BASICS: Kickstarter is a "crowd funding" site. It is used to raise $ for independent artistic projects like documentary films. People who support a film project on Kickstarter are called "Backers". Backers get benefits, which are called “Rewards”. Usually the Rewards are something desirable or experiential – in this case, a copy of the film with extra’s, a t-shirt, a limited edition collectible, even your name in the closing credits. The greater the support, the greater the Reward.
Here are the 5 main points to remember:
1) Backing a Kickstarter project is really NOT the same as making a donation. When you "back" or financially support a Kickstarter project, you are receiving the “Reward” as value for your support. Yes, you are also helping the project and the filmmaker and the cause - at the ground floor. You are an important part of the filmmaking process, and you get updates.
2) When you back a Kickstarter project, it is considered a "pledge". This is an important word to remember, because it means no money is charged to your card at that time. You can increase, decrease, or cancel the pledge at any time. There is zero risk. The card you use to pledge is ONLY charged AFTER the campaign, and ONLY IF the campaign is successful to reach its target. (The Sammy Documentary has a target of $61,500 and the campaign ends on March 29. If the campaign does not reach the target by the deadline, no $ is EVER charged to your card because no transactions occur, and the project does not "succeed", and the filmmakers do not get the funds.) It is truly an ALL or NOTHING scenario.
3) Earlier pledges are very important. These help the project be more "popular" and get seen by more people. The closer the project gets to the target, the better chance of success. If you know diane or Tommy or of course Sammy and Shirley, or if Sammy's music and story has touched you in some way, please don't wait. The sooner you pledge the better, and again - the card is not charged anyway, until the end.
4) You can pledge to a Kickstarter project as a Guest, or you can set up an account. Setting up an account is so easy. The only things needed to set up a Kickstarter account are a name and email. You can even use a fake name. It takes less than a minute. You go to Kickstarter.com, click Sign Up, enter a name and email, pick a password, and you have an account. Boom. Done.
5) Once you have an account, you can go to our page and make a pledge.
That’s it! By the way - when you do go to our page, please plan to spend a few minutes. We know you are busy. Watch the trailer. Scroll down and check out the images and read the stories, Sammy has led quite a life. Choose any Reward, there are some cool ones. When you click on the Reward you would like, just follow the prompts from there.
If questions, look for the little circular picture of diane (toward the top of the Kickstarter page on the left) click it, and then click CONTACT ME to send a message. TIP: You can use any device to pledge but a Kickstarter page sure looks more awesome and is easier to follow on a desktop or laptop.
THANK YOU!
