The team at Crowdfundr reached out asking me to write a blog post about crowdfunding and how to leverage various platforms and strategies to be successful!
There is no compensation for this, and I did it entirely because I love their platform and Tabletop Nonstop. I’ve given tons of interviews on this topic, but I’ve never tried to put it all down into writing like this and since they asked, I thought maybe I would give it a whirl! This is very introductory level, and I hope to expand it with more details.
I’m Alan Bahr of Gallant Knight Games and I’ve ran, managed, developed, marketed, or produced over 100 crowdfunding campaigns. I’ve been able to turn my game publishing and design career into a full-time job, primarily thanks to crowdfunding.
Crowdfunding is no longer a “recent” development, but in many ways it is still a wild exploratory field we’re all learning as we go. It’s also a tool that has enabled creators like me to build a livelihood and sustainable career by directly connecting with those who would support us. Crowdfunding allows creators to grow, make a living, connect, and directly impact how they want to approach their creative endeavors and making a living. It’s a game changing and powerful tool in any form.
There are a lot of different crowdfunding platforms, from Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, BackerKit, and Crowdfundr, to more niche or genre specific ones like GameFound or the variety of comic book funding platforms. Each platform has its own benefits and drawbacks, and lends itself towards different or consistent goals.
It’s important as a creator to understand the benefits and limitations of each platform, as well as how your particular campaign fits into all of that.
It can feel really overwhelming! I still feel overwhelmed every time I sit down to prep a new campaign. I hope the tips and tricks here help you learn and feel like you’ve got some benefits and feet under you.
Testing the Waters
One of the best things you can do as a creative is start with a small project, something with simple goals, straightforward delivery and understandable budgets. One of the biggest stressors is biting off more than you can chew, especially while you are learning new skills.
Let’s take tabletop roleplaying games as an example.
The recent explosion of zines has really opened the doors for small campaigns to be successful.
- Zines can be printed in runs as small as a dozen or as big as a thousand, all pretty affordably.
- Zine printers aren’t hard to find, their tools are generally well set up.
- They need less art and less page count. This means options like stock art, licensed art, or CC-BY mechanics/art are way more valuable. You can go further with less!
All of that makes the initial budget and goal of a zine far lower. This can be an attractive option for a few reasons, but the biggest one is this: if something goes wrong, the small scale means you can address any problems in an affordable way. A big project with a big shift can be expensive. Shipping can change and sink a company.
But if you only have to delivery ten zines or even one hundred, the small scope of the small project allows you to learn, perfect your process, and keep your budget tight to where you can cover any surprises in a way that (while likely not comfortable) can be doable.
My first few projects were all of the nature where I knew I could cover anything that comes up. It would have sucked and I likely would have had to pick up extra hours at work or something, but I knew that I could and that safety net was a game-changer for me. To this day, I still run small projects with low goals in between big ones, to keep practicing various delivery tools, pricing, printers, and more.
Small Campaigns = Experimentation
These smaller campaigns are a great way to use crowdfunding as a testbed for new methods. Some things I’ve tested with small campaigns are:
- New game designs/mechanics
- New marketing tools or ads
- New printers
- New delivery methods for digital
- New styles of making a game
The lower stress of the small campaign allows the publisher/designer and creator to really stretch themselves and grow. Having a safe testbed is a big deal to a small creator and when the backers know what is going on, I’ve found they are always very happy to help and provide positive and constructive feedback.
Maximum Impact, Tiny Campaign
Just because these tiny campaigns aren’t as fiscally gangbusters or exciting as the big, large campaigns doesn’t mean they can’t have a huge impact on you as a creator. A streamlined and efficient campaign goes a long way to establishing a reputation for effective and timely delivery. That sort of reputation goes a long way to setting you up for future and long-term success!
Additionally, building a quick catalog of post-crowdfunding projects allows you to really create an ongoing stable of your work that helps others find you and builds your ability to create a “snowball” effect with these crowdfundings.
My Experiences
I’ve ran campaigns on several platforms, as well as used others in various incarnations. I’ve found each has their benefits.
For examples of small campaigns I’ve ran to test new printers, you can look at GVW on Crowdfundr or the Montnoir Kickstarter. Both of those campaigns featured different and “new to me” marketing campaigns where I learned a lot and was able to refine my experience as a publisher.
Sometimes I’ve bit off too much, and overcommitted myself or had issues with other parts of the production that have delayed me. But because I’ve spent a lot of effort getting comfortable with multiple platforms, I’ve been able to learn to adopt my projects and different needs to each platform.
These small campaigns create great safety nets as I continue to evolve and grow and as GKG does so along with me.
One of the best learning experiences I ever had was participating in ZineQuest/ZineMonth and Tabletop Nonstop.
Getting Started
Tabletop Nonstop on Crowdfundr is a great opportunity to wet your feet with a small project. It’s built exactly for you. The bonus marketing materials on crowdfunding platforms helps you get more eyes on your projects, and the flood of supporting videos, conferences, webinars, and more all really come together and provide a really knowledgeable base for you to build on.
The team at Crowdfunder has put a lot of resources into helping you be successful, and they continue to do so.
Other publishers have put a lot of time into these events and are happy to share their advice (I know I am), and there’s a lot of resources and tools out there for you.
Last Words
Look. Crowdfunding is stressful. I can’t pretend it’s always easy, perfect, or automatically successful. I’ve had some big failures, and I will again, I’m sure. But in the end, I can say that seeing the pictures, posts, smiles, and stories of folks with your game is worth it. You can do it. You should make that game. Just make a plan, think it through, and be ready!
There’s nothing like bringing your creative vision to life. I’ll see you on Crowdfundr (I have my own campaign and yes, it’s small!) I’m rooting for you, and I hope you tell me about your campaign so I can come support it.
Alan Bahr 