Reply To: What makes you fund a kickstarter?
If I have the coin available, and the project is something I think is interesting — or it’s an artist whose work I enjoy and I want a reasonable chance of making sure I get the next creation — I’ll throw down. Really, in the case of music, or Joseph Scrimshaw’s book, it’s a pre-order. It’s not a gift, it’s an investment.
I’ve (so far) contributed to Marian’s (as a long-time member of her Donor’s Circle, I’ve been helping to make sure I have more New Stuff from her to enjoy. It’s partly selfish, partly because her business model is so efficient and low-waste), Joseph’s (I had no idea who he was before JCCC2, but he made me laugh so much, and was such a nice guy off-stage, that getting behind his book project was a no-brainer), and Amanda Palmer’s epic Kickstarter of Doom (at a level sufficient to get the deluxe CD package, because I wanted one).
I’m sure I’ll get into more down the road — again, it’s basically a pre-paid pre-order of something with no financial risk to me. If it funds, I get something I want. If it doesn’t, it costs me nothing (though I may contribute to the project by another means if I feel strongly about it).
Yes, Marian’s setup is a bit complex, but as Angela says, it’s also a bit of a complex project — this was an amusing way to gauge fan interest in coming to Location X. Without knowing that there’s enough of a crowd to make that leg of the trip viable, it’s mighty tough to justify going to X if there’s only going to be 3 people in someone’s kitchen wanting to hear her perform. She’s incorporated her usual degree of whimsy in the project, but who else would put her tour budget up for all to see? There’s just not a lot of slack there.