Setting your funding goal:
- Determine the minimum amount you need to fulfill your project and deliver all rewards.
- Create a budget by listing all expenses, including small details like shipping materials.
- Consider your potential reach and estimate the number of backers you can realistically bring in.
- Give yourself a cushion by accounting for Indie Birds’ 10% fee, payment processor fees, and potential tax considerations.
- It’s beneficial to have some padding for unexpected costs or emergencies.
Setting a funding deadline:
- The funding period can be anywhere from one to 60 days, but projects lasting 30 days or fewer have higher success rates.
- Shorter periods create a sense of confidence, motivate backers, and allow for a focused effort in spreading the word.
Stretch goals:
- You can’t change your funding goal once the project is launched.
- Once your initial goal is reached, consider adding stretch goals as incentives to reach higher funding milestones.
- Stretch goals should enhance the project rather than create something entirely new.
Dealing with unexpected popularity:
- If your project experiences sudden, overwhelming popularity, you can cap your rewards or stagger release dates to manage the demand.
- Communicate with backers in advance about the potential impact on the project schedule.
Your Tools:
- Creator dashboard: Provides an overview of your project’s progress, funding, visitor sources, reward breakdown, and project activity feed.
- Backer report: Organizes information about your project’s backers, their chosen rewards, messages exchanged, and survey responses.
- Google Analytics: Connects to your project page to track visitor-to-pledge conversions.
- One Click Quick Transfer: Enables quick fund transfers, with funds deposited within one hour.
