Kickstarter

Extracted 05MAR2012 fromhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kickstarter

Kickstarter (at www.kickstarter.com)... One of a new set of fundraising platforms dubbed "crowdfunding",  Kickstarter facilitates gathering monetary resources from the general public, a model which circumvents many traditional avenues of investment. People must apply to Kickstarter in order to have a project posted on the site, and Kickstarter provides guidelines on what types of projects will be accepted. Project owners choose a deadline and a target minimum of funds to raise. If the chosen target is not gathered by the deadline, no funds are collected (this is known as a provision point mechanism). Money pledged by donors is collected using Amazon Payments, and initiating projects requires a U.S. bank account.

Kickstarter takes 5% of the funds raised; Amazon charges an additional 3-5%. Unlike many forums for fundraising or investment, Kickstarter claims no ownership over the projects and the work they produce. However, projects launched on the site are permanently archived and accessible to the public. After funding is completed, projects and uploaded media cannot be edited or removed from the site.

There is no guarantee that people that post projects on Kickstarter will deliver on their projects or use the money to do their projects. Kickstarter advises sponsors to use their own judgment on supporting a project. They also warn project leaders that they could be liable for legal damages from sponsors for failure to deliver on promises.

[Note that the ongoing drive for Double fine Adventure (a game from Doublefine Productions) has already raised enough to end up in the top projects list after it closes. See http://www.doublefine.com/news/]

Rank	Project name	Author	Category	% funded	Total USD	Backers	Closing date
1	Elevation Dock: The Best Dock For iPhone	ElevationLab	Design	1,952	1,464,706	12,521	2012-02-11
2	The Order of the Stick Reprint Drive	Rich Burlew	Comics	2,171	1,254,120	14,952	2012-02-21
3	TikTok+LunaTik Multi-Touch Watch Kits	Scott Wilson	Design	6,283	942,578	13,512	2010-12-16
4	Hidden Radio & BlueTooth Speaker	John VDN + Vitor Santa Maria	Design	751	938,771	5,358	2012-01-18
5	Printrbot: Your First 3D Printer	Brook Drumm	Technology	3,323	830,827	1,808	2011-12-17
6	Twine: Listen to your world, talk to the internet	Supermechanical	Technology	1,589	556,541	3,966	2012-01-03
7	CineSkates Camera Sliders	Justin Jensen	Design	2,432	486,518	2,019	2011-10-14
8	PID-Controlled Espresso Machine	Gleb Polyakov and Igor Zamlinsky	Design	1,847	369,569	1,546	2012-01-20
9	Capture Camera Clip System	Peter Dering	Design	3,646	364,698	5,258	2011-07-16
10	Blue Like Jazz	Steve Taylor	Film & Video	276	345,992	4,495	2010-10-25