When it comes to crowdfunding, Indiegogo is one of the most popular platforms around. Millions of dollars have been raised on the platform, and it has helped countless entrepreneurs get their businesses off the ground. But with so much money flowing through the site, can Indiegogo be trusted?
In this article, we will take a look at four ways that Indiegogo is ensuring a better backer experience for its users:
- Manual review of all campaigns before they launch
- Experts in the Experts Directory
- Holds campaign funds in reserve until the campaign updates its shipping status
- Production status progress bars for campaigns
We will also discuss how these changes help build trust between backers and creators.
- Manual review of all campaigns before they launch. Indiegogo has a dedicated Trust & Safety Team that manually reviews each campaign. The team conducts routine reviews and investigates the feedback and concerns given by the community of backers and partners. This helps to protect backers from being scammed and also builds trust between Indiegogo and its users.
- Experts in the Experts Directory. Indiegogo vetts companies who are experienced in end-to-end campaign management. They showcase these companies in their Experts Directory. This helps creators to raise more money, and also ensures a higher quality of campaigns running on the platform.
Rainfactory has been vetted as an Indiegogo Expert since 2014. 1 out of 10 million-dollar campaigns choose Rainfactory. - Holds campaign funds in reserve until the campaign updates its shipping status. Thanks to Indiegogo’s new Reserved Funds policy, the platform holds 5% of the total amount raised until the campaign can provide proof of shipment, remain responsive to backers, and provide accurate shipping estimates.
- Production status progress bars for campaigns. Campaigns under the Technology & Innovation category are automatically given Product Stages. This helps backers understand where in the production roadmap a product is. There are four stages: Concept, Prototype, Production, and Shipping. The approval of each product stage is manually reviewed by the Indiegogo team.
These changes are helping Indiegogo to build trust between backers and creators. By ensuring that only high-quality campaigns are promoted on the site, by providing advice from experts, and by holding campaign funds in escrow until shipping status is updated, Indiegogo is helping to create a safe and trustworthy crowdfunding environment for its users.
Got any questions about crowdfunding? Reach out to our team of experts.
Looking into crowdfunding with Kickstarter instead? See our platform comparison here.