Ever since the passing of the JOBS Act through the Senate, "crowdfunding" has become almost a ubiquitous term heard all 'round D.C. It's a way for people to network and pool their money together – usually via the Internet – to help support other organizations or people passionate about turning their great idea into a reality.
In the past, crowdfunding got a rap for itself as a controversial, laissez-faire approach to regulating investments into companies, but now it has slowly but surely transformed into a more acceptable mode of financing concepts with great potential. There is one heated topic still on the table, though: which crowdfunding platform is better to campaign on.
You have to imagine that when it comes to putting their work up for sale on a website, entrepreneurs do their due diligence, researching the best way to promote their pride and glory. They traditionally narrow down their choices to two of the most popular platforms: Kickstarter and Indiegogo. That's when the tough decision comes into play.
Kickstarter campaigns have reportedly raised well over six times more money than successful Indiegogo campaigns. According to Jonathan Lau and Edward Junsprung – two developers that took it upon themselves to analyze the numbers behind Kickstarter and Indiegogo – though, there are a few things about the data worth explaining.
For example, a press release from Indiegogo last week said that the total number of campaigns hosted by the platform is more than 150,000, even though Lau and Junsprung found the number of total campaigns on the site to be around 44,000, which is definitely low. Perhaps the data is so distinctly different because Indiegogo fails campaigns that raise less than $500, which Lau and Junsprung were very forthcoming about admitting.
There are other factors that play into funding success than just the numbers. While Kickstarter is undoubtedly dominating the space, it's worth noting that the platform doesn't accept just anybody. Indiegogo, on the other hand, is willing to give all entrepreneurs a chance. Indiegogo also gives campaigns the opportunity to keep some of the money raised even if they miss their goal. Kickstarter, though, does not.
I took a look at the many articles we've written over the past year or so about D.C.-area company's using Kickstarter and Indiegogo as well to see if there was one platform that's more locally favorited over the other. And it turns out most Washingtonians love them some Kickstarter, which honestly isn't that much of a surprise.
- Endeavorist launched a Kickstarter back in September 2012 to document the process of creating a startup
- Teacher volunteer Kristy McCarron started a Kickstarter to build a "Food Lab" kitchen at Walker Jones elementary school in June 2012
- D.C.'s Macaw launched a Kickstarter for their web design tool that they say has the world's most intelligent design-to-code engine ever toward the beginning of this month
- A new wrist watch for the blind broke $340,000 on Kickstarter this summer
- Wheel Shields found success on Kickstarter too, a University of Maryland startup with outstanding potential if I do say so myself
- Virginia Tech Professor John Boyer used Kickstarter to get an iPad app for his graphic novel series off the ground
- Someone once tried to create a Ron Paul video game, raising funds on Kickstarter for the really, really awkward project. No, really. It is awkward.
- Then there's Earth Starter, which envisions a world where consumers are the producers of their own fresh food, and is well on its way to making that dream a reality
The winner between the two still remains elusive, though, as a sample of about 40 D.C.-area crowdfunding campaigns doesn't say that much. Which is why PandoDaily worked with Simran Khosla, a Master’s student at NYU’s Studio 20 digital journalism program, to develop a visualization showcasing how Kickstarter stands in comparison to Indiegogo (note that Indiegogo says these numbers are entirely incorrect). So check out the infographic and decide for yourself: Kickstarter or Indiegogo?
