Once the Kickstarter campaign is complete, you'll need to visit the creator's own page to pre-order the product. That is, until now. Today, Kickstarter announced that they will (finally!) include pre-order functionality as part of the core platform once the campaign ends. The feature is called “Late Pledges,” and the platform says it plans to make it available to all creators “soon.” Those who follow the industry will likely greet this announcement with an eye roll and a “welcome to the club” feeling, as Indiegogo launched a comparable service, his InDemand, almost a decade ago. Sho.
Party-ness aside, Kickstarter has been a pioneer in the crowdfunding space since its founding in 2009. The introduction of Late Pledges is a welcome addition to our support for creative individuals. This feature not only opens new avenues for supporters who were unable to participate in the initial campaign, but also simplifies the process of post-campaign donations and helps everyone involved, especially those who have been following post-campaign activities up to this point. It's a win-win for Kickstarter. -Sales will flow outside the site. This means the platform could not skim his usual 5% platform fee off the top. Of course, this also applies to delayed pledges.
Really, no small talk.
How to use
Once a project is successfully funded, creators can enable delayed pledges from their dashboard. This will add a dedicated 'Late Pledging' section to your project page, allowing new backers to select benefits and pledge their support at their convenience, similar to the early stages of the campaign. A Kickstarter spokesperson assured us that Late Pledges is seamlessly integrated within the Kickstarter platform, ensuring a smooth and efficient experience for all users.
For founders, Late Pledges make a lot of sense. His Kickstarter pages for products often have huge Google influence and frequently appear at the top of search results. Getting people to spend money is the obvious next step. That's why Late Pledges are a great way to leverage the momentum of successful campaigns. Potential backers who discover the project later can also participate and secure their desired rewards without waiting for a separate pre-order campaign. Creators can also offer special rewards and limited-time incentives to gain additional support and maintain excitement and visibility for their projects.
However, it's not all rainbows and unicorns. Crowdfunding campaigns can sometimes be excruciatingly difficult to realize, and often after the campaign, reality sets in and manufacturing and design challenges begin to emerge. Continuing to accept pre-orders at this stage may be risky. This could potentially impact increased supporter management, reward fulfillment, and the initial urgency that drives many crowdfunding campaigns. Additionally, creators may need to carefully consider the timing and duration of late pledge periods to avoid diluting the effectiveness of the initial campaign.
Despite the potential challenges, Late Pledges offer significant benefits for Kickstarter creators. Backers will have more flexibility and the opportunity to support projects they may have missed initially. It's also easy to imagine a world where this feature could enable projects to generate ongoing support, contributing to a more sustainable crowdfunding environment.
It will be interesting to see where Kickstarter takes this feature in the future. It's easy to imagine the platform introducing enhancements like limited-time pledge periods and integration with other platform features to increase project visibility and success. The evolution of this feature could lead to broader changes in Kickstarter's strategy, emphasizing long-term creator-backer relationships and expanding its support tools for creators.
If you want to see what it's like, Kickstarter has the feature enabled for the recently completed Master of Realms campaign.