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Crowd-surfing: Indiegogo chief reveals how to fund ANY dream online - right up to a billion-dollar Mars mission

“We’ve seen it all,” Wald says, “From a couple crowdfunding a baby (or more specifically an IVF treatment) to an entrepreneur who pitched - and sold - a headband that read your brain.”

“Absolutely - I believe it is possible to “crowdfund” a robotic mission to Mars,” says Liz Wald, head of international at Indiegogo. At time of writing, Mars One has already raised more than $100,000 dollars from fans to send a rover-like robot to Mars - the first-ever privately funded mission to the Red Planet.

Indiegogo is the anything-goes cousin of Kickstarter, a ‘crowdfunding’ site where fans pledge money to projects ranging from the surreal - a 15-foot dinosaur statue with Christopher Walken’s face, to the epic, with the first private mission to Mars seeking funding via the site.

“We’ve seen it all,” Wald says, “From a couple crowdfunding a baby (or more specifically an IVF treatment) to an entrepreneur who pitched - and sold - a headband that read your brain.”

“Every day I am surprised, not by the success I see, but by the creativity.  It’s amazing what people will come up with - like the 15ft  statue of Christopher Walken as a Tyrannosaurus Rex.”

             [The DIY space race - the UK shop where satellites in orbit cost just £20,000]

The ‘crowdfunding’ site launched in 2008, before the term even existed - and has seen UK projects rocket 700% year on year after launching new languages and currencies including the pound in December.

“The beauty of the internet is its global reach - that’s why I think it’s possible to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for a Mars mission,” Wald says, “ There is not a “right amount” of funds to try to raise. The key to this campaign though, like any other, is that they have to be able to engage a strong base of people and then activate that base.”

“I don’t think there’s an upper limit to crowdfunding, any more than there’s an upper limit to banking or other kinds of finance,” Wald says. Indiegogo distributes millions of dollars every week, globally, with campaigns in 200 countries. "This is a new industry that is seeing innovative ideas burst on the scene every day.”

Unlike rivals such as KickStarter, there’s no approval process for campaigns, which can be anything from space launches to art projects. Wald says that the site operates “without restrictions."

Hence, perhaps, the success of the Christopher Walken Rex project, which raised $3,000 to build the sculpture, made from PVC piping, chicken wire, paint and towels.



“I haven’t seen it, but I’m flattered,” Walken said after hearing of the sculpture. “I’ve always been fond of T-rexes. Everybody enjoys T-rexes.”

Mars One is one-quarter of the way to funding a robotic lander, the first private mission to Mars, via IndieGogo. Mars One is seeking $400,000 - out of a total $6.2 billion required to land the first humans on Mars in 2024.

A highly ambitious project to raise more than $32 million for a smartphone launch - the Edge, running the open-source Ubuntu system, showed that raising millions via such sites was not impossible - $12.8m was pledged to the Edge project, although it ultimately failed, falling $19m short of its goal.

“Canonical wanted to bring a new phone running the Ubuntu operating system to market and launched their first campaign with a $32m goal,” Wald says, “It would have made no sense for them to do a small campaign because that would not have met their needs.  

“Although they didn’t hit their goal, they felt the campaign was a huge success because they learned exactly what price point would work, what level of demand they have and what expectations people had who were willing to find the campaign.”

“I was blown away by the level of support,” says Edge founder Mark Shuttleworth, “So, while I was disappointed that we didn’t make the Edge, I’m convinced the idea is going to get made.”

Shuttleworth says that the campaign showed that existing manufacturers - who had factories and fabrication plants already at their disposal - could use crowdfunding to explore out their ideas, “with a lower funding threshold.”

At any given time, 7,000 campaigns are active on the site, Wald says, and millions of of dollars are handed out each week.





[Mars Mission selects 1000 potential astronauts]


“Thousands of campaigns are receiving the funds they need and are successfully accomplishing their goals. While the amount of money a campaign raises is one indicator of success, the benefits of crowdfunding are endless. Among them, the unique opportunities of market validation, awareness and customer acquisition gained through running a crowdfunding campaign are invaluable learnings that mean that whether a campaign reaches its official goal or not, it can still be considered successful.”

Crowdfunding platforms such as Indiegogo and Kickstarter have been slow to launch outside America - but 60% of British campaigns are now either in Pounds or Euros, Wald says.

“We launched in 2008, before the word ‘crowdfunding’ was a known term, “ Wald says, “We introduced the concept of perks in exchange for donations. A perk can be anything from a thanks on Facebook to a t-shirt to a cool hardware gadget or even a first-hand experience with a celebrity.”

Wald says that she is surprised “every day” by new campaigns on Indiegogo - and believes that there is no limit to what users can achieve, providing they think carefully about how to frame their campaigns. “We have contributors and campaigners from nearly 200 countries. Indiegogo believes people should have the opportunity to fund what matters to them whether creative, entrepreneurial or cause-related. 


It’s not (all) about the money

“The real secret about crowdfunding is that it’s not about the money,” Wald says, “Of course funds raised are important, but the value you gain from engaging with fans, understanding market demand, gaining direct feedback often turns out to be even more valuable.” Campaigns often alter their structure, or relaunch - and Wald says that this two-way process means that artists and companies can hone the perfect campaign.

Make a video - and work the crowd

“Your campaign will do far, far better if you have a video,” says Wald, “Our data shows that campaigns with videos raise 114% more than campaigns without videos!  This doesn’t mean you have to hire a fancy film crew, your phone will do if that’s all you have, but it’s really important to be genuine and talk about your campaign.  One of the first things people said to me when I joined Indiegogo was that people fund people, not projects.”


There’s no limit to what you can fund - so think big


“I don’t think there’s an upper limit to crowdfunding anymore than there’s an upper limit to banking or other kinds of finance,” Wald says, “This is a new industry that is seeing innovative ideas burst on the scene every day. What I can tell you though is that working hard and having a game plan for your campaign is a much higher indicator of whether you will hit your goals than whether you are a famous person or have a lot of Facebook friends.”

Crowdfunding can work for ANYTHING that gets people talking

Major companies such as Philips are now using the site to fund niche products, Wald says. “Indiegogo believes people should have the opportunity to fund what matters to them whether creative, entrepreneurial or cause-related,” she says. “We welcome a diversity of campaigns from 24 different categories, spanning creative, cause-related and entrepreneurial projects. This gives campaign owners and contributors the chance to fund what they care about most, without restrictions.”


Don't be ashamed to backtrack or add in new ideas

It’s very easy to set up an Indiegogo campaign, but it’s less easy to craft one that will capture the  public imagination. A bit of backtracking later does no harm, Wald says. “With no application required, and an easy set up process, you can launch an Indiegogo campaign in minutes,” Wald says. However, as our film expert (and film-maker!) John Trigonis likes to say, “all things worthwhile are planned way in advance, so plan the main aspects of your crowdfunding campaign ahead of time, leaving some room for some much needed spontaneity.”

Think about what you REALLY need


Unlike Kickstarter, Indieogogo isn’t all-or-nothing, Wald says, “One of the unique things about Indiegogo is that we offer two funding options: “Fixed Funding” where money can only be collected if your entire goal is met and “Flexible Funding,” which allows you to keep the money that you raise, even if you don’t reach your funding target. Think about whether your really need to do an all or nothing fixed funding campaign or if you can take advantage of the keep what you raise, flexible option. As long as you are able to fulfill your perks regardless of how much you raise, you might want to take this approach so that if you fall just a bit short you still can move forward with your project."



[David Attenborough launches crowd-funding appeal to save mountain gorillas]




Dip into your piggy bank to show you ‘mean it’

Entrepreneurs who are prepared to plunge their own money into campaigns do best, Wald says. “Historically we have seen that the first 30% or so of campaign funds come from the campaign owners’ personal and/or professional networks and that this provides the base from which the “snowball” builds.”

Big idea? Do it step by step

“We really encourage people to think about crowdfunding as something that you can do several times within a single project,” Wald says. “Particularly in the arts this can be a great approach.  For example a filmmaker may launch a small campaign to raise funds to visit a location where she wants to film. Later she may come back to raise funds for post-production. After that she may want to raise money to enter the film into a festival. Because she is building and engaging her fan base these multiple campaigns will be possible and the size can be adjusted as appropriate to the needs.”

Offer good perks - even if it’s just a nice T-shirt.

“At Indiegogo, we’ve discovered that people tend to contribute for any of four reasons: passion, participation, pride and perks,” says Wald, “The bottom line is that people love to crowdfund as a way to be directly involved in what they’re passionate about, whether the campaign is raising money for a nonprofit organization, a film or the latest tech gadget. It doesn’t hurt to get a perk on top of it all either.”