I’ve been in the crowdfunding industry since 2015 now. In that time I’ve done a lot of reading, research, and study on the topic. From all that I’ve compiled the world’s best crowdfunding resources for you in one place.
When you’re looking at crowdfunding resources, they tend to talk about platform-specific tips or hacks. But let’s be honest here, crowdfunding is incredibly similar no matter what platform you are using. The platform-specific details will give you a deeper insight into what will work on one versus another.
Equally, I often find that most articles are a rehash of the exact same information. Finding useful, unique, insightful content can be hard. You could spend months and months doing research only to find the same content everywhere.
This list is an ever-evolving list of the resources I have found online that are actually useful. Enjoy!
Must-Read Material
Crush Crowdfunding Handbook— it’s the 80+ page guide I wrote to help entrepreneurs get their ideas to the market and funded with Indieogogo and Kickstarter.
Crush Crowdfunding Blog Book—get all of Nalin’s Crush Crowdfunding articles in one place.
Hacking Kickstarter by Tim Ferriss — if you only read one thing from this page, this is it!
How Harry’s gathered 100K emails in a single week— an exciting read about how a group of bootstrapped creators harnessed technology and the power of sharing to generate leads
Stonemaier Games — Kickstarter Lessons — some will be more relevant than others, but this is a fabulous creator-led look at the process of crowdfunding. (I’d also highly recommend his book)
Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in an Age of Distraction— get into the hearts and minds of ideas and how they disseminate from one to another. A gold standard for marketing and getting people to want your product (book)
Kickstarter Stats You Can Use — some of the most helpful crowdfunding statistics on the web
Kickstarter Step-By-Step: Making $15,000 in 28 hours — including tools and scripts
I Got Kickstarted, and Here’s What I Learned—one founder’s detailed breakdown of his successful $15k Kickstarter campaign.
Filmmakers, Stop Making Horrible Crowdfunding Pitch Videos— a video of Emily Best, CEO & Founder of Seed&Spark, a well-known crowdfunding video production company
The Language that Gets People to Give: Phrases that Predict Success on Kickstarter
Kickstarter Calculator — not appropriate for every project and does not cover every single line item, but gives a good idea as to the things to consider when launching a campaign.
Amanda Palmer’s The Art Of Asking (TED talk)
How to start a movement (TED talk)
Facts and statistics
Kickstarter’s 2-billionth dollar statistics— great hints for planning your rewards and marketing plan. Fun fact: 49 people have backed over 1,000 projects! Be sure to leverage that
Kickstarter Stats (official)
Dollar for dollar, Kickstarter Dominates Indiegogo SIX times over— this isn’t too surprising since Kickstarter gets at least double the traffic of Indiegogo. Still a great read to understand more of the platform
What are your chances of successfully raising money on Kickstarter?— the crew over at The Hustle took a look at the data to see which types of projects raise the most money and how much they raise
What Successful Kickstarter Campaigns Have In Common— here we see data breaking down the myths of what it takes to create a successful campaign
How Much Is A Tweet Worth for a Kickstarter Campaign?— this is from 2015 so can be a bit dated now with the proliferation and success of other platforms and tactics
Other Readings
Crowdfunding Courses
Crowdfunding Starter Kit — learn how to set up a landing page and email marketing campaigns for your launch.
Crush Crowdfunding Bootcamp— learn the 3 secrets to crowdfunding success and how to launch your project in 90 days.
Discussion Boards and Groups
Crush Crowdfunding Facebook Group
Crowdfunding Group for Filmmakers
Top Crowdfunding Sites & Their E-Source
E-Sources for Crowdfunding Campaigners— compiled by the Indiegogo team and covers multiple facets of running a crowdfunding campaign
Creator Handbook— compiled by the Kickstarter team and covers most of the in-campaign marketing aspects of running a project
Better tools for project creators — understand the information Kickstarter provides its creators before launching your own project.
Stories about failure and pitfalls
How our $500K Kickstarter Crashed And Burned — an honest post-mortem from an ex-CEO/Founder of a failed Kickstarter campaign
Why 84% of Kickstarter’s top projects shipped late
The Kickstarter Fulfillment Report
Other stories and papers
Show Me the Money! An Analysis of Project Updates During Crowdfunding Campaigns
The Two-Step Method for Easy Press Coverage
The Era Of The Crowdfunded Business
The Ultimate Crowdfunding To Do List – Great article from filmmaker Nathaniel Hansen.
Kickstarter and Taxes – Kickstarter’s official guide for your accountant..
Emotional Support and Encouragement
Taking the shame out of self-promotion (video)
What getting rejected says about you (video)
