{"id":22634,"date":"2022-12-13T11:09:28","date_gmt":"2022-12-13T19:09:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.backerkit.com\/blog\/?p=22634"},"modified":"2022-12-13T15:52:48","modified_gmt":"2022-12-13T23:52:48","slug":"how-backers-helped-shaped-the-purrtagonists-crowdfunding-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.backerkit.com\/blog\/how-backers-helped-shaped-the-purrtagonists-crowdfunding-project\/","title":{"rendered":"How Backers Helped Shaped the Purrtagonists Crowdfunding Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

Crowdfunding is all about community. One of the guiding principles of our new crowdfunding platform, Crowdfunding by BackerKit<\/a>, is that \u201cbackers make it better.\u201d Backers not only help projects grow, but are also an important part of the creator\u2019s journey. But what if there was a way to really take your backers on a journey \u2014 an adventure! And wouldn\u2019t it be great to not only allow them to participate by backing but also empower them to shape the project? These were the questions that the team behind Purrtagonists: Fabled Felines<\/a> explored during their recent campaign.<\/p>\n

Purrtagonists launched on Crowdfunding by BackerKit, which is currently in Beta<\/a>, in October. A collaboration between artists Alchemy Art, Blushsprout, and ChocolateRaisin Fury, the project is a story-driven collection of Dungeons & Dragons and cat-themed enamel pins. Each of the furry felines featured in the designs is part of a guild setting out on an adventure.<\/p>\n

The project had great designs and the creators put a lot of thought and preparation into the campaign, so it was no surprise that Purrtagonists was a success in terms of funding \u2014 it surpassed its goal and raised more than $24,000. But what really sets this project apart is that the Purrtagonists team found a novel way to keep their audience invested from start to finish: a \u201cchoose your own adventure\u201d style campaign that replicated DnD gameplay.<\/p>\n

The Challenge<\/h2>\n

All three of Purrtagonists\u2019 creators had experience running successful crowdfunding projects in the past. They\u2019d all also been able to build large audiences through their previous work. As a treat for their communities and to make the Purrtagonists campaign stand out from what they had done previously, they wanted to create a social, interactive campaign.<\/p>\n

The project\u2019s enamel pins are DnD themed and the Purrtagonists team came to BackerKit wanting to launch a campaign that mirrored what it\u2019s like to play DnD. They\u2019d envisioned telling an episodic story about the cats featured in the pin designs and then using polls to allow their backers to vote on different story outcomes that would change the direction of the project and the rewards offered.<\/p>\n

Since launching the crowdfunding platform in June<\/a>, we\u2019ve been working with creators to develop tools to enable them to collaborate better and collect feedback from backers. One of those tools is the Polls feature. Most creators on Crowdfunding by BackerKit have been using polls in a more straightforward way. For instance, Westley Coleman, the creator of Novel Travelbooks<\/a>, asked his backers which of his designs they were most excited about to determine what would ultimately be produced. Similarly, during the campaign for Smut Peddler X & My Monster Girlfriend<\/a>, Iron Circus Comics asked their backers which design they should choose for their exclusive day-one backer pin.<\/p>\n

The Purrtagonists team would essentially be using polls to get the same kind of information other creators were after but through interactive storytelling. This was something that we hadn\u2019t explored before. We were excited to run this experiment with the tools we\u2019d created to see how we could meet this need. We immediately started working with the Purrtagonists team to create the interaction and engagement that they were after.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/b>If you\u2019re interested in enamel pin crowdfunding projects like Purrtagonists, we hope you\u2019ll check out Crowdfunding by BackerKit\u2019s Pintopia in January. Learn more about the lineup here.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

The Solution<\/h2>\n

The plan was to present a new chapter of the Purrtagonists story and a poll to go along with it every 48 hours. But obviously for this to work, you need people who care about the project to participate. There are a few ways that BackerKit and the Purrtagonists team\u2019s combined efforts were able to make sure that participation happened:<\/p>\n