BackerClub Forums

How do you handle it if some financial situation crops up and you have to decrease or cancel several pledges? Do you contact each creator? Do you do it and say nothing? Do you drop your pledges to $1 rather than cancel?

Have you felt guilty even if the project is way overfunded? This is my 1st time doing this. I've decreased my pledge to $1 or canceled in cases where I've been uncomfortable with a project. Once I understood how personal creators felt I stopped decreasing pledges without dropping a note explaining,

This is the first time it's been for a reason unrelated to the project. I found it harder to contact creators so I didn't in many cases today. I won't be backing as many projects going forward. I've had a several month spree out-of-control and this month is showing why it's a bad idea.

Curious how others have handled this. Or as a creator how would you like someone to handle it?

I've just done it and filled in a brief explanation in the space provided.

In all my cases it's been for something that quite honestly I felt was a creator issue to begin with (example - Jada Salt selling cheaper on Amazon then on KS - see ya).

I haven't done it yet for budget reasons. I do like your idea of the personal touch in that situation. Stuff happens, you have to take care of yourself, but you can still be polite about it.

If it was a real issue, I think KS would have clamped down on it or changed the rules by now. I think a certain small percentage of backings are always going to have issues - part of the business. And creators should be calling a funding goal that reflects that.

Thanks Tom.

Miscalculated my bills this month and had to cancel several pledges that I wouldn't be able to afford to honor this coming month. But, you know, you can't honor many $45 pledges when you only have about that much total after paying bills with no more coming in until next month.

I still have $115 in pledges across 4 campaigns that I just don't have the heart to cancel. Each is a project I truly believe in and a reward I really want. The largest pledge is for a campaign where the creator has already gifted me with prototypes for their next project worth the whole $115 I'm sure!

Given my blood pressure & medications I'm on, they won't buy my plasma, but maybe I can figure out where the red light district is to raise some cash....

I too have faced this recently.

I sent personal messages and reduced to the $1 level. I let them know that I really liked their project and was glad to see they had met their funding goal (thankfully the ones I had to leave already had) and that I was sad that for personal reasons I needed to reduce my pledge. I added that I looked forward to following the project and hoped to be purchasing from them some time in the future.

Thanks for the advice. I had the chance to give advice & moral support to several projects where I'd dropped my pledge to $1 and creators were surprised that I'd meant I really did support them just couldn't at $$. I'm being much more careful of how much I pledge - starting lower and waiting until closer to funding/project ending before increasing my pledge.

I just decrease my pledge and don't say anything. I didn't think it was a problem, and I've never felt guilty about it.

togepreee wrote:I just decrease my pledge and don't say anything. I didn't think it was a problem, and I've never felt guilty about it.

I've had creators contact me obviously upset. Having been on the other side/creator it can feel personal when someone decreases or cancels a pledge.

I recently came across this blog post from a KickStarter creator where he discusses Backers cancelling during his various campaigns, including statistics.

http://spokedesignblog.com/2015/07/28/h ... b-post-19/

Rhonda T wrote:I recently came across this blog post from a KickStarter creator where he discusses Backers cancelling during his various campaigns, including statistics.

http://spokedesignblog.com/2015/07/28/h ... b-post-19/

Thanks for the link. I wish more creators were like this person.