Crowdfunding: How Kickstarter and Indiegogo can fund your projects and causes

Are you sitting on a project you’ve created but don’t have the funding?  Are you passionate about a cause and want to get your friends, your blog readers or social network connections involved?  Well the time has come and there are plenty of crowd-funding platforms to help make your dreams a reality.

Last September for her 50th birthday, Colleen Wainwright aka The Communicatrix, decided to do something different. She set out to raise $50,000 for WriteGirl, a nonprofit organization for high school girls focused on the art of creative writing and empowerment through self-expression.  Colleen said that if the goal was met, she would shave her head.  And that she did!

“If you want to change the world, you help girls, said Colleen.  “Mastering the ability to write opens doors, builds self-confidence and self-esteem, and increases a girl’s chance of earning a living for herself and changing the world for present and future generations.”

I asked Colleen to talk about her fund raising project in the video above. To learn more about Colleen’s project for Write Girls go here: Indiegogo/50for50


Last week, Seth Godin launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $40,000 for his new book The Icarus Deception.  Seth said that he wanted to show his publisher, the bookstores and anyone who is writing a book that it’s possible to start a project with the support of a crowd funding platform such as Kickstarter.  Seth’s goal was to raise $40,000 and as of today (June 24 at 6:30 pm PT) he has raised more than $232,499!  The  Wall Street Journal article notes that this “experiment” demonstrates a significant shift in the publishing industry.  Seth’s Kickstarter campaign eliminates much of the uncertainty for publishers and book sellers — it removes the risk for them.  We get to watch this shift happen in real time.

Seth says The Icarus Deception is his most personal book yet. It will be a statement about the changes in the connection economy, encouraging artists to face their fear and their art, and to make a difference doing work that matters.

Amanda Palmer shattered Kickstarter campaign records for crowd-funding musicians.  Amanda reached her initial goal of $100,000 in seven hours, and her presale total has climbed to more than $730,000!  Check out the MP3 for “Do It with a Rockstar.” Amanda spent four years writing songs for her new record after splitting with a major record label. Check out her video to learn about her project and read about her success here.

We are in a revolution!  We are the new economy! 

What do you think about getting your art (your book, your play, your documentary, your album or whatever your form of art is) funded? 

Ready, set, go – make your art and start a campaign!

To find out more about Kickstarter go here.  Kickstarter currently support projects in the categories of Art, Comics, Dance, Design, Fashion, Film, Food, Games, Music, Photography, Publishing, Technology, and Theater.  You can scroll through successful projects here.

Check Indiegogo to find out how to fund your special cause.

Related Posts:

Embrace Your Weird – An Interview With Seth Godin

What I Learned From Seth Godin

Seth Godin Talks About Worldview, Crowdsourcing + Charitable Giving

  1. Sherold, what a GREAT topic! I am seeing this more and more, and have even had some fellow biz colleagues going this route. It is such a great way to get funding and bring attention to projects, good causes, etc! Love the interview with Colleen too….fun – and love how it all came together.
    Thanks for sharing…are you doing a campaign soon?
    xo, Tina

    1. Tina – thanks for all you have contributed here and in the world;) Colleen was such a hoot to interview – you could see that I enjoyed every second. She is amazing and I love her humor and zaniness.

  2. Sherold, It’s great that you put videos on this to give hope and inspiration to anyone thinking of doing this. To many it seems a very scary idea indeed but you’ve shown it is possible. Thank you! xx

    1. Hi Sarah – thanks for your feedback. I hope to see more and more women dare to stand up and do it. We can all stand together that way;)

  3. Sherold,

    Love this topic. The shift in publishing is amazing to watch and to be a part of in all that we do with our online businesses.

    I just had a an interview up on my blog with Alison Gresik. http://jewelsbranch.com/women-branching-out-alison-gresik She’s a fiction writer who just raised $10,000 through an Indiegogo campaign to self-publish her memoir. I love what she said about deciding to do the campaign “As artists, I think we all reach a point where we have to recruit others to our cause if we want our creations to have the scope and power they deserve.”

    Helping to fund her project was a great way for me to do what I love to do, help women succeed. Colleen’s doing that in her way, too!

    1. Christie that is wonderful that you also are focusing on women who are paving the way for the rest of us. That is incredible that she raised enough money to do it herself.
      Thank you for your comments.

  4. Sherold,
    I have always been afraid of Kickstarters projects as I thought there had to be a catch. Thank you for sharing this wonderful resource.

    1. Hi Renee – the only catch is if you don’t raise enough, they keep it. So more and more platforms are coming and there will be a lot to choose from. Thank you for visiting.

  5. Thanks for this great post, Sherold 🙂

    I would love to start crowdfunding in the near future! I’ve always wanted to create short films and feature films but I’ve just been holding back from starting a campaign. Part of it is our good friend, Fear 😉 There’s a fear lingering in my head that I won’t get enough to funds to start the project. But I also know that while there is a chance of that coming to life, there’s also the chance of having it funded! 🙂

    1. Bianca – your comment is an intention you just posted to the Universe. So it’s time for you to mark your calendar to start story boarding ideas. That will inspire you to just do it. If you use Indiegogo – you won’t lose. Kickstarter keeps the money if you don’t raise enough and only 50% are successful. So look elsewhere and go!

  6. I am so excited about this movement and even more excited to have more information about it. I just love that with my $5 or $10, I can have an effect on what is put out into the world. It is so cool

    1. Yvette – thank you for leading such a great group last week. Thanks for being here.

  7. What a great post! I love kickstarter, I have helped fund a few projects so far, and I always love checking back to see whats new. I think its an incredible opportunity for new projects to get started. !!

    1. Kat – that is wonderful you are so supportive of causes near and dear to your heart. I love what all three of these artists did – Colleen, Seth and Amanda – it gives us permission to do the same for causes we love. Thanks for your comments.

  8. This is so exciting for me, because the next step is crowdsource investing . . . bypassing the big companies and being able to invest in people and things that are real, and right in front of you–and being rewarded for it! And now I know why Colleen is bald :o)

    1. Mindy – Colleen is an extraordinary writer, actor and connector. She was an early bird crowd funder and it’s wonderful that she did something so outrageous as shave her head.
      We the people are going to make big changes as the technology platforms get more creative. I for one, can’t wait. Thank you for visiting.

  9. Wow, these stories are so inspiring! I love that we’re moving into a place of connection, compassion and creativity as a global community. This is truly an interesting time to be alive. All one needs is an idea + passion and a willingness to ask for help. Love it! xx

    1. Ashley thank you for sharing this. Isn’t great that technology is connecting us and creating the platforms for us to support arts and creativity? Good to have you here.

  10. I love reading about this. I’ve participated in a couple, and it feels so good to be on that end – we get to pick the art we want to support.

    1. Patty – bravo for supporting the arts. It’s great that we the people get to vote with our money and support artists with our wallets;) Thank you for stopping by and commenting.

  11. Wow Sherold… such awesome information… I loved the last video. I love how everything is within our reach these days and that there really is no excuse for not going after our business dreams.

    Thank you for some absolutely great ideas!

    1. Jenn Burton you are right there are no excuses for not going for our dreams!

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