Securing financial capital for an entrepreneurial venture can be difficult but it is necessary. Thankfully, there are many crowdfunding resources available making the search somewhat easier. Often businesses will segment themselves to try and increase their chances of securing funding or even strengthening their brand. For all the ventures that have been segmented under the creative category, Patreon should be top of the list for crowdfunding options.
The platform Patreon was founded in 2013 by Sam Yam (formerly of AdWhirl) and the musician Jack Conte. Conte’s motivation was dissatisfaction with changes at YouTube (Wolf, 2018). Patreon has grown to become the fifth-largest crowdfunding site- following behind GoFundMe, Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and TeeSpring (Nguyen, 2020). Patreon is an alternative crowdfunding resource with a focus on creative projects. The creative categories listed on the site are as follows: podcast, video creatives, musicians, visual artists, writers and journalists, gaming creators, and more. Patreon uses a subscription model where patrons pay for the content of their favorite creators. Payments tend to be a set amount of money each month or per creation. These payments vary from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars. This can be viewed as a benefit as there are essentially regular contributions being made as opposed to one large lump sum. Furthermore, the site has 2 million monthly patrons, sent over $150 million to creators in 2017 alone, and has over 150,000 active creators (H.,2020). To be a creator, or in the mix in general, there is a simple sign up process that must first take place.
To sign up for Patreon there is no fee, it is completely free. However, once a Patron creates a profile for their work and they gain subscribers they will be compensated monthly. As such, there is a monthly percentage that will be taken off the income earned by the site. There are three available profile plans, each with its designated percentage to be taken. Additionally, there is a processing fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per successful payment over $3. Acceptable forms of payment include Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express, and PayPal. There is a 1% surcharge for payments made by patrons outside the US using PayPal (Patreon, 2020). A snapshot of the process can be seen below:
The transactional nature of the site enables artists to form relationships with their fans, and creators can even deliver exclusive content to their Patreon subscribers as an incentive to continue funding them (Nguyen, 2020). Therefore, Patrons should maximize the service and exposure by regularly sharing work on their platform. Otherwise, pledgers have the choice to cancel their subscription if Patrons fail to produce content which they are paying for.
In addition to the financial contributions, Patreon members also benefit from special offers such as exclusive videos and private podcasts, google hangouts, competitions, or free resources that other members of their creator’s community can’t access. The website provides starter kits to help make the process easier. There are additional resources available such as support teams for accounts, payment tracking and analytics tools, workshops to help improve the business, and more.
Whether using the site to post creative works or make a financial contribution, Patreon allows the space to do that and more. The site has provided a space for creatives to have a community where they can network and support each other in numerous ways. Having a venture can be stressful, especially when it comes to financing and support. If your venture happens to be creative, perhaps you should consider becoming a member of the patron family. If not, join and observe the works of others. After all, signing up is free!
References:
H. (2020, July 15). Everything you need to know about Patreon: Betternotstop. Retrieved September 17, 2020, from https://betternotstop.com/patreon/
Nguyen, S. (2020). The 7 Best Crowdfunding Sites of 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2020, from https://www.thebalancesmb.com/best-crowdfunding-sites-4580494
Pricing: Patreon: Build Your Own Membership Business. (2020). Retrieved September 17, 2020, from https://www.patreon.com/product/pricing
Wolf, R. W. (2018, June 28). Introducing: Patreon – alternative crowdfunding instead of financing through advertising. Retrieved September 17, 2020, from https://www.shortfilm.de/en/vorgestellt-patreon-alternatives-crowdfounding-statt-werbefinanzierung/
Art is Life's Paintbrush 