Kick Starter

Hi all,


has anyone from the forum has/thought of using Kickstarter as a project funding platform?

What makes a successful kickstarter project? would, ones experience as a photographer and portfolio ''which I somewhat lack'' be the most important factor in having a project successfully funded? or are there any other ways to make people fund a project.

any thoughts?

I've never heard of "kickstarter"...From your post, it sounds like something where you attempt to entice investors to invest in your business idea. If that's the case, I would imagine an excellent to outstanding business plan would trump just about any portfolio you could offer.

OK.....after typing that, I looked up "kickstarter" on wikipedia before posting......IMO, it looks like getting any funds from kickstarter would even be more difficult.....It seems that investors (or contributors in this case) are unable to receive financial reward for their investment. Quoted from Wikipedia "People cannot invest in Kickstarter projects to make money. They can only back projects in exchange for a tangible reward or one-of-a-kind experience, like a personal note of thanks, custom T-shirts, dinner with an author, or initial production run of a new product"
In that case, I guess it really depends upon what type of "reward" you can offer.....I'm guessing it would have to have something with a lot of "WOW" factor to get people to part with their money when no guarantees seem to be offered.

If you visit the photography section of kickstarter, you'll see that the majority of the category consists of projects like you're describing. From what I've seen, the projects that get funded are those with a cohesive vision that isn't extremely niche. What they also have in common is a finished prototype on display.

Basically, you need to have a good project idea. Your portfolio isn't going to cut it, it needs to be an actual project based on a specific story or idea. Your prototype also needs to be very good. I'll post some examples instead of trying, and failing, to explain this.

http://www.kickstarter​.com …ozumel-diary?ref=category
http://www.kickstarter​.com …86262941/the-olympic-city
http://www.kickstarter​.com …-wild-places?ref=category

Heres one a friend of mine did.
http://www.kickstarter​.com …45589/family-run?ref=live

jra wrote in post #15948673
I've never heard of "kickstarter"...From your post, it sounds like something where you attempt to entice investors to invest in your business idea. If that's the case, I would imagine an excellent to outstanding business plan would trump just about any portfolio you could offer.

OK.....after typing that, I looked up "kickstarter" on wikipedia before posting......IMO, it looks like getting any funds from kickstarter would even be more difficult.....It seems that investors (or contributors in this case) are unable to receive financial reward for their investment. Quoted from Wikipedia "People cannot invest in Kickstarter projects to make money. They can only back projects in exchange for a tangible reward or one-of-a-kind experience, like a personal note of thanks, custom T-shirts, dinner with an author, or initial production run of a new product"
In that case, I guess it really depends upon what type of "reward" you can offer.....I'm guessing it would have to have something with a lot of "WOW" factor to get people to part with their money when no guarantees seem to be offered.

Your money isn't taken unless the project is fully funded. OP, put together a solid plan. The Kickstarters that I have seen work are well thought out.

What is the project you had in mind?

Thanks for the input guys, it is very much appreciated and thanks for posting those links.

I have an idea of documenting archaeological and Historical/Prehistoric​al sites in Afghanistan, most of which are completely unknown to the outside world except for the academic circles. I want to use landscape photography as the documenting medium and prints all the images in a self published book with historical accounts of all the sites featured in the book by local historians wherever possible.

the most challenging part of the project is obviously the funding as the sites are located so far apart from each other that travel and accommodation is going to be expensive but above all some of the sites are probably still mine infested courtesy of the soviets. I speak both the national languages and some of the dialects too.

You guys think I should contact someone to get some video footage of some of the areas as part of the project intro on kickstarter?

Sounds like a really solid project, good luck, I'll be interested to see where it goes. Having a video seems to help with kickstarter projects, plus you can link the video on blogs and websites and drive traffic to your kickstarter page.

Are you an American, or have a trusted friend who is? One of the biggest hiccups with Kickstarter is creating the account to actually get paid. Sadly, last I saw, they were only allowing projects that could be setup with a US account tied in somewhere to actually transfer money.

But your project sounds really cool, and may be best done as a team effort. You have yourself set up for a lot of cool "stretch goals".

I would suggest starting by picking one site that will give you the easiest access to, ideally one that you already have some imagery or video you can use, and write up a focus project around just that one site. Calculate out your costs for getting there, getting the images you need, and running off sets of prints and a small book.

Then for stretch goals start calculating out what it will cost to get to the next least expensive site, and use that process to keep building up an expanding list.

Another good option that ties in with the above expanding stretch goals would be to budget a 'little extra' at each goal, and then after say five or six goals are reached then have the next 'jump' being a video documentary along with your photography work. If you can team up with someone who as already produced documentaries (Which can either be done on the sites, or focused on your project: Both very valid and interesting points to work from) then you likely stand a better chance of getting funded and pushing your stretch goals.

Having a Very solid and well done video is key, as are keeping a low initial target goal. You need to hook people into the project, which means a clean, clear, and well produced and edited video. (Which is so much easier if you can team up with someone experienced in film who can help you with that part)

Express a passion for the subject, a clear and logical plan, and project an air of confidence and humility. Have lots of options for donations, ranging from a few dollars for getting their name listed in the back of the book, more for single prints, reasonable price for the book itself. And dont forget to add options for people who want to go above and beyond to really support the project. Things like special edition signed prints/books, early access/feedback (ie, a digital proposal before going to print, with options. People love to be made to feel like they're part of the project and get to give feedback, even if you have no intention of listening to them.)


I do hope your project gets off the ground one way or another. It sounds really cool and interesting. If you move forward then take your time with your setup. Rushing into a kickstarter project is a great way to have it fall flat on its face. They are not easy tasks and to get rolling with kickstarter is a project in and of itself. Do keep us posted.