That’s one question I’ve been getting from friends, and also from backers. My project for those who haven’t seen it before, you can view it here. And the very question when I was looking through Kickstarter, I saw a couple of Singaporeans on it too! How in the world did they get to live their projects when the guidelines says project creation is currently available to individuals in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, Norway and Sweden.
WHERE IS SINGAPORE?!?!!?!
HOW DID ALL THESE PEOPLE GET THEIR PROJECTS CREATED?!?!?!
HOW THEY DO IT?!?!
WHY STUPID KICKSTARTER DOESN’T OPEN TO SINGAPORE?
So here’s my story of how I got my project created on Kickstarter. Like all you guys I basically read through EVERY SINGLE PAGE of guidelines, FAQs and links (never been so hardworking when during my exams) I can find in Kickstarter to see if there’s anyway in. And what exactly do they need in order to get my project up. I mean there’s other platform to consider like indiegogo, but like all dreamers and creators, we want the best platform for the best maximum output. We want the best! If you can compromise on your project to hold it somewhere else, you are probably not sold into your project. Then I would probably ask you to rethink your project. It’s not a bad thing but it’s an achievement for me to get my project on Kickstarter and have it successfully funded!
I continued to dig harder into the Kickstarter pages and at the same time thinking if there’s any friends I can ask in the US since my BFF once studied there for 4 years in San Francisco.
So having my BFF in mind, I checked through their requirements.
US-based creator requirements:
You are 18 years of age or older.* - DEF YES
You are a permanent US resident with a Social Security number, either creating a project in your own name, or on behalf of a legal entity with an EIN. - Does visa counts? I’m not sure!
You have a US address, US bank account, and US state-issued ID (driver’s license). - I think she does.
You have a major credit or debit card. - Should be a yes.
It’s almost a 75% kinda chance right! I thought maybe I give it a try, however I can’t even pass the stage to verify that my BFF is permanent US resident so it’s a no-no. I really don’t want to get people that I can’t trust either. It’s not a crazy amount of money but it’s still quite abit! Can you imagine all that money going to someone you can’t trust and what’s more when the project is funded, your name is going to be on Kickstarter as the project creator and people are going to hunt you down for their rewards! Trust me, you don’t want to get there.
Back to me still wondering how to get my project on Kickstarter, I talk to friends and ask, I even googled online trying to look through every single forum. So my project is called 100 Verses One Heart, it’s a project where we gather 100 designers from all over the world to design their favourite verses. I have already committed to the 99 designers out there in the world that we will get this project funded on Kickstarter. I do know I could seek some help from one of the designers. However that didn’t really cross my mind during that time, and I don’t really know most of them very well. And I need to pay my 99 designers who are already doing the work, believing in faith that this project would actually go on Kickstarter.
Thank God, when I went for a holiday in New Zealand with my aussie friends. I happened to share with them the idea, then it struck me. Why didn’t I consider Australia since I have a few good friends staying there? So I told the couple about my project and they agreed to help!
So I went to cross check again!
Australia-based creator requirements:
You are 18 years of age or older.* - YES
You are a permanent resident in Australia either creating a project in your own name or on behalf of a legal entity with a Business Number. - YES
You have an Australian address, Australian bank account, and government-issued ID (driver’s license or passport). -YES
You have a major credit or debit card. -YES
100% ALL YES!!!!
So this is what you need to take note even if you are getting your friend’s to help, even after you submitted your projects you HAVE TO mention who is the person that you are submitting the information to you. What is their contribution in the project? What is their role? Their names HAVE TO be on your project description page, so as to make it easier for approval.
How I did mine, was to write a thank you note for my dear friend who helped me out.
“Special mention
This project could not have been here if not my friend Jade Leong, who has supported to made this project happen(also a sister to one of the designers)!...”
Of course with this in mind, I also make sure that I have thought out the project description and all. I waited about 1-2 weeks for the Kickstarter admin to approve my project, after a few times of changes in terms of the questions he asked.
My project finally got approved! And thank God it got successfully funded!
And sometimes the soft side of our heart would want to come out when we do our projects, wanting to get people to give us money to get our project started, but to make it sound nicer we tend to be drawn towards, saying part of the amount given will be put to good use. DON’T.
It’s stated in Kickstarter, so don’t bother putting anything of good cause. Just put the amount whatever you needed to make the dream come true, additional money can come in due to very good response, you can use those to further some additional stretch goals for your project.
From Kickstarter:
Projects can’t fundraise for charity, offer financial incentives, or involve prohibited items.We’re all in favor of charity and investment, but they’re not permitted on Kickstarter. Projects can’t promise to donate funds raised to a charity or cause, and they can’t offer financial incentives like equity or repayment.
As my project is a Christian project, people tend to ask, what are you going to do the money that you earn etc, how much is going to charity. Well for me, for all the extras that I’ve received will go back into the project to create the second edition.
Unfortunately, due to my very bad calculation skills, I actually made a lost in over promising the cost of the actual goods. I had to stagger my mailing because I don’t have enough funds to fulfil the orders. So take note, for shipping too. IT CAN BE REALLY EXPENSIVE. I guess that would be one of my big learnings. Be transparent and share on what you are spending on, and update often, and don’t be afraid to share your failures like mine in terms of miscounting the cost of the product. At least I manage to resolve the financial situation thanks to my husband.
Everyone who backed are wants to know about the project and be part of the process so I’m really glad for those who backed mine. It really does help in kickstart my project! It’s finally live on www.actseed.co
“It’s very hard to have ideas. It’s very hard to put yourself out there, it’s very hard to be vulnerable, but those people who do that are the dreamers, the thinkers and the creators. They are the magic people of the world.” ― Amy Poehler
Hope it helps in answering your questions and doubts. Don’t let these technical issues not stop you from achieving your dreams!
God bless!
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