Indie film funding sites vary in many ways, so you must carefully read the fine print. Are there up-front fees, or do you only pay if successful? If you are quite successful with your pitch, you might not mind giving a small percentage to the website that somehow helped you but beware of the terms that mean you’ll have to pay too much – you might have been better off paying a set fee upfront. Also, be careful because some indie film crowdfunding sites may be charging those who invest instead, which could limit the number of people who invest.
Of course, it is only fair that the businesses charge something for their time and effort – their costs of doing business – and since there are enough sites to generate competition, they will likely try to keep these fees low. Then again, while the government regulates certain aspects of crowdfunding, the platform fee structures are mostly free-market-driven.
We want to help you compare different no-up-front cost crowdfunding sites. And remember that we can help every step of the way.
Indie Film Funding Sites: How to Choose 
The best choice for you and your project will likely boil down to three critical variables:
- What are the success fees involved? Usually, a percentage is deducted from the money raised, and sometimes an administrative fee is either fixed or a percentage of the funds raised. Of course, you want to compare these fees carefully when looking into different crowdfunding sites.
- If you are not charged anything, are your investors charged? This may be an attractive option to some but less attractive to others. This charging method means the platform is free for you, but your potential investors may not like being charged.
- Most importantly, it would be best if you researched how successfully people use that site. Again, all of this is a balancing act. One site may change a smaller percentage but does not have the reach of another site. Sometimes, paying more upfront can be worthwhile in the long run. YOu can probably see how this worked out for projects before yours.
Indie Film Funding Sites: Features
Once again, we want to be clear that there are few viable platforms where you truly do not pay anything during the crowdfunding process. So, the question here is whether it may be advisable actually to pay upfront. In making a choice, you need to compare features. You may want the indie film funding sites you are choosing from have the following:
- Good customer support. Can you talk or chat 24 hours per day, and even if it is technically available, will there be a long wait to get in touch with someone? Do you know anything about the quality and effectiveness of the customer service department? This is where online independent reviews by users can be helpful.
- Large amounts of online space within which to make your pitch. Will you be limited to a small area and unable to get into the details? Or will you have enough storage space to fully get into your pitch and use multimedia and other larger applications?
- Are there a good number of templates for those who do not want to have to start from scratch? It can be much easier to start with a good template and concentrate on the details of your pitch instead of the look of your site.
- Is there social media integration? You will likely want to get the word out about your product, project, or service in as many ways as possible, and a platform integrated with major social media outlets will make that much easier.
- How much time and energy does the platform put into promoting your site – lending its SEO and established client list?
Putting it all Together
Ultimately, you must assess your likely overall expenditure for an amount you hope to raise. Without features, you may raise less, and the lower fees may not be worthwhile. Then again, paying a lot upfront may be a mistake if you could have been just as successful with a less expensive choice. Websites that call themselves “free crowdfunding websites” do not charge any up-front fee, and in many cases, they are a great choice as long as the total you’ll pay after different levels of success are the same or better than sites that charge more upfront.
Sneaky Fees for Indie Film Crowdfunding Sites
So, what else besides paying a percentage of what you raise might cost you if you pursue a “no up-front cost” indie film crowdfunding site? Here are some examples:
– You might hear about free crowdfunding, where a fundamental pitch for a smaller amount of money is free, but the add-ons you might need to make your pitch competitive will cost money, or raising more than a little will cost a fee or percentage.
– Even an option that is truly without cost, such as building your website, may have some costs if you need a plugin that costs something, or you could use some professional web design or SEO services.
Independent Raises May Be Free, but…
Of course, one option provides a free crowdfunding site, which is “white label” crowdfunding, where you create your independent site from scratch or use a free template (though there will be small costs even with this option, such as web hosting). We go over the advantages and disadvantages of independent crowdfunding in a separate post.
The only way to have free crowdfunding is to build your website with a free platform like WordPress. You can get a free theme and free plugins, and all you will pay is a hosting fee to a company so you can put your site online. This really is free crowdfunding, but is it worth it? You need to balance the fact that you will not have to pay anything against the value of your own time. You also have to value the extra time that this might mean your product or service is not funded. With this option, you must spend a lot of time promoting your website and pitch. You will have to, for example, either directly solicit traffic through social media and other word-of-mouth techniques, or you will have to use search engine optimization techniques to drive traffic to your website. This can take a significant amount of time.
The Bottom Line with Indie Film Funding
Things are not simple regarding the fees and other costs associated with your crowdfunding pitch, but often, the best choice is to choose a platform where there are only costs when you are successful, and those costs depend on how successful you are. So yes, no up-front cost websites, which may market themselves as “free,” may be the best choice, but comparing them with sites that charge a bit is worth comparing. Knowing the fees and benefits of all possible platforms is essential.
Our Work with Indie Film Funding
We’d be happy to run through your indie film funding options for free – feel free to contact us. We have contacts at all major platforms and know the fee schedules. We also have a Foundation where we help early-career independent filmmakers. One way or another, we hope our connection services can help you get the indie film funding you need.
