[haiku-inc] Research into crowdfunding thoughts
- From: Harry McKenzie <hn093@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: haiku-inc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 29 May 2013 13:50:50 -0400 (EDT)
Hello there,
Just some thoughts on the crowdfunding research piece by Matt [1].
For me the question is: does the increased visibility and urgency you
get from running a campaign on Kickstarter or Indiegogo justify their
fee? I think there's a strong possibility it does. To look at two
recent examples in a similar mould, a company called Phoenix recently
raised $45,000 to deliver an Android compatibility layer for webOS [2],
while Yorba managed $50,000 of their (rather optimistic) $100,000 goal
in order to fund development of their Geary email client [3]. While
Haiku may not reach those heights, they're a promising indication that
a well co-ordinated campaign could be quite fruitful. If the project
decided to proceed, looking at previous Kickstarter successes, here's
what I think would be worth keeping in mind:
- Co-ordinate around the beta release. Although I don't have the
website traffic data, I'm guessing there's a spike in attention around
the releases. There's an added benefit in that news articles about the
release would likely mention and link to the campaign.
- Make it a fixed target, but make it reasonable. Yorba's $100,000 for
an email client was very optimistic. $25,000 would fund roughly three
months' of Ingo's work, and is probably achievable. Additional months
could be implemented as stretch goals. Flexible funding doesn't have
the same urgency, so I'm not sure there are the same benefits to that.
- Make the goals explicit. This one is probably obvious, but it's worth
reiterating: if people know they're funding three months of development
which will get us much closer to a release, they're more likely to
donate than they are if it's just a general fundraising drive.
- Try and maintain momentum by making updates to the campaign on a
regular basis. Obviously this is something that will require a little
advance planning.
- Minimise reward cost. Again, obvious, but things like a thank you on
the website, higher up a thank you in the "About system" box and caps
and t-shirts should be enough. No-one is really going to be donating
for the rewards anyway.
- Finally, use Kickstarter. Better brand recognition than Indiegogo and
more importantly, most people already have Kickstarter accounts, thus
removing one mental barrier to donating.
Anyway, I hope this provides some food for thought. I'd be happy to
pitch in with the campaign itself if the time comes.
Cheers,
Harry.
[1]https://www.haiku-os.org/blog/mmadia/2013-05-25_research_crowdfunding
[2]http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1957339277/run-android-apps-in-web
os-on-the-hp-touchpad/
[3]http://www.indiegogo.com/project/share/364988
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