Kickstarter: An Alternative Funding Option

One common theme I've heard in my conversations with many of you is the struggle many face due to a lack of funding. Aside from the obvious cost of printing, this limits us in a variety of other ways, from equipment to promotional items. Fundraisers are often tedious or laborious, and they don't always guarantee success.

Some use DonorsChoose.org, which is a fantastic charity organization that links donors to special needs and projects that teachers post to the site. One drawback with DonorsChoose, however, is that if a project is not fully-funded by the deadline, any/all money donated to the project is returned to the donor, and it's back to the drawing board.

Kickstarter, a funding platform for creative (not necessarily educational) projects, is very similar to DonorsChoose but with one major difference: Donors receive "rewards" for donating to the project depending on the amount they donate.

This could be very fun for you and your students. Rewards are created and distributed by the person/group that posts the project. For example, if you created a Kickstarter project to fund the printing of your newspaper, you might offer rewards like free subscriptions, printed thank-yous in the paper, gift certificates (donated by local businesses), etc. This really makes your supporters feel as though they are part of your project, which is a nice community-builder.

While my school's funding situation hasn't been quite as dire (knock on wood), I do have experience with Kickstarter. This is where my shameless self-promotion comes in. Sorry!

As some of you know, I'm in a band and have been writing/playing music for 15 years. Our goal since we began writing last summer has been to write and record a full-length album, which is a costly venture. To curb the cost and involve our supporters, we decided to launch a Kickstarter project to help fund the recording, mixing, mastering, and CD replication processes.

I wanted to share our link with you in case it's something you might find helpful. I've also posted the video in case you'd rather not click the link, though I'd recommend full-screening the video on the Kickstarter site (via the following link) for optimal quality.


http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1502452253/eyes-set-skyward-debut-album

I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have about Kickstarter, so please don't hesitate to ask! My apologies for the promo aspect; however, in my defense, I was encouraged to share this by some fellow Reynolds folks. :)


Aaron Fitzpatrick
Freedom Area High School
Freedom, Pa