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If you’ve wondered how crowdfunding works, Karl — a 35-year-old beginner cellist — explains it from his personal perspective.
Crowdfunding flips the traditional model of a few wealthy backers funding a project. Instead, many people each contribute small amounts (often around $75) to support an idea. Backers give because they like the concept, want to pre-order a product, know the creators, or want to help for charitable reasons. Any of these motivations can power a campaign.
Common crowdfunding methods:
– Presale: Backers preorder a product or service. The funds help complete the project; the backer expects to receive what they ordered, ideally on schedule.
– Equity: Similar to buying stock. Investors buy a piece of a company and expect returns through profits or appreciation.
– Reward: One of the most popular types. Backers receive a tiered gift or perk in exchange for their support. Many support the idea first and the reward second.
– Donation: Backers give money without expecting anything in return, often motivated by personal or social reasons.
Major platforms:
– Kickstarter: Focused on products and creative projects. Projects must have a clear goal and end date and fit categories like Art, Design, Film, Games, Music, Technology, and more. Kickstarter prohibits guns, knives, weapons, contests, coupons, drugs, tobacco, alcohol, real estate purchases, and certain personal care items. Kickstarter charges a 5% platform fee plus payment processing fees (about 3–5%) only if the project meets its funding goal; unsuccessful campaigns incur no fees.
– IndieGoGo: A popular choice for creative projects and more flexible about what you can launch. They encourage common sense about safety and legality, and may allow things that other platforms restrict.
– GoFundMe: Often used for personal causes. It charges a 5% platform fee plus payment processing (typically 2.9% + $0.30), so total costs are about 7.9% plus the fixed fee per transaction.
Getting your campaign noticed
Creating a good project isn’t enough — you have to promote it. Put care into your title, main image, bio, and summary. Test ideas with friends and aim for something memorable and easy to share.
Start with email: personally message everyone you know and ask them to share. Personal outreach works much better than mass-copying your pitch. Use social media — tweet, post to Facebook and LinkedIn, and ask followers to spread the word even if they can’t contribute.
Take it offline too: meet people in person, hold a fundraising event, or try to get local media coverage. Journalists look for human stories and unique angles.
Keep supporters updated: regular progress posts keep momentum and encourage people on the fence to join once they see progress.
A personal note from Karl
I’m running my own crowdfunding campaign to become the world’s foremost 35-year-old beginning cellist. You can find details on my campaign or my blog at Cellotime. I’d be grateful for any support, even if it’s just sharing the campaign.
Do you think crowdfunding is a good way to raise money? Have you ever considered starting a campaign?
