The Gloria Darlings just completed their second Kickstarter campaign which raised $8,340. What can you learn from a band who’s done multiple Kickstarters?

Their Kickstarter Background

The Gloria Darlings are a Seattle based female folk-grass duo.  In April of 2011 they launched their first Kickstarter that raised $4505 of their $4000 goal.

Their second Kickstarter, launched November of 2012, raised $8340 of an $8,000 goal.

We interviewed lead singer/songwriter, Pandi to find out what changed for her second Kickstarter that almost doubled the amount raised.

What We Know About Their First Kickstarter

• 73 Backers with an average pledge per backer of $62
• Fundraiser pricing (CD is $30)

What We Know About Their Second Kickstarter

• 113 Backers with an average pledge per backer of $74
• $15 reward sold 30 compared to 3 for the first Kickstarter
• Fundraiser pricing (CD is $30)
• More mid level ($50-$250) reward sales
• Addition of $150 Lifetime Membership package (3 sold)
• Addition of “Haircut by Milly” for $120 (2 sold)
• Addition of high level reward (one $2000 reward sold)

Our Interview with Pandi

Levi – What specifically did you learn from your first Kickstarter and how are you incorporating that knowledge to conquer the current Kickstarter?

Pandi – From our 1st Kickstarter, we learned that our most popular reward item was pre-buys of the album [Levi-she calls them pre-buys, but at $30 for the CD, it’s fundraiser pricing. This was a great move.] so we really tried to direct specific traffic that way for this one.

During the whole kickstarter campaign we did tons of radio in-studios, “these songs will be on the album please support the kickstarter” we also were on tour in CA and played 2 sets at most shows (the 1st was music thats on our old cd, the 2nd things that we recorded on the new album, instead of selling cds at our shows we told fans we’d take a risk and give them the old album for free if they took the flyer for kickstarter that we’d made and vowed to pre-order the new album.

We attempted to play more “house shows” ($250) and compel folks in those audiences….”now you know us/who we are/what we do you can have this in your home, through kickstarter”.

This time I also really studied other Kickstarters (we’re friends with Fruition- I see you interviewed them on your blog) , successes and failures…it totally HAS changed since last round.

Also now we are a bigger/better band and have bigger/better goals…we definitely had to consider that in the planning this time round.

Levi  – How many people are on your mailing list and how have you been using it for your Kickstarter project?

Pandi- this one is tricky. Technically we have like 150 folks on our “old-school” mailing list. We use mailchimp and have that widget on our website for folks to subscribe geographically and get a free download in exchange for signing up.

As inside our kickstarter dashboard, and we learned from last time, the breakdown was really Facebook traffic.

Problem is: FACEBOOK for bands is very different now since last kickstarter. I could go off on this topic…but bascially it’s: We can no longer search our fans or message them (without paying to “promote”) Seriously ROUGH. Milly and I pride ourselves that we have never done a “fan drive” or junk like that and all of our likes have come from actual people who’ve heard us and are seeking us out.

We resorted to shifting through our individual friends on FB for fans/those that might be fans and messaging them. it was rough cause last Kickstart there were 3 people in the band. Now it’s just Milly and I…Our saving grace was that the band is so much better/nationally touring/has more fans/visibility now…

We also encouraged folks to Share…Share…Share on FB

One neat thing we did that gave a boost…was a “backers only” update about the new kickstart on the old kickstart.

We did a crazy-silly youtube video update to draw attention: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vgo-uO_hBs

Levi  – Would you consider doing a Kickstarter for every album release indefinitely? Any other thoughts on that idea as a DIY business model?

Pandi – Great Question. It could go either way. We have so many other friends doing other things…time will tell (here’s a weird thing someone just sent us;) http://www.zillionears.com/ ) maybe a way of getting that mailing list bigger? Better Access?

Random thoughts on this subject we’ve had:
Kickstart takes less of a percent then other sites (indie go go).
Other sites (Indie go go) give you the $ no matter what, but maybe there is something to this “if we don’t make our goal we don’t get funded thing” that encourages fans to want to be part of success?

At this time it feels like when we weigh the options, kickstarter is still the best;)

We’re about to go to the International Folk Alliance conference in Toronto; and we always end up chatting with other artists/friends and finding insights at trade shows about kickstarter and the like.

Kickstarter seems like a great thing still; as long as you are flexible and observant can evolve as the social networking does.

As we grow we are committed to staying DIY, in the direct connection to our fans sense, and we appreciate that Kickstarter shares that vision!

The Takeaway

Here’s what seems to have been added to The Gloria Darling’s second Kickstarter that made it so successful:

• Larger fan base from playing and promoting
• Optimized rewards that resulted in more mid and high level buy in
• Pandi studied more this time to see what has worked for others
• Added promotion via radio and live shows

As Pandi mentioned, our knowledge and the ways Kickstarter is being used by bands is changing rapidly because we’re all learning from each other.  By the time you get to your second Kickstarter, you’ve found that you can learn the most from yourself!

The key here is that first time Kickstarter jockeys need the experience of doing a project in order to truly understand the entire scope.  Once the scope of the project is experienced, a mega huge “aha” moment happens and all of a sudden you know where to put your energy. The plethora of unknowns leaves your brain and makes room for productive strategery.

This, my friend, is why Ian and I are so excited about building 100 Music Kickstarters to Learn From.  It is our most sincere hope that this tool is providing you with valuable insight that can help you manage your music career!