Your crowdfunding campaign is over! But the work has just begun. It’s time to get your backers all the creative perks and rewards they ordered.

Our mantra is “under-promise and over-deliver”. It’s easy to be overly optimistic on both how long it is going to take to produce your project, and then how long it will take to actually get it into your backers’ hands. Be sure to include in your timeline calculations the following considerations:

1. You may not see your money until a month after your campaign closes. It can take up to 14 days on Kickstarter and 15 days on Indiegogo for funds to be sent. Depending on your bank, it can take up to 7 days or more for funds to clear. To be on the safe side, you should consider having money in hand by a month after your campaign closes.
2. Budget for delays in production. Most creative projects are sequential and involve a team, so there are many points along the way where a delay on one task may mean a delay in completion. A rule of thumb for a home remodel is to expect it to go 25% over time – that’s a good expectation for your project, too.
3. If you’re producing something physical, leave time for proofs and shipping. If you are producing something digital, leave time for beta testing. If you are producing a book, album, or other physical good, it can take a good month or more to order proofs, wait for them to arrive, review them, make tweaks (which may mean looping people like your designer back into the process), place your order, manufacture, and wait for the goods to arrive. It’s not safe to assume the proof will be perfect – it almost never is. If you are producing something digital, there are almost always bugs. Your backers make great beta testers! Be careful not to give them the impression that they’ll be receiving the polished final product at a certain date when it is more realistic that’s when you’ll be asking them to test it out.
4. Leave time to collect your backers’ information. Before you ship, you’ll want to confirm your backers’ shipping information. This can take a few weeks of surveys, reminder emails, and some back-and-forth communications. If any of your rewards include collecting additional information – T-shirt sizes, for example – you’ll need even more time.
5. Remember to block off days for packing and shipping. The more successful your campaign is, the bigger the undertaking of actually packing, labeling, and posting all of the items your backers have ordered.

Taken together, this usually means that a safe estimated delivery is somewhere between 6-12 months from the close of your campaign. Your backers will be happier to receive their rewards on time rather than promised up front a date that you later have to explain was overly optimistic.

For a free crowdfunding analysis of your project, please fill out our Artist Questionnaire. We typically respond within two weeks. We look forward to hearing about your project!