Check out Peerbackers

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Peerbackers is a crowdfunding hub site that does fundraising for multiple project types.  This is the first one I've seen that gives creators a choice  of what to do after the fundraiser closes:
* If the project meets its goal, funds are released to the creator.
* If the project doesn't meet its goal but can fulfill the promised rewards, it gets whatever funds were raised.
* If the project doesn't meet its goal and therefore can't fulfill promised rewards, no funds are released.

This is different because the vast majority of hub sites are all-or-nothing, like Kickstarter.  If you don't make your goal, you don't get any funds at all.  IndieGoGo and a few others will pay out partial funds, but then sometimes the donors don't get anything for their effort.  I think Peerbackers has the right idea, because some projects are all-or-nothing while others are get-as-close-as-we-can.  It's more flexible and yields better results for both creators and donors.  I'll definitely keep an eye on this site in case I decide to launch a fundraiser -- the kinds of things I have in mind would really benefit from this flexible structure.

Comments

[p-m-cryan.livejournal.com]

The other lovely thing is how supportive the people who run Peerbackers are... they answer e-mails promptly, and they take a personal interest in every venture, no matter how small.

Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

That's always an excellent feature in a service site. You can't beat responsive staff.

It looks like Peerbackers has a lower level of activity than Kickstarter or IndieGoGo although their features definitely look better. I wonder if people just don't know about Peerbackers yet, or maybe it's a newer site.

Re: Yay!

[p-m-cryan.livejournal.com]

Part of the reason they do not seem as active may be because all ventures have to go through an approval process which is rather strict. It's definitely more focused on the business end of crowdfunding, rather than the creative process... they have been cited in ENTREPENEUR Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and Forbes.

Re: Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I did notice that they review projects. I don't know if other hub sites do that. It's probably a good way to keep out poorly planned or illicit material.

They do have some creative categories in their sort list, though -- writing/publishing is one and I think they had something like art/entertainment too. That's really helpful. Some hubs definitely have better, more useful sorting and searching options than others have.