Prevent Failure After Crowdfunding

Supporters lament the news that Ubuntu Edge has failed to reach its goal of $30M. Although the project gained a massive following during its campaign, the company did not receive enough funding to push it all the way. But this is not the end of Canonical’s efforts
, as they may return for round-two in coming months. Unfortunately, the sad reality for Ubuntu Edge is that a little under half of crowdfunding projects fail — and this is something crowdfunders must keep in mind. According to Kickstarter, only 44% of campaigns reach their goals, and with their all-or-nothing model, this is a detrimental loss. Since Ubuntu Edge ran a fixed campaign through Indiegogo, the ~$12.8M raised must be refunded, meaning next time they must start from the beginning.

It’s popular to talk about crowdfunding endeavors that come-up short, but many forget that even the successful ones sometimes fail to deliver. Take, for instance, The Forking Path — a board game developed by Eric Chevalier back in June 2012. After surpassing his $35,000 target by $87,874, supporters were enraged to hear that “The project is over, the game is cancelled,” on June 27th, 2013. Perks were promised as of November 2012 but never arrived due to “ego conflicts, legal issues, and technical complications.”
This is not the first time (nor the last) a successful crowdfunding project has not held up their side of the deal: a CNNMoney report from last year’s fourth quarter revealed that 84% of the 50 most-funded projects missed their delivery dates. While most of these did follow through eventually, it still goes to show that the concept of “pre-ordering” is a blind-trust that has been broken before.

To prevent failure after crowdfunding, it comes down to preparation, expectation, and dedication. So, how to protect your project from those crippling variables that may await? Take the following tips into consideration:

• Plan! Plan! Plan! — Before ever launching the campaign, you need to know exactly how much money everything will cost. Research is crucial to prevent failure after crowdfunding. The more you know, the less surprised you will be when obstacles present themselves; the less surprised you are, the better chance you have in overcoming them.
• Follow Up — Projects continue long after the campaign ends, which is why it is important to keep your supporters informed every step of the way. In fact, you may even launch a follow-up campaign down the road for every new stage of your project.
• Deliver as Promised — Keep the promises made during your campaign. What this means is that you should deliver perks as expected (i.e. not an ebook when a hard-copy was promised; not a discount coupon when the supporter paid for the whole thing). If you let your supporters down, you will lose your audience.
• Set Check Points — In order to reach your goals, you need to map out areas along the way. In doing so, you can alert your supporters when you encounter unexpected turbulence. Similarly, you can adjust your goals, keeping them realistic to the conditions around you once the campaign is over. Maybe fees tie your hands-up in one area, but you can sacrifice a little funding from another. This is all acceptable, so long as you have a plan.