So over the years I've read countless threads in this forum on crowdfunding. More often than not, it's usually a new user briefly dropping by to get us to throw money at them, or it's a user that's frustrated/unsuccessful at the process.



As I look at websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, I notice that a mass amount of projects DO get well funded - surprisingly, in fact. Kickstarter shows me projects in my area, a suburb outside of Denver, actually being funded thousands of dollars. That really shocked me.



Obviously the set-up of your project heavily weighs into how well you will do - Whether or not you have rewards people may want, how your descriptions, videos, and pictures are, and how you update the project - among other things.



It seems to me, though, that successful projects seem to be successful because they already have enough push behind them - especially in communities - I seriously doubt the projects being funded in my suburb of Denver are being funded by people who aren't in the area.



So when an independent filmmaker goes up to bat on these websites, is it fairly accurate to assume that if they don't already carry massive local or online followings, regardless of how they set the project up, it's going to fail? What can independent filmmakers do to get people towards their projects?



I loved the idea of Kickstarter because crowdfunding originally set out the idea that you can be from a dead end town, with little local support, and find it online if your pitch/idea is good enough to execute. As big names like Neil Young start using it for their projects, however, it seems that the original creed of these kickstarting websites is being diminished.



To me, the idea of crowdfunding extended especially to people who don't necessarily have the money to complete a project, but with support, could potentially create a wonderful product - thus why people would support them. It seems that you need lots of fans and money to make any progress towards goals on these websites, though. (Which is why I'm even more baffled by these projects in my local area getting support)



So, for indie filmmakers, what exactly needs to be done to have a successful campaign?