Protest movements like Occupy Wall Street
have also used crowdfunding to great effect,
raising funds to distribute newsletters and publish
print advertisements in major newspapers. Turkish
protesters crowdfunded a full-page ad in the
New York Times to raise awareness of their dissatisfaction
with Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.
They reached their set goal of $53,800 on Indiegogo
with almost a full month to spare, making it
the fastest political fundraising campaign in the
site’s history.
Not every crowdfunding project gets off the
ground—Kickstarter reports that only about 44%
of its projects have reached their funding goals.
Sometimes projects that do get off the ground
simply flame out, disappointing all of their investors.
Although this is no different than investing in
stocks or other equities, Kickstarter has sought to
ease investor fears by improving its communication
and handling of the risk inherent in the projects
hosted on its site. They introduced a section
where fundraisers are required to disclose the
risks inherent in their project, and for inventions,
the site now requires photos of prototype products
instead of simply drawings, simulations, or
renderings.
There also is some worry that the lack of
privacy involved with donating to crowdfunding
sites has a negative effect on the process. In the
art world, many artists are concerned that they
will make enemies within their industry if they
ignore requests for crowdfunding donations, not
to mention the possibility of the focus on fundraising
corrupting the artistic process. However,