism, Music, Photography, Publishing, Technology and Theater. Things like making an album, a book or a work of art.
  • Investment is not permitted on Kickstarter. Projects can’t offer incentives like equity, revenue sharing, or investment opportunities.
  • If a project on Kickstarter does not reach its funding goal, no backers are charged and no money changes hands.
  • Projects must create something to share with others. 

Things to keep in mind:

  • Who is your target audience?
  • What resources and time do you currently have to run this campaign?
  • Who can you invite to be part of your campaign team?
  • Fundraising aside, what objective are you hoping to achieve?
  • What would success look like a year after the campaign ends?

Which is better? 

Several of our clients, including The Biem and The Spyder 360, have had success using Kickstarter. It’s really hard to say which is better. It’s like comparing apples to oranges. Both offer great opportunities; it really depends on what your business plan or product is. If you’re trying to make a movie or build an art studio for your images, Kickstarter is the way to go. If you want to get funding to open a restaurant or create a new and improved coffee press, Indiegogo has you covered! 

 

 

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