BIG ambitions
and Charles Adler, a web designer. Together, they worked out how the con- cept would work online, and on 28 April 2009 they launched Kickstarter. One of the things that can make Kickstarter a more attractive option than more traditional forms of funding is that it’s not about investment, because ownership of the project stays with the creators. Crucially, Kickstarter also has an all-or-nothing pol- icy, meaning money only
cut, but this is if and only if, a project is successfully funded. To raise money on Kickstarter,
projects must meet certain guidelines, some of which are dictated by the company’s partner, Amazon Payments
Around 45 per cent of all projects
featured on Kickstarter currently meet or exceed their funding goal
changes hands if the funding goal is met. “This makes sure that backers are supporting projects that are fully funded,” says Kazmark. “And creators are also protected, because they’re only on the hook to deliver if they have the cash to do so.”
The company takes a five per cent
(which charges 3-5 per cent for credit- card processing). This means that, for now, the project creator must be a US resident aged at least 18, with a US social security number or employer identification number, a US bank account and a US address. In addition, the project must have a clearly defined
beginning and end (you can’t fundraise for general expenses) and it must have a creative purpose. But within these limits, anything goes, and 60 per cent of proposals make it onto the site. Around 45 per cent of all projects on Kickstarter currently meet or exceed their funding goal – once a goal is met, pledges can continue until the deadline. On average, successful projects achieve 125 per cent of their fund- ing goal, and some blow
the goal out of the water. One of Kickstarter’s biggest success stories is +Pool (see above) an ambitious plan to build a floating swimming pool in the Hudson River. The $25,000 goal was met in six days, later exceeding $40,000 – and attracting press cover- age you can’t put a price on.
Swoon’s Musical Architecture for New Orleans
THE CREATORS: This project was launched by the New Orleans Airlift, a multi-disciplinary arts organisation founded in 2007 by artist and cura- tor Delaney Martin and musician and DJ Jay Pennington. The Airlift aims to create and facilitate innovative artistic opportunities for New Orleans-based artists, locally and around the globe.
THE CONCEPT: The aim is to cre- ate a unique musical house in the salvaged remains of a Creole cottage. Globally renowned, Brooklyn-based artist Swoon has designed a perma- nent, interactive sculpture known as ‘the Dithyrambalina’, a house with instruments built into the walls and floorboards, enabling it to be ‘played’ by both visitors and musicians. However, before the house could be built, the instruments needed to be created and tested. To this end, the group decided to launch a temporary installation in the city called The Music
48
357 BACKERS $23,977 PLEDGED OF $12,000 GOAL
Box, which would hold prototypes of instruments for the final house. It was this project that they launched on Kickstarter with a goal of $12,000.
Read Leisure Management online
leisuremanagement.co.uk/digital
THE RESULTS: By deadline, the project had raised $23,977 through 357 backers. The Music Box opened in New Orleans in autumn 2011, and the aim is to now build the Dithyrambalina.
DELANEY MARTIN SAYS: “Kickstarter was less constrained than a traditional grant that has activity periods, final reports and complicated finances… and no-one could have pre- dicted that Kickstarter would also become an important PR tool."
ISSUE 1 2012 © cybertrek 2011
SUCCESFUL!
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