How to Plan and Run a Kickstarter/Crowdfunding Project in 2026

Posted on Posted in advice No Comments Tagged with ,

We at Inkwell Ideas have run Kickstarters since 2011, doing about three each year. And while few of our projects cross $100,000, all but 1 or 2 early project have funded.  I’m also regularly posting advice and learning on Reddit’s Kickstarter subreddit.

Pre-Launch Promotion

  1. I’m going to put this one point first because it is so important:  You can’t launch a crowdfunding project without an audience!  The days of having a good idea, making a few mock-up images and a description and then pressing ‘Launch’ ended in 2012 or so.  Can it happen?  Yes, but the chances are 1-in-1000 or worse.*  Sure, the crowdfunding site might double (or whatever multiple you want to pick) the audience you bring, but do you want to double 10 people or 100 or 1000?
  2. How to build an audience? Time or money. The Money method: Money means paid ads… so you need to learn or hire someone to create the ads, help you decide which ad services to use (Meta/Facebook, Google, etc.), set them up properly (pick audiences, headlines, etc.) and monitor them.
  3. Hiring someone is tricky.  You’ll get messages as soon as your pre-launch page is public from marketers/ad agencies. As with all unsolicited messages 99% are spam and the 1% that might be isn’t worth vetting.  You are better off searching for reputable folks/companies. Maybe I’ll put some here, not sure. BackerKit does a good run running ads for you, but they won’t take anybody (nor should they). Pre-launch club has a number of good free resources and you can join for more and get more help.  The creator there is regularly giving good free advice on Reddit’s Kickstarter subreddit as is
  4. Time means participating in forums, subreddits, discords, groups, etc. in an authentic way–only rarely sharing your project.  Read the forums’ rules and follow them.  Only once in a while do you mention your project.  Otherwise, you’re giving folks ideas and opinions and encouragement on their posts.
  5. And in either case (time or money) have something worthwhile to share. For posts to forums, you’ll want that preview PDF, art sample, and/or funny video clip about the problem your project will solve.  Brainstorm 80 ideas and pick the best/most varied 10 (or more).  Then share these over time.

* Your idea has to be so innovative or you need someone with a big audience to love your project.  And sorry, you’re too close to your idea to decide if it is innovative. And you can’t count on anyone with a big audience to love your project.

Why Use Kickstarter/Crowdfunding?

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Why use crowdfunding?

  1. For new ideas or solo-entrepreneurs, this is what crowdfunding was intended (IMO) to help. Someone has a great idea for a new gadget, game, book, etc. They create a prototype or write the first draft, then share it and say “this is really cool, but I need help to finish it” Pledge to support it and when it’s done you’ll get ____. (Usually a copy of the item.)
  2. But now while the above applies very often, many projects are done by folks like us who have done 20+ (I know one person who has done 150!) You may wonder why they still use crowdfunding after the 1st or 2nd project.  Usually even with a project that hits or doubles or triples it goal, those funds get eaten up by other things. Estimates were lower than they turned out to be, print prices go up, shipping costs go up, a tariff gets added, etc. And often (in addition so some of those) we use that extra funding to prototype the next thing but it isn’t enough to finish it and do a production run.
  3. Why do larger companies use crowdfunding? Because crowdfunding sites will double the audience a creator (or company) brings to the project. And the crowdfunding site only takes 8-10% (really 5% because 3-5% are bank card fees that apply even on their own site) so it isn’t a bad deal. For retail sales in our niche a publisher gets less than 50% of cover price (which is understandable because of store costs), Amazon is a 15% referral fee, plus storage fees and such that can approach 50% in all if you store product with them so people can get ‘prime’ shipping, DriveThruRPG is 30-35% for PDFs, and PoD is a fixed cost based on page count and such plus that 30-35% fee. So doubling (or more) the audience/reach for a product and only giving up 5% is a no-brainer.

Which Platform to Use?

I don’t have experience with any beyond Kickstarter and BackerKit. In our niche, currently I think GameFound is the only other one to consider. But I can’t speak to that.

  1. Kickstarter pros: Still the largest audience/exposure of the crowdfunding sites. Their pledge manager has gotten better and now has functionality to handle VAT & IOSS for shipping.  (At least from the US to the EU/UK. You’ll have to check into this for your circumstances.)
  2. BackerKit pros: Exposure is still very good. But if you can launch when another big project related to yours is launching that might be best.  (If publisher X is launching a new major expansion to their game on BackerKit and you’re making an add-on for it as well, probably launch there and during that time.) Much better anti-spam protection (you’re not going to get hit by a bunch of people wanting to ‘help’ promote you). If you use BackerKit for ads, they basically reduce their ad fee by 5%.

How Much of the Project Should Be Done Before Launch?

  1. The more the better. 🙂
  2. For a book or game, you’ve got to have at least a prototype version or first draft. If you’ve got a track record you might be able to get by with just 1/4 written and art for it (like we did recently to hit a promotion window) but then you’ll have a long way to go with finishing the writing, art, layout, etc.
  3. For a gadget, you’ll need at least a prototype to show in images, video, and get accurate production pricing… but ideally you’ll want some samples to share with any influencers (folks with youtube channels, gadget news sites, etc.)

Setting Up Project Basics

  1. Pick a project name that isn’t too cute. Be blunt and to the point so people know what it is right away. If you do want to get cute and do a play on words for example, solicit lots of feedback from others. Keep it short if you can. Same goes for description–follow their suggestion for length as best you can.
  2. Look at lots of other project graphics as you’re designing yours.  Best practices can vary by niche, so look at the successful projects in your niche.  How much text do they use?  What’s the size of the text?  Does the graphic feature a picture of the project or the result of the project? Does it have multiple sub-images? make a few and ask others who use Kickstarter which they like or which parts of each they like.  Title and Graphic are #1a & #1b to get right, with description also being important, but #2.
  3. Which day of the week should you launch? A lot of advice has settled on Tuesday morning (US east coast) as the best day and time of the week to launch. The idea in the morning people are looking for something interesting to check our as they wake up with their morning coffee and you want to be at the top of their in-box. And Monday folks too often have to catch up on messages from the weekend. While Wednesday to Friday give less time for you to post day two, three, or four messages while folks aren’t away for the weekend. On the other hand, so many projects launch on Tuesday mornings that it might be crowded and a different day is better. If you’re not in a near US-east-coast time zone, just make sure you have plenty of waking hours (for you) to spend time promoting the project. Don’t launch just before you go to bed!
  4. What time of the year should you launch? This mostly depends on your product… is it a holiday item? Make sure you can ship by December 1st. (Honestly if you’re a first time creator I wouldn’t do anything that has a hard deadline, but if you must give yourself as much extra time as possible.) Otherwise one common thinking is to not launch between Thanksgiving and New Year’s because people are focused on buying gifts for others and spending time with loved ones. But some believe enough projects delay launching in this time so it is a wash.
  5. Another field you must decide is the campaign length. When Kickstarter started, the default was 60 days.  In most cases that has proven to be too long (creators burn out on trying to promote and/or the extra promotion time doesn’t bring in much more). So most projects pick 30 days or so. Personally I pick a late weekday evening that is about 30 days after launch. You want people to be more likely that not at home. Some “quickstarters” go with a 7 day campaign
  6. Set your campaign goal to what you’d need for remaining design, writing, art, playtesting and a minimal production run. Anything you’ve spent already is a sunk cost–Of course, you want to overfund to pay off those other up front costs and pay yourself, but being seen as successful early is a must by the crowdfunding platform and hitting the goal early is one factor. So making sure you cover your remaining costs is a good compromise. However, if you are on track to barely fund ask yourself: iIs this a passion project where I want to see it through? Or am I better off thinking of this as a sunk cost and spending time on something else.
  7. Shipping.  Eek!  At this point all you can do is estimate weights, and ask your fulfiller for their help. Look at other similar projects to see what shipping info they disclose. Most make a chart for common pledge levels and locations, adding a caveat that these are estimates and subject to change. If shipping them yourself, you’ll need to go to your shipping services’ pages and plug in locations and weights.
  8. Personally, to make things simple with shipping, consider flat rates.  So I’ll plug in the rate for the minimum weight of one of my pledge levels, round up and make that the rate to ship to that country/region.  If folks are pledging for a heavier item it may cost a few extra dollars to ship, but I consider this a ‘bulk discount’ and don’t sweat it.
  9. Actually, your shipping chart needs another column. For countries where you must charge VAT or some other customs fee, add a column for that.  If you’re shipping to the EU/UK and you don’t pre-pay VAT, the backer needs to know in advance this fee will be on them to pay. (Plus they’ll have to pay an admin fee too–if you charge them the VAT/customs in advance and pre-pay it and properly mark the shipment, they don’t have to pay the extra fee.)

Setting Up Pre-Launch Page

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.  We need something to promote!

  1. The main crowdfunding platforms didn’t have this functionality for their first several years. But as creators had to build their own audience, they wanted an organized way to share the project before launch. So some services developed tools to create landing pages about the project and ask folks to sign-up to be emailed when it launches. Now, the crowdfunding sites all include pre-launch/promo pages and using them essential.
  2. When should you share the page? Usually, make the pre-launch page public as soon as you have it ready! Yes, there can be a “too early”–if it won’t launch for several months people might forget why they were interested or no longer need it.  But you’ll need more than a month to build up a following for the project.  Even if you a large audience already, more than a month gives you multiple opportunities to get more interest.
  3. What goes on the pre-launch page? Always put you best foot first.  So don’t pre-launch with placeholders. Have a good main project graphic, a good project summary, images or links to samples you have, testimonials for testers/influencers, some ideas on your pricing/pledge levels, and shipping info.
  4. As you get more details, new previews, etc., add them.  I honestly don’t know if there’s a con to sharing everything and almost making the preview a copy of your launch page. I think I would trim it to keep it as a teaser, but I’d love to hear others’ thoughts on it.
  5. You probably don’t need a project video at the beginning of the pre-launch, but should add the video when you have it.
  6. What if you’re not getting followers? Something isn’t working.  Ask friends in your niche.  Maybe the pricing is high or your explanation is confusing. And always remember, it could be a bad idea–don’t be afraid of this!  This is a GOOD thing to find out now. If you pursue a project that doesn’t connect with folks, you’re wasting time that could be spent on something else!

Setting Up Rewards

[coming soon]

Other Pre-Launch Tasks

  1. Create a press release/promotion page. Put several preview images (hopefully different from what is on your pre-launch page, but it is ok to just re-use those). Write up a 5-7 paragraph version of what your project is all about. Then a 2 paragraph version.  Then a 2 sentence/140 character version.
  2. Reach out to news outlets and influencers related to your niche.  Ideally, not with just a “here’s my cool project, want to talk/write about it?” Better is to build a relationship. Listen/read their work, give them encouragement, ideas, then later ask for feedback on your idea.  See where it goes from there.
  3. Share your project page with colleagues and even prospective backers.  Ask if anything is unclear.

Project Video

Kickstarter and all the crowdfunding platforms push the idea that projects need videos.  I don’t know for sure how much they help, but projects without one seem a bit incomplete.

  1. Keep the length to under 2 minutes–3 minutes max.  This is a teaser.  Get people to want to learn more. If you want to explain all the game mechanics or tell the story of how the clock hit you on the head and gave you the idea, use secondary videos down the page.
  2. Make it engaging.  Pick an approach: be funny, be visually stunning, show off the unique feature.
  3. Cover the basics: What is the problem you’re solving? What is the main pledge tier? What is the “whale” (all the bells and whistles) tier? And/or what are the key differences in your tiers?

Stretch Goals

Lots of projects do these, and some feel they aren’t worthwhile.  Here are key factors to consider:

  1. Pick stretch goals that don’t expand the scope too much. [details soon]
  2. Don’t reveal them all at the beginning. [details soon]

Launch Day

  1. Don’t launch if you don’t have enough followers. How do you know if you have enough followers to ensure a successful launch? Consider how many people would need to pledge for what you think is going to be the most popular pledge level and divide your project goal amount by that average/common pledge amount. Multiply that by 3. So if your goal is $10,000 and you expect most people to pick a $50 reward, you need 200 backers–but many won’t pledge so multiply that by 3 and you’ll need 600 pre-launch followers.
  2. Reach out to all your mailing lists and social media followers. Have a few pre-written messages of different lengths ready and customize each a bit as you send/post them.  All day you should be doing this.
  3. Beware that on launch you’ll likely get several backers who will message you some vague compliment or concern, then ask you to contact them off-site to warm you up to hiring them for marketing.  (Actually, in my experience I never had this happen during BackerKit projects, but get far too many on Kickstarter. This is one thing in particular BackerKit is doing much better at.) Anyway, report them as spam.  Their pledges and comments will be removed in a day or two.  Note: They can even “prove” they bring in backers by saying they sent a message for free to a fraction of their audience and brought you backers. And if you hire them they’ll send/share to more people. But these initial backers could be fraudulent accounts using bad credit cards and you won’t know they weren’t real (and you got no money) until 2 weeks after the campaign ends.  Even then, if it is a stolen card the real owner can dispute the charge even later.

Is Your Project On Track?

Traditionally, projects fund 1/3 in the first 2 days–it is new and the algorithm is recommending it at least some and you are doing your initial launch promotion.  And 1/3 in the last 2 days because Kickstarter’s automated 48 hour and 8 hour messages go out to everyone who is following the project. (They clicked a ‘Notify’ or ‘Remind’ button during pre-launch or during the campaign.) So those middle days–whether 3 days or 26 or 56–end up getting 1/3.  That’s why some folks do 7 week quickstarters or at least limit campaigns to 30 days.

These days, with emphasis on pre-launch promotion, many projects get 1/2 in the first 2 days.

  1. So, if you aren’t about 33% funded on day two, it is going to be hard to fund the project. If you had a good number of pre-launch followers, what happened?  Is your pricing off? Shipping rates high? Poor presentation? Or the project just didn’t connect with people. Ask others to review the project as the root cause varies. And the solution varies as well. However, there are two key scenarios: if things can be adjusted (for example shipping is high, but you can raise the price a bit and lower shipping; or clean up the presentation) then re-launching is viable. But if not, then move on to your next idea.  Yes, you’ll lose some sunk cost, but better to find out early instead of later.
  2. If you’re in that 33%-66% funded region you should also consider re-launching.

Early-Mid Campaign

Around day 3 or 4, pledges will likely slow down to 1/5 or 1/10 of day 1 and 2 unless you get lucky/planned very well. How do we keep that at 1/5 or more instead of next to nothing?

  1. Follow up with any contacts you’ve made. This is best to do before launch as well because shows can get booked out months in advance or reviewers can have a backlog.  But just after launch is a good time to check in because you can tell them how you the project is going, any milestones, and it is a new chance to catch their interest.
  2. Did you hit your goal on day 1 or 2? If you did pre-launch right, you should have!  Send a message to followers/your social media/your mailing list letting everyone know and hopefully some more of them will check it out again.
  3. Any time you reveal a new stretch goal and spread the word.
  4. Reach out to followers–but not too often! As we stressed, building a lot of pre-launch followers is key.  And some folks are interested but not ready yet so they pick a ‘remind’ option. In the past they couldn’t be contacted except for automatic Kickstarter messages 48 and 8 hours before the end of the campaign. But now, as of about February 2026 you can reach out to them yourself. Just make a project update and choose ‘Followers’ from the drop-down to select the audience. The message is ONLY sent to followers. Note: Once they back the project, they can no longer see the message.
  5. Consider cross-promotion! When I did so for a recent project, most brought in a few pledges. (Out of a project with about 250 total backers.) To do so, look for projects that have something in common with yours. Introduce yourself, mention what you like about their project, give a super short 2 sentence/140 character version of your project, and offer to include a blurb (a graphic and 1 paragraph?–up to you) about their project in your next update if they’ll do the same for you. 90% of the folks I reached out to were willing to do so. It helps if your campaign has a similar number of backers (if they’re at 200 and you have 10, probably not a fair exchange, but if they are at 200 and even if you’re at 100 it is probably worthwhile for both of you). And the more closely related the better.
  6. Another thing you can do here is finish setting up the pledge manager.

Mid-Mid Campaign

At this time some creator fatigue might be setting in.  That’s ok.  Just keep at it. Even if your pledge count isn’t going up, remember every few new followers is likely one new backer at the 48 or 8 hour marks.

  1. Hopefully some of your networking to find some reviewers, Youtube previews/interviews, and more is paying off and getting your project out there. If not, it isn’t too late if you’re doing a 30 day campaign, you still have around 2 weeks to make that happen. Try reaching out to smaller channels/pages/etc.
  2. Otherwise, keep at most of the early-mid campaign: send updates when you have news like a new preview or a stretch goal was hit, look for cross promotion, follow up with contacts.

Late Mid Campaign

So here we’re getting ready for your final 2 days.

[coming soon]

Final 2 Days

As stated several times above, Kickstarter sends an automatic message to all followers who haven’t yet backed at the 48 hour mark and again the 8 hour mark. [coming soon]

End of Campaign

[coming soon]

Two Weeks After

[coming soon]

Fulfillment

[coming soon]

Leave a Reply