Is Kickstarter the right fit?

So you've got a great idea for a project you think the world needs.  Use the below test to check and see if your project fits the bill for Kickstarter!

The 3-Question Test:

Does your project have a clear ending?

Yes: Great!  next question...
No:  If your project is a vague Kickstarter won't let you use their platform to crowd fund and you'll have to find another avenue.  A great alternative is indiegogo.com, as their model allows for any type of cause/project/campaign is allowed.  OR, you can rethink your project in such a way that it has a clear ending, like if you were wanting to move to Detroit and start a business (no clear end), you could focus on creating a documentary that follows your journey, or launch your first product, etc.  That's essentially how the idea for the documentary "How Do Be Funny" was conceived.  We're kicking off crowd funding for that project in April 2014!


Does your project have mass appeal?

Yes: 2 for 2 -- you're crushing it!

No:  Because Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing fundraiser, if you can't raise the amount of money you originally wanted, you get nothing.  That's why having enough of an interested audience is vital -- no crowd?  NO FUNDS.  If you're making an album of your experimental cricket band's music (not recommended), you best make sure that you have enough of a fan-base, or potential fan-base, to fund your goal.  Otherwise you'll have wasted not only your own time and effort building a Kickstarter campaign that was doomed from the first chirp, but your fans will be disappointed and frustrated at time lost as well.

Do you have a solid understanding of how much your project will cost?

Yes: Shoot, son -- Giddyup!

No:  As mentioned above, Kickstarter's all-or-nothing model makes knowing how high of a goal to set a really important thing.  If you set your goal too high, you get no money -- but if you set your goal too low, you run the risk of not being able to deliver on your promises to your backers.  There have been several famous projects that are either way behind schedule, or canceled completely, simply because they didn't have a good enough understanding of how complicated their project was going into it.  

The next steps:

If you passed the test, let us know about your upcoming Kickstarter project in the comments -- we'd love to hear from you!  If you didn't pass the test, look for posts coming down the pipe on all of these topics: 

Kickstarter Project Management Basics - a post on how to clearly define your project and set yourself up for success
How to build your project's mass appeal - a post showing ways to create an audience and build support
Kickstarter Project Budgeting 101 - a post on how to budget a Kickstarter project, including thoughts on hidden costs, acceptable risk, etc