For those who don’t know, “Kicking it forward” is an initiative created by Brian Fargo of inXile entertainment. The idea is to encourage creators to give back to the Kickstarter community after they have experienced a success on the platform.
I’ve included the text describing the opportunity below via the Kicking It Forward website:
Any project creator that puts the KickingItForward.org URL on their Kickstarter project page is agreeing that they will put 5% of their finished product profits back into other Kickstarter projects. To be abundantly clear, this is only money that the creator earns as profit AFTER the project ships and AFTER they have paid their expenses. This is NOT a suggestion to invest money they received from people who invested into their project via Kickstarter.
Once a project in this program has become profitable, the creator is going to spend this 5% profit, which is their own money, on whatever Kickstarter projects they want to support. They can determine unilaterally who they want to give it to and when. Neither myself nor a committee is going to tell successful creators what projects to invest in. Ultimately, this is an honor system at the end of the day. No one is going to audit their books to make sure they complied. In many ways Kickstarter is an honor system too, so this is no different. Of course some unscrupulous creator may not follow through with their promise but I believe the community sticks together.
Recently, we had a discussion about “Kicking it Forward” on the Kickstarter Forum. Creators had different opinions on the idea. Personally, I think it’s a really cool initiative that encourages the growth of the Kickstarter community and for creators to get involved on the platform as backers.
Often times, creators are the ones that get excited about new futuristic technologies or projects that can impact the world. Kicking it Forward changes the commonly held perspective that Kickstarter is a place where you post a project and hope that people will find it and give you money. It encourages the view that the platform is a community and that you must give and contribute if you want to raise your profile.
Check out what one user on the forum said below regarding Kicking it Forward:
“I’ve heard from people that regularly back on Kickstarter say they won’t back a project that bears the logo.
Their thought is that you should just do it and not say anything and therefore if you say anything (show the logo), it’s like you are just doing it to get backed by others for your “humanitarian efforts”. While I don’t agree with them, I went ahead and left it off my current one. After all, some will do it for that reason and regardless, you don’t need the logo to be doing it anyway. I do like the concept and love helping people, however, even though I’m quite strained financially, so I can only help so much.” – Arcane Synthesis.
Jamey Stegmaier of Stonemaiergames, who raised over $300,000 on Kickstarter, seems to dislike the concept judging from his blog post. In the article, “How to Kick It Forward Without Kicking It Forward,” he goes on to say that he doesn’t dislike the idea of Kicking it Forward, just that he doesn’t believe it’s an effective marketing tool or fair to backers.
“No one cares if you’re kicking it forward. That will never, ever be the deciding factor for someone who is deciding to back your project. You know what might be a deciding factor? When they look over at your profile and see that you’ve backed 0 projects on Kickstarter.”
On the topic of the 5% of profit that Kicking it Forward creators agree to pledge to other campaigns, Stegmaier has this to say:
“Why are we talking about profits? If you’re talking about profits, then you’re readily admitting that you’re overcharging backers from Day One. Now, I have no problem with project creators making money if they overfund. That’s how economies of scale work–the more you make, the less each unit costs, and you get to reap the benefits.
But I truly believe that profits don’t enter the equation until after you fund. Your project goal should be the bare minimum your project needs to exist, not the amount your project needs to exist AND for you to make a profit.”
So what should you do?
Pros:
– You will be getting involved in a Kickstarter grassroots effort and make a conscious choice to give back in a systematic way.
– Your project will be featured on the Kicking it Forward page. I have talked with creators who have gotten pledges/traffic from this page.
– Other creators or backers may appreciate that you are willing to give back to the community via any profits made on the project. Building rapport is very difficult with strangers online, and this could be one way to increase your rapport.
Cons:
– Backers or other creators may be turned off that you are declaring you are a good person who is going to give back to the community, or they may think you are just Kicking it Forward to get attention.
– Backers may think that 5% of their pledges will go to Kicking it Forward, which means that they will not get the best price on your rewards because you may be motivated to raise more than you need and generate profit for the initiative.
– You are admitting that you are striving to make a profit with Kickstarter. Although there is a certain pre-order e-commerce component to Kickstarter, there is definitely a bias towards indie creators that are not a big brand trying to capitalize on a new movement. These creators are really trying to involve backers in the process of producing a project.
My Thoughts
If you decide to do “Kicking it Forward,” I would recommend clearly communicating to your backers that the 5% that will be kicked forward will only come from any profits that you may or may not make from the project. You will not be supporting other projects with the money that they pledged to have rewards produced. You will only be using any excess funds after the rewards have been shipped.
I would also recommend that if you are going to commit to becoming a part of the Kickstarter community, you need to be consistent in your actions on the platform. If you haven’t pledged to any projects, haven’t been active on the Kickstarter Forum or other venues, and you are doing Kicking it Forward, it may appear like you are just doing it for the attention.
Go out of your way to give to the community without expecting something in return before slapping the Kicking it Forward badge on your project.
What do you think about Kicking it Forward? Leave a comment below!
