Have you run campaigns on IndieGoGo and are looking to try Crowdfundr? This step-by-step toolkit makes the transition quick and simple, plus a comparison guide will highlight all similarities and differences between Crowdfundr vs IndieGoGo.
The most notable difference between IndieGoGo and Crowdfundr is the audiences.
IndieGoGo does have a larger audience than Crowdfundr currently. And they offer marketing packages to promote to those audiences.
However, you still need to do the work to create a phenomenal campaign and actively promote it while engaging your own audience. Audience does not automatically equal conversion.
Crowdfundr provides options to make crowdfunding more affordable than IndieGoGo.
If you believe your campaign is likely to rank high on IndieGoGo with their marketing, and the funds you raise from their audiences will make up for the savings in crowdfunding fees, then IndieGoGo may be your most valid option.
If you prefer more customizability, transparency, variability in reward options, and nearly-free crowdfunding to bring your creation to those who will love it, read on for how to switch to Crowdfundr!
At the end of this post, you’ll also find a comparison guide for easy visuals on Crowdfundr vs IndieGoGo.
Before you begin
- Decide if you’d like a Crowdfundr Professional organization account. Everyone receives a user profile to create a personal biography on. Pictures, videos, links, etc. can all be included. If you have a brand separate from your personal identity, however, or if you run an indie publishing/printing company, you can open a Crowdfundr Professional account, too (for free). You’ll receive the option to create the organization account in the campaign creation flow.
If you are using Crowdfundr Professional and want to customize the platform theme to your brand, here are the useful items to have ready:- Logo in PNG format
- Brand colour RGB or Hex codes
- Font names (or similar Google font alternative)
- Desired navigation links (About page, Contact, social links, etc.)
- Copyright message
Then contact Crowdfundr to get your organization Verified! This is FREE and allows for more imported contacts, changing rewards even after they’ve been claimed, and more!
- If you don’t have them already, obtain a Stripe and/or PayPal business account. Note: you CAN create your organization profile and campaign without adding an account yet; you just can’t launch them until you do. But if you do not have one or both of these, it’s a good idea to get the process started as soon as you can. Both Stripe and PayPal are recommended (if available in your region) as this will provide your supporters with options upon checkout.
- Choose your campaign type: all-or-nothing or keep-it-all. This is one of the few things you cannot change once your campaign template is created. IndieGoGo allows successful all-or-nothing campaigns to run as keep-it-all; these are known as ‘InDemand’ campaigns. You can start an InDemand campaign fresh; however, you’re paying a premium.
Still confused about which type to choose? This article helps explain the differences. - Choose a pricing model. Crowdfundr has three options to choose from, but you can change your mind whenever you want-even when the campaign is live. This article helps to understand the differences between the models.
Pre-launch
Crowdfundr does not have a pre-launch page – because your campaign is viewable even before launch! While it won’t yet be searchable, anyone with the campaign link can view it and subscribe to notifications so that they know right when it launches!
- Once your campaign is set up (see next section), retrieve your campaign link and share it with current and potential supporters.
- Ask supporters to subscribe to the campaign to be notified when it goes live!
General campaign set-up
- Go to crowdfundr.com/create and set up your first campaign template, plus a user profile and, if applicable, an organization profile. Information in your IndieGoGo profile can go into your user profile!
- Crowdfundr does not have taglines available – so condense your title into 80 characters. We recommend something specific that includes your project/character name and what kind of project it is (book, music, statue, etc…).
- Your campaign card image becomes your snapshot thumbnail.
- Your project pitch image becomes the campaign cover picture. It and your pitch video are entered in the media gallery. The cover picture is used as your video overlay. However, you can have as many images and videos in your media gallery as you like and run them in a slideshow too.
This article will tell you more about the media gallery. - Remember, your goal does NOT have to include shipping! Your goal can be changed anytime with a keep-it-all campaign and anytime before the launch of an all-or-nothing campaign.
- Customize your campaign link!
Rewards
Note: What IndieGoGo refers to as ‘perks,’ Crowdfundr calls rewards. Perks in Crowdfundr are a type of reward offered. However, you will likely want to choose ‘Products’ as your reward type as opposed to perks.
- Rewards aren’t set up in the campaign creation flow. After your template is done, click ‘Edit’ in the sidebar menu, then ‘Rewards’ to set up each one.
What you have as ‘items’ on IndieGoGo can be individual rewards on Crowdfundr. You can choose to bundle together as you wish – you’d just create a bundle as one reward – but as Crowdfundr lets supporters claim more than one reward, there is no need to create bundles if you don’t want to.
Also, IndieGoGo ‘Options’ = Crowdfundr ‘Variants.’
- Rather than creating add-on items to reduce the shipping costs of multiple items, you will just enter an add-on shipping cost to any individual rewards requiring it. This article explains how add-on (and single shipping) costs work.
- There are more options than you’re used to! Explore everything in the menu and check out our guide on creating rewards.
Shipping and fulfillment
- View Crowdfundr’s pledge management and distribution/fulfillment partners on our Partners Page.
- Decide when to collect shipping: on the campaign itself or afterwards with a fulfillment manager.
If on the campaign itself: enter which countries and prices/add-on shipping prices into each reward (as described in the last section). Rewards will say ‘+ shipping’ after the price.
If afterwards with a fulfillment manager: make sure to include this into your story somewhere obvious! Perhaps in big, bold lettering… because your supporters will want lots of notice if they’ll be charged extra later on for shipping. - Crowdfundr will automatically collect shipping addresses (as well as names and emails) whenever a reward is claimed, and supporters’ information will always be available to you under the campaign’s Transactions tab. If there is any further information you need, set it up in your Data Collection menu.
Story writing
Story writing isn’t too different between platforms; your story is your story! Crowdfundr does provide some extra options to what you’re used to, designed to enhance your campaign’s visual appeal, communicate effectively while not inundating your supporters with information, and provide multiple options to enhance with media.
- Copy and paste your story (or write a new one if you’re so inclined!)
- Enter your risks and challenges (if applicable) right in the story.
- Features new to you:
- Font colour options
- Two extra story tabs for additional information (FAQ, Risks & Challenges, creator/org info, etc.)
- Videos must be uploaded via YouTube or Vimeo (in the story; direct uploading is available in the media gallery)
- In-campaign link generation
- Anchor links
- Columns for easy picture sizing and organizing information
- Font colour options
Two useful resources for story writing:
- Editing the Campaign Story – a technical how-to guide on Crowdfundr’s storytelling capabilities;
- Storytelling for crowdfunding campaigns – for those creators needing an idea or two for an effective story to sell their project.
Promotion prep
- Download your backer information from IndieGoGo if you can, then upload it onto your new campaign’s Contact list. Once you launch, everyone uploaded to this list is notified.
If you cannot download backer information from IndieGoGo, post an update on that campaign with information and links to your new Crowdfundr campaign. - Invite your campaign team to the campaign. They can not only help edit and plan your campaign, but they come with a crowd! Ensure they know all of the campaign-sharing capabilities. This article is great to send to your team members.
Receiving your funds
Crowdfundr does not hold funds (reserve or otherwise). When you choose to charge your supporters (or every time a transaction completes in a keep-it-all campaign), funds go directly to your Stripe and/or PayPal account (depending on the transaction and your account, this could take anywhere from a few seconds to a couple of days). Any applicable fees are automatically deducted from contributions, so you won’t owe Crowdfundr, Stripe, or PayPal anything further.
Then, you just transfer funds to the desired bank account! We often get asked how often these transfers should be done; it doesn’t really matter. However, for easy bookkeeping later on, at least once a week is recommended.
Any concerns regarding receiving funds must be discussed with Stripe or PayPal. Crowdfundr does not have the ability to view or modify these accounts, nor can we contact Stripe or PayPal on your behalf.
Comparison Guide: Crowdfundr vs IndieGoGo
We’re here to help!
Our Discord channel is a place to connect with other creators and the Crowdfundr team to ask questions, seek advice, and share strategies. But if you don’t do Discord, or want to schedule a demo, feel free to email us at
