If you haven’t heard of KickStarter before now, you will. Using the power of the masses and the convenience of the internet in combination with one another is increasingly effective. KickStarter has used both to create a platform where new ideas are funded into reality.

How it Works

Whether it is a watch with apps built in or a new collection of poetry, hundreds and thousands of projects might never have seen the light of day without the website KickStarter.Com. With a simple form and a few details, individuals and businesses with unique and creative ideas are able to submit a project to the platform. If approved, the sky is the limits.

After approval, businesses and individuals with projects are able to customize a sort of advertisement or mission brief. Creative text, full length video advertisements, and a list of benefits of the product can all be included on the project page. Another essential element on the project page are the perks.

How People Factor In

KickStarter is basically a social network that allows individuals to contribute to projects they are interested in. Mom and Dad, an ex-girlfriend or boyfriend, and complete strangers are able to contribute to a range of projects. In fact, most projects are funded by complete strangers.

What convinces people to contribute? Well, the perks mentioned above have quite a bit to do with types of contributions. Perks can range from a thank you email for a five dollar contribution to a completely finished item with $100 contributions and higher. Although KickStarter clearly states that they are not a shopping venue, some individuals do use the platform to search for products that haven’t even been invented yet, but that they can contribute to purchase.

Who Gets the Money

One reason KickStarter has been so successful is the way they handle contributions. Each project listed on KickStarter has a contribution threshold. This threshold can be as small as a few thousands dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Once the threshold is reached, the project is officially funded. Officially funded projects receive all the money contributed by KickStarter members.

If a project does not meet its minimum contribution level, none of the money is delivered to the project. This minimum funding amount prevents partially funded projects, something that also contributes to weeding out projects that are likely to fail. Once the threshold is reached, projects can receive a seemingly unlimited amount of extra funding. This funding strategy allows many projects to be more successful than even the designers of the project expect.

KickStarter is what is considered a crowdfunding resource. They leverage the power of the many to the good of a project. Multitudes of small donations add up, allowing “crowds” to fund hundreds and thousands of projects each year. Crowdfunding sites like KickStarter have shown time and time again the power of mass funding.

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