Latinitas Kickstarter

Since I've discussed its history and programs, I think its only right to critically analyze their fundraising efforts. While I was an intern for Latinitas in 2013, our biggest goal that semester was the Kickstarter Campaign. Since its creation in 2002 Latinitas was the first and only of its kind to be a magazine made by and for young Latinas but the goal was to change that. They wanted to make a printed version of the magazine for the first time ever but of course they were not financially able to do that without some fundraising. So they decided the best strategy was to create a Kickstarter Campaign and send it to everyone and everyone that we knew. The campaign started September 26,2013 and decided they would give themselves exactly one month to raise $7,000. They set up incentives along the way which I think was a great strategy for them because it got people excited and waiting for the next surprise promotion. Incentives were anything from bumper stickers to t-shirts with any donation and as the weeks went on word spread fast and we were getting people from all around the nation who wanted to financially back a printed version of the magazine. Their argument for making a printed version was that since many Latinos do not own computers at home they weren't able to access the online version of the magazine and making a printed one would give them something tangible to be proud of.  The 24 page, four color magazine was going to focus on girls health,wellness, and made solely by Latinitas. After 134 backers and 30 days later, the Kickstarter Campaign raised $7,220.00 and actually surpassed their goal with four days to spare. It was monumental and I remember how ecstatic the COO was that they were going to spread Latinitas message in a whole new tangible way. From a critique point of view the Kickstarter was successful for many reasons. It not only raised money but it got a large following of people who had never even heard of Latinitas yet was really excited about the work we were doing and the fact we were the only organization of its kind in the country. The success was not just the printing of the magazine but it was everyone who came together and became familiar with the organization as a whole. A negative critique, to be fair, was that people who backed them by donating money received their thank you gifts long after they were promised due to the high demand of backers and Latinitas being unprepared to accommodate who gave what amount and what their incentive was. The situation was handled and everyone eventually got what they were promised but it was bad on their end. Below is a screenshot of their Kickstarter Campaign.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/latinitas/latinitas-magazine-print-edition/description