The “starving artist” has long been a stereotypical image for the world of amateur art. Before musicians, artists or filmmakers reach stardom, they are expected to spend years barely scraping by as they struggle to find the money to fund their projects.
Yet two websites — IndieGoGo and Kickstarter — are striving to change the game.
“Creative people have had ideas for a long time, but their biggest obstacle is financing,” said Justin Kazmark of Kickstarter’s communications team. “We help with getting over that hurdle to bring those projects to life.”
Both websites allow users to create “projects” or “campaigns” and then solicit funding. The creator sets a funding goal and rewards donors for different contribution amounts, offering anything from signed photographs to copies of finished products.
The two websites feature several key differences, though. Both sites allow users to raise money for creative projects, but whereas Kickstarter is exclusively for such projects, IndieGoGo also allows creators to use the site for nonprofit causes and for-profit businesses.
Kickstarter also guarantees donors that their money will be given only to a project if that project reaches its funding goal. IndieGoGo has no such policy.
“I think it gives backers security to know that if the creator doesn’t reach their goal, he or she won’t just end up with a couple hundred dollars to keep even though the project won’t get done,” Kazmark said.
At Ohio University, students more often are turning to these sites to fund class projects, thesis work or personal projects. Though some have reached their funding goals, not everyone has been so successful.
After starting a campaign on IndieGoGo, Curt Sova, a senior studying video production, resorted to funding his short film Bloodline out of his own pocket.
“I just didn’t get much from IndieGoGo, so I ended up funding the short myself,” Sova said.
Since its launch in 2009, Kickstarter has seen more than 12,500 successful projects, giving it an overall success rate of 44 percent. Collectively, more than $60 million has been raised.
The number of successful projects also has increased significantly, with mid-June and mid-July 2011 numbers equaling the total successes from the first year.
Similar statistics were not available for Indie GoGo, but Kazmark estimates the site has a 3 percent success rate.
For OU students who have received enough funding, those sites have provided a platform for them to raise funds and bring their ideas to fruition.
nb360409@ohiou.edu
