Final yr, BackerKit launched our first-ever Pintopia, a cooperative crowdfunding occasion for enamel pin creators. Our purpose was to have fun and facilitate communication and collaboration between creators whereas permitting backers to find new creators. Throughout 2023’s occasion, 20 initiatives from a various group of creators all launched on BackerKit on the similar time — and all 20 have been efficiently funded.
Teamwork makes the dream work
Our first Pintopia cohort consisted of creators with completely different ranges of expertise in crowdfunding and enamel pin design. The BackerKit group labored with individuals, educating them the best way to set themselves up for achievement and offering them with an area on our Discord server the place they may be taught from one another and share recommendation.
One superb side of crowdfunding is how information and finest practices are exchanged from creator to creator. So it was vital for us to develop an ecosystem the place individuals may go from DIY (do-it-yourself) creators to DIT (do-it-together) creators, amplifying their affect and artistry by way of collaboration.
When creators group up, the success of 1 challenge has a ripple impact that permits everybody to profit. We noticed this concept play out in so many thrilling methods throughout Pintopia. First, the creators turned a group, supporting one another at each stage of the occasion.
Katie Bacigalupi, creator of Historical past of Floral Fads, says, “It felt like a group effort. All of us rooted for each other and needed to see one another succeed.” Launching a challenge by yourself takes lots of laborious work, however when you’ve got one other creator there in your nook, somebody you’ll be able to bounce concepts off of or ask for steering, it makes it simpler to beat challenges and finally succeed. Asherbee, creator of Connoisseur Ghoulfriends says, “Generally, being solo is simply actually troublesome, however it was good to see us all work out points collectively.”
We additionally noticed the ripple results of this collaboration in the way in which that backers interacted with Pintopia initiatives. When the entire initiatives launch on the similar time, it’s type of like a buffet for backers, they usually have an opportunity to find creators they might not have in any other case been uncovered to. They will get their glow-in-the-dark cat pins, their film moth pins, their skateboarding breakfast meals pins, and a lot extra! In the long run, 80% of every challenge’s pledges got here from the communities of different initiatives.
Lastly, launching as a cohort created enjoyable alternatives for individuals to work on designs collectively. Throughout Pintopia, anybody who backed three or extra initiatives acquired an unique collab pin. To develop these designs, three completely different creator pairs teamed up and melded their particular person kinds collectively.
“It was a delight working with Carrie of Aspenhearted to create our Jupiter Purring design for Pintopia,” says Carly Ok, creator of Cosmic Steadiness. “It was a ton of enjoyable to see what they did with my easy planet design. Plus, it was simply actually cool to work with a fellow creator on one thing like a pin. That was a brand new expertise for me.”
This was an opportunity for these six pin designers to stretch their artistic boundaries and experiment. And in doing so, they have been in a position to supply one thing particular to backers who supported their work.
By the point Pintopia had ended, not solely had all 20 initiatives funded, however there have been additionally practically 1,200 distinctive backers. Half of these backers pledged to a couple of challenge, and 27 passionate pin followers backed all 20 initiatives.
The BackerKit group had a good time serving to creators join with one another and is thrilled that backers have been in a position to rating some unbelievable pins. One of many issues we’re most pleased with was that Pintopia introduced new creators to crowdfunding and helped give them the boldness, instruments, and assets to proceed launching initiatives. Carly Ok says, “Pintopia was my first profitable enterprise into the crowdfunding world. It lastly acquired me the place I knew I might be, and actually put me able the place I may actively be taught and develop.”
Prepare for the subsequent Pintopia
We had such a blast throughout the first Pintopia that there was no query — we needed to do it once more. This yr, 125+ creators will likely be taking part. Meaning extra designs for you! Every creator will launch a solo pin assortment and group up with one other Pintopia participant to design two distinctive collaborative pins. All initiatives launch on Thursday, March twenty eighth at 10 AM PT and collectively finish on Thursday, April 18th at 1 PM PT. We sit up for seeing you there!
