And while most successful Kickstarter campaigns raise less than $10,000, some of them go on to make an astounding amount of cash.
And with that in mind, let’s check out the 25 Most Successful Kickstarter Campaigns.
The campaign dates back to 2016, and it turned out to be phenomenal. Over 26,000 backers were seduced by this deceptively simple bag to the tune of $6,565,782. Not bad for a campaign that was only trying to make $500,000. The bags are considered some of the best in the world, having evolved from camera bags to some of the best all purpose bags around with dozens of cool features that clearly a lot of people really dug. Fast forward to 2021 and the expansion game “Requiem” hit Kickstarter even harder. This time they managed $6,720,471 on an initial campaign that sought to earn just $100,000. This time the game made its initial goal in three minutes. Within 90 minutes they were at $1 million. Backers were looking to have the game shipped sometime in 2023. Though not every pledge was for a leather bound copy, at the lowest tier you’d get an electronic copy of the novel plus a digital art package for $10. High rollers could pledge $500 and get a signed and numbered edition plus some other swag. Nearly 30,000 Sanderson fans hopped on board and helped bring the total to $6,788,517. The printer was designed to overcome all the shortcomings of previous 3D printers with one of the most notable features being the ability to print things in multiple colors. As cool as 3D printing is, if everything comes out one color it gets a little old. But the promo videos promised the ability to make your own high quality action figures and other cool things that took full advantage of the ability to mix up colors and print whatever you want. Over 5,500 backers liked what they saw and made the project a success. The game promised 1000+ minutes of adventure fun for 1 to 4 players that involved survival and exploration. The game was a success, so the makers released an expansion called “What Goes Up Must Come Down.” Nearly 44,000 backers thought it sounded cool so they pledged $7,072,757. The goal was just $40,000. It was launched in 2021 and was backed by over 45,000 fans. The original campaign was European, so they made €6,840,648 initially, which comes out to around $7.2 million US. Sales beyond Kickstarter were very limited and game designers were not interested in getting involved. The company had trouble fulfilling orders. The company sold its assets and the entire system stopped being supported in 2019, making it nothing but a paperweight for most people. The concept, combining kittens and tacos and lasers and explosions was enough to get $8,782,571 in backing. It could easily become a coffee table or even a dining table with seating for 10. Over 7,700 backers pledged $8,808,136. This one promised a print time cut by 70%, multi-color printing and 0.1 mm precision for almost flawless design. Reviews seem to indicate it mostly lived up to the hype,too. Almost 29,000 people pledged $9,032,583 to bring this undead tabletop game to life. It had a built-in neck pillow, gloves, an eye mask, tech pockets, a drink pocket and plenty more. Nearly 45,000 people fell in love with the idea of it and backed it for $9,192,055. They made $9,535,317 from nearly 82,000 backers. Copies of the game began shipping at the end of 2022. The watch was compatible with iPhone and Android and customizable with numerous apps as well as downloadable faces to shake up the look. It made $12 million. It’s a nice tripod, and it has innovative tripod features. So, for a tripod, it was pretty cool. Over 27,000 people agreed and spent at least $289 a piece to support it. Keep in mind these were no ordinary batteries. A single unit had a power output up to 3600W, expandable to 4500W, and enough juice to run many home appliances. A bank of several could power a home during a blackout for days. The game combined many of the favorite elements of tabletop fantasy games like cards, dice, miniatures, and the threat of constant destruction at the hands of weird monsters. This time, backers got two watches that could monitor their heart rate, connect them with Alexa and was 3G enabled so they could talk on the phone or listen to music on the go. The campaign delivered on its watches in 2017 and backers had a variety of styles and choices when it came to what they wanted. Even the base option was $79 for a Pebble Core. Big spenders could back for $339 and get two Pebble Time 2 watches. It’s considered one of the most popular campaign-based fantasy games ever, so a sequel/spinoff like Frosthaven was a no-brainer, and it’s not hard to imagine why Kickstarter managed to pull in $12,969,608. So how’s the game compared to the original? Well, the campaign was run in 2020, and by the end of 2022, no one had a copy of the game to play it and find out. Word is it should be available in 2023. The campaign pulled 62, 642 excited backers and $13,285,226. Wow, right? Must have been an amazing cooler. But it wasn’t. Successful in terms of making a lot of money, this is also one of Kickstarter’s biggest failures. About a third of those backers never got a cooler, and the company went out of business in 2019 having failed for years to get all orders fulfilled. Those left with nothing had the option of a $20 refund despite paying $200 to back the campaign. It must have been that 7-day battery life that got people’s attention, not the interface that was meant to highlight things that you’d find important in your day. Whatever it was, 78,471 backers pledged $20,338,986 to make it happen, so it was clearly a success. And, given how this is Pebble’s third appearance on the list, it’s safe to say the watches were getting the job done for many fans. He may not be a household name outside of fantasy circles the way those others are, but the man has not only made a dent with a few dozen titles, he’s proven on Kickstarter that his fans are devoted. Rabidly devoted. $41,754,153 devoted. Sanderson’s “Four Secret Novels” Kickstarter is the biggest campaign the site has ever hosted. At the lowest level, backers who ponied up $40 would get a quarterly e-book in 2023. For $60 it became an audiobook. For $500 a backer could get the e-books, the audiobooks, hardcover books and swag boxes. And, in total, 185,341 people were on board. America’s Food Fund started in April 2020 and ran for two years. In that time they raised $45,155,500 for a number of charities. They were raising money to battle food insecurity, in particular as it affected children during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. If you recall, that was an especially rough time in some parts of the country with store shelves being bare. The campaign attracted some high-profile attention, with Oprah Winfrey donating $1 million, Leo DiCaprio and Laurene Powell Jobs donating $5 million, and their single largest donation coming in at a whopping $10 million.
