by Overhead Watch Expert | Mar 19, 2019 | Budget Planning, Business Tools | 0 comments
Crowdfunding, for those who haven’t heard, is technology’s new way of allowing people to raise money regarding donations online. Used by many as a way to build small business support, jumpstart a project, or fund an event for a noble cause, some platforms are personal pleas for funding on various ventures.
In fact, there are so many options and types of projects that other sites have even popped up to help narrow down all the choices available, especially if you’re an entrepreneur or small business owner.
When it comes down to the best crowdfunding platform, Indiegogo and Kickstarter are the two best picks to help small businesses and entrepreneurs drive supporters to action. Indiegogo and Kickstarter have a couple of things in common, such as:
- They are both the biggest and most popular crowdfunding platforms used today.
- They work similarly, with the same basic structure.
- They provide a marketplace for people to crowdfund.
- They both take 5% of any earnings from your campaign.
However, the two prominent crowdfunding platforms have quite a bit more difference between them. Here, we will explore some tips on how to choose between Indiegogo vs. Kickstart to get your company off the ground.
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Payment options for your supporters
Platform Size
Screenshot from Kickstarter website
Kickstarter, also known as the Granddaddy of crowdfunding, is still the biggest platform out there. With around $2.7 billion raised since the company first hit the web back in 2009, Kickstarter has stopped out its competition. Indiegogo, by comparison, has increased a minuscule $800 in between the years 2008 to 2015. Kickstarter has had the highest-funded projects so far, much higher than Indiegogo.
Types of Projects
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Primarily focused on creative endeavors, Kickstarter is also known for funding tech products. Their all-or-nothing funding model means that campaigns need to meet their goal to receive the donations, so should plan to provide perks for donations and incentives for those that reach higher donation levels among your fans.
Indiegogo, on the other hand, is more flexible. Not only does Indiegogo have a further international reach, but it is also useful in funding art projects, charities, and everything in between. Plus, you can choose whether you want to keep the funds your campaign raised whether the goal was met or not, meaning you don’t have to reach your campaign goal to collect the money.
With over 28 million monthly visits and 275 thousand total campaign creators to date, Indiegogo is a highly popular platform on the rise.
Audience
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In the same way that every blog attracts a particular audience, every crowdfunding platform is designed for different groups of people. In this case, they vary based on the type of campaigns you’re likely to find hosted there, so you want to think about which platform is best for your specific project or product.
Indiegogo, for instance, began and a way for independent filmmakers to fun their movies and morphed into include nearly every type of campaign. In fact, the platform even helped fund favorite movies today, such as Super Troopers 2. However, the platform remains centered in the entertainment and film industry.
Like Indiegogo, Kickstarter caters to a variety of projects. However, their most famous categories feature gaming and technology. Games of any sort do very well on this platform.
Fixed or Flexible Funding
While Kickstarter only has a fixed funding option, meaning you receive money only if the campaign goal is met and funded, Indiegogo offers both fixed or flexible funding options. Unlike fixed funding, which means all the pledged money returns to backers if it doesn’t meet the goal, flexible funding offers the ability to keep the money whether or not your campaign reached the goal.
Some say flexible funding may allow your campaign to get off the ground quickly because you can use the donated money to work on your project immediately rather than needing to wait a month for the drive to run and finish before you receive any money.
Risk comes with any reward, and when backers have given you money, they expect to see a final product. You must get your project off the ground with what you have or refund the money on your own if you don’t succeed. Plan ahead and create a backup plan in case your campaign doesn’t pay off.
User Fees
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When it comes to fees, you’ll spend about the same amount using either platform. Both take 5% of the funds raised from your campaign and a 3-5% processing fee (from PayPal or traditional credit card fees) no matter if your campaign is funded or not.
However, they differ in the number of pledges from Stripe. While Indiegogo asks for $0.30 per pledge via Stripe, Kickstarter asks for $0.20.
Fees often vary based on your company’s location. Indiegogo will charge an extra $25 fee to transfer money in USD to a bank that’s not in the United States. If your business does a lot of international work involving money transfers, Indiegogo may still be the best platform for you.
Although, Kickstarter is only available in 8 countries whereas Indiegogo is available in more than 200 countries. With Indiegogo, your campaign can build up to a higher international appeal and have more options available.
Video Hosting
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Running campaigns is all about convincing people to back up your product, which is often done using video. Video hosting is provided with Kickstarter, but Indiegogo doesn’t have video hosting of its own. This means that you can upload a video to one place, have access to embedded and shareable video links, and tailor it to a target audience you want to reach quickly on Kickstarter.
Indiegogo, on the other hand, supports YouTube and Vimeo – both of which have their own list of pros and cons:
- Vimeo has higher quality content, but you will need a pro account if you want to upload multiple videos.
- YouTube is a free option but is also harder to become noticed on.
Consider where your audience is likely to hang out and go with that option. Or, if you like to idea of having everything all in one secure place, Kickstarter may be right for you.
Payment options for your supporters
Image of Nattanan Kanchanaprat from Pixabay.
How will your backers pay? Kickstarter only offers one possibility, Stripe. Support for mobile payments like Apple Pay or Android Pay also does not exist.
With Indiegogo, your supports can pay in a variety of ways. From PayPal to credit card payments, Indiegogo even offers Apple Pay. Thanks to the ease and convenience of this availability, the platform saw a rise in contributions. So, when it comes to payment options, Indiegogo makes it easier to pay.
When deciding between Indiegogo vs. Kickstarter to get your company off the ground, consider your particular business needs.
Match the crowdfunding platform to your needs by first thinking about what your product or project is, who enjoys what you have to offer, and which platform has the audience that appreciates the type of product you’re creating. Think about your business needs. Are your backers primarily outside of the US? Is video hosting extremely important to your campaign? How much will you pay in fees?
Featured Image: Image by iconicbestiary via Freepik
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