Update: Indiegogo Review
Some impressive activity has been happening with Indiegogo since our initial review. I wanted to take a few minutes to update and help it better reflect the companies activities through 2014. Over the last year Indiegogo has announced that they received a $40 million investment (how’s that for confidence in the industry), said publicly that they will be entering the equity crowdfunding space (small companies issuing stock to investors through the platform) and launched Indiegogo Life which is their entrance in to the personal crowdfunding space. They remain Kickstarters primary competitor in the reward crowdfunding space and most well known for the film, art and technology campaigns held on their platform. The move in to equity will eventually have them squaring off with some very large players in finance. Along with the move in to personal fundraising putting them up against GoFundMe, the largest site in the industry in terms of dollars raised.
We will be watching closely to see if perhaps they are spreading themselves a little thin. It will be interesting to watch the developments through 2015.
Indiegogo History on Wikipedia
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While most large non-profit organizations have several resources to raise money for their philanthropy, there comes a time in people’s lives that many of us need a fund raising campaign. Often, we simply don’t have the resources and tools to not only build our own website, but to effectively communicate this to as many people as possible and maximize the exposure of our fundraising efforts. Whether you need medical bills, are trying to fund your bands tour, or simply want to buy an expensive toy for your child and can’t afford it, we’ve found the perfect crowd funding for you. Indiegogo is the new online fundraising platform that allows you to raise money through friends and awareness for whatever your needs are.
Indiegogo’s crowd funding campaign designer is completely customizable, so whatever your needs may be, you’ll be able to publish an eye-catching fundraising campaign in just minutes. There’s no coding required, and you can even upload photos and video to your campaigns.
Once you’ve designed and published your crowd funding campaign, the tough part comes up. You need to get publicity and raise awareness to your needs. You could always share this on your own Facebook page, but Indiegogo gives you so many more ideas. With one-click social media integration, you can post to countless social media channels in a professional manner that brings users right to your campaign. Users can share, retweet, and email your campaign to both friends and family, offering you limitless exposure to your fund raising efforts.
If you’ve tried to use other fund raising sites, you’ve most likely run into the issue of not being able to see who has donated. Indiegogo offers a full analytics tool to stay on top of your donors. It effectively allows you to reach out to them, should you be providing perks, which also results in the ability to get even more exposure when people are contacted.
Indiegogo is an already popular crowd funding site that appears to draw lots of traffic. With several options for payment and efficient customer service, it is quickly going to grow even more, and it certainly provides a decent amount of traffic to fund raising campaigns, based on the levels of donations that we see on hundreds of efforts that are already posted.
Indiegogo is a professional looking, and easy to use website for crowd funding. Be sure to make this your first resource for fund raising should the need arise.
Indiegogo has made a strong name for itself in the crowdfunding world for Arts and New Products but we prefer GoFundMe for personal projects (medical, educations, etc.) as they are much more accepting of these types of crowdfunding projects. Take a look at this growing crowdfunding site prior to making a final decision on posting your crowdfunding project. Probably the best Kickstarter or IndieGoGo Alternative for personal crowdfunding projects.
If your crowdfunding project is either an art or new product introduction, IndieGoGo is the way to go. We have found them to be much more interested in helping campaign creators promote their project than Kickstarter.
Do you need to Promote Your Indiegogo Project but don’t have the a big budget? Promote your Campaign by placing a free advertisement on our homepage and look to Krowdster for low cost project promotion and analysis (They offer a free 7 day trial – I recommend you use it prior to launch)
Indiegogo appears to be one of the best sites with regards to useability. Any site that doesn’t require extensive coding is making the right move. I love the look of this site. You’re greeted with large photographs that pull you in immediately. This is a site that truly seems to care about the individual and the need for individual fundraising. It’s also excellent that this site aids with promotional tools. After all, its one thing to start a campaign, but its yet another for no one to see your campaign.
The website is easy to navigate, and shows all the information clearly. One bad thing is Indiegogo takes away a larger portion of your funds if it doesn’t reach your targeted level, which basically doesn’t make any sense to me. But unlike Kickstarter, you’ll still be able to get whatever funds you have raised though even it’s short on target. I got to agree with
the customer service. They reply fast and politely, and effectively answered all my questions when I inquired from them. Good for beginners in crowdfunding.
Its detailed analytics is probably the most attractive feature of the whole site. I love the fact that you can personally contact every single supporter and get to know them better, or perhaps win more of their interest so they are more enthusiastic in spreading your campaign.
I love their traffic tactics too. The website encourages and teaches everyone how to spread word of the campaign, thus the effect actually builds up at an exponential rate with everyone’s assistance. It’s a very commendable and effective strategy indeed.
Plus with the convenience of several payment options, raising funds will be more effective. They’re really considerate for the entrepreneurs!
The easy customization aspect is what first attracted me to Indiegogo. I like the promotional tools as well.
That analytics tool to stay on top of your donors is a sweet addition! Of course you want to know who is donating along the way.
The great thing about indiegogo is the flexibility. First of all, unlike some other fund raising medium it reaches wide audiences that are interested in all sorts of different campaigns. Secondly, it gives you the option to choose either the flexible or fixed funding option. With flexible option you get to keep what you’ve earned even if you fail to reach your goal. For these two reasons alone I believe indiegogo is the best fund raising medium out there.
Hi : Yes my question is how do we get started , I’d to start a campaign to replace A/C unit at the Church approx $9000.00
Indiegogo can work well, if you aggressively solicit your friends and social network for money. Their fees are also excessive IMO. They take 12% if you fail to reach your fundraising goal (most campaigns do fail to reach the target). Succeed and they take “only” 8%.
They also have a tendency to make you wait a week or longer before they send you the money.
i started a 45 days campaign with indiegogo. My campaign was taken off of there browser after 7 days because i had only raised 25 dollars. i have 15 days left and no one can find my campaign and contribute to my campaign. o am stuck with just raising 25 dollars and they are taking close to 10% because i didn’t make my goal. I wont give them any stars under any of the catagories
How is their customer service? If I’m having issues; do they work quickly or take days/weeks to respond?
Starting a business in health foods and clothing; any idea which is recommended for use?
Also, what is the goal attained rate for this and some of the other sites?
I got sold on the part where it says that you can check who made the donation. I’m guessing that it would also tell you the amount, since I plan to give access to different information depending on the amount of donation. I’m going to set up 3 different donation levels and hopefully that will encourage people to donate more.
On March 25, 2013 I made a contribution on a campaign on Indiegogo via Paypal. I used the wrong credit card in my payment. I immediately wrote to Indiegogo requesting a refund. Customer support replied that I contact the campaign owner as my contribution is between him, Paypal and me. The campaign owner has replied that he tried to contact Indiegogo regarding my request but didn’t get a reply. He’s had similar requests but has been unable to do anything about it. He said Indiegogo has control over credit card payments and not him. Since Indiegogo is on Paypal’s invoice as the recipient of my contribution, then they should issue the refund. I have yet to hear more frm Indiegogo on this matter.
I looked at Indiegogo when I was shopping around for a good crowdfunding site. I had heard that it had a good community and was easy to use. That was true but it was very difficult to get accepted. I had to change the wording of my business plan three times!
I’ve been looking at a few of the crowd-funding websites now, and one thing I do like about Indiegogo is that they offer more options for getting attention and publicity to your fundraiser. That, in my book, is worth a lot.
I had a bit of a hard time using them at first but then I figured it out with the help of customer service. The site itself looks very friendly and inviting.
[…] powers. Our analysis is based on a comparison of the leading crowdfunding sites (Kickstarter and Indiegogo reviewed here) and the last great consumer internet explosion involving market leaders Groupon and […]
Ran a campaign for my 501(c)3, but never received the money. Indiegogo has my information, but FirstGiving has it wrong. They can’t get it fixed.Typical pass the buck BS. Stay away from Indiegogo.
Yes, Indiegogo has a lot of traffic, but only to the top performers. My campaign had hundreds of visits and I was still way, way, way, way down on their list (meaning-unless they search for you, no way to find you). Use Kickstarter.
I was treated very well by Indiegogo to begin with, but having found an ambiguously wrtten page on their site about options for customers, I enquired. I was fobbed off, then persistently ignored. I moved on and have found other *great* crowdfunding sites. I hope you find this helpful.
I find Indiegogo hard to understand when setting it up and a large lack of support to explain the why they don’t tell you up front that they won’t show your fundraiser until there is a donation or activity on the page. That sounds like a “fee” for service to me, not free.
Very slow/poor follow up from questions/ contact with the site. They keep sending canned answers and not even addressing my question. There is no phone # to reach them on. Funds are supposed to be disbursed monthly, as raised, but indiegogolife has never disbursed monthly, nor will they explain or address why they have not.
The following is Directly from the indiegogolife fundraising FAQ page :
When to Expect Your Funds
Once you have raised money for your fundraiser, you may be wondering when you will receive your donations. Funds are disbursed on a monthly basis. You can expect to receive your first disbursement approximately 30 days after your fundraiser begins, provided you’ve added your bank account information, and then another disbursement the following month. Once you have received your first donation, you can view your raised funds on the Funds tab of your fundraiser Dashboard.
NOT USER FRIENDLY AT ALL. HUGE difficulty making credit card payments, terrible for would be businesses as investors CANNOT invest. A shambles to be honest. Anyone who invests needs to open a paypal account-APPALLING, INCREDIBLE, CRIMINAL ALMOST. CUSTOMER SERVICE NON-EXISTENT – no one out there to talk too. Best to go elsewhere.
I STILLL have had no response from these people
I have bought about 36 items from kickstarter and received them, yes 97% of the products were delayed but I always got updates
I have purchased just a few items from your corporation and I get bupkis nothing from your campaigns I reckon it’s a scam and should be bought to people’s attention
I CANT BELIEVE YOU GUYS ARE SO BAD AT THIS, I HAVE NOT RECEIVED 1 ITEM YET FROM ANY OF THE CAMPAIGNS YOU GUYS HOST
I want my money back
i.e. i have purchased 6 items still
nothing
kickstarter wayyyyyyyy better