The strange psychology of getting funding through the crowd

Am thinking about crowdfunding my next project / app - so this is interesting...

The strange psychology of getting funding through the crowd... as setting a higher goal doesn't mean you get more money :)

Campaigns that set their goal to be between $50,000 – $75,000 raise more money on average than campaigns that set their goal to be $100,000.

This happens for two key reasons:

First, a lot of evidence shows keeping campaign momentum up is a high driver for success:

85% of campaigns that reach their goal receive their first contribution on the first day of their campaign.
The probability a campaign will reach its goal quadruples once it reaches 10% of its goal.
Campaigns that reach their goal usually raise 1/3 of their goal in the first quarter of their fundraising deadline.

Setting what seems like a reasonable goal and reaching it at an exciting rate can be more psychologically invigorating to your fans, friends, and followers. Having too high of a goal slows this down, often at the campaign’s misfortune. Raising $20,000 in one week when your goal is $50,000 is exciting- raising $20,000 in one week when your goal is $150,000 is much less so.

The second reason is that 87% of campaigns that reach their goal exceed it, and 45% exceed it by more than 10%. On average, they exceed their goal by 31%. The closer you are to your goal the more credibility your campaign has. People who might not have been inclined to participate early on, might feel compelled to contribute when you are closer to your goal, or even after you have exceeded it. Telling people what you plan on doing with the additional funds after you reach your goal can direct and justify these post-goal contributions.

The Dark Potential’s First Miniatures began trying to raise $10,000 to create a humble starter set for a miniature war game. As they quickly approached and exceeded their goal, they added extra perks and bonuses for their funders. They were able to design and produce many more miniatures than they initially set out to, and even created an illustrated history for their game. They exceeding their goal by almost nine times raising $89,894!

Angry Video Game Nerd initially set out to raise $75,000 to cover a small portion of the production of their film. Once they hit their goal, it became evident that their fans wanted to cover a larger portion of the film production! They also wanted a lot of the unique exclusive perks that were offered after the goal was reached. They ended up raising $325,927 – more than 4 times their goal- making Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie the 2nd highest online, fan funded film of all time.