What should I know about importing my project to BackerKit?

Importing your backers from your crowdfunding campaign is the first step in setting up the pledge manager to sell add-on items and ship them to your backers. The platforms we support are BackerKit Crowdfunding, and Kickstarter Campaigns.

Skip to:

• Kickstarter
• Kickstarter Late Pledge
• Kickstarter Pledge Over Time

Kickstarter

• Backer information, which includes backers with failed payments, is only imported to BackerKit after your campaign ends. This data can take up to 24 hours to import.
• Backers with failed pledge payments initially import as 'Errored'. They have 7 days on Kickstarter to fix their payments. If they don't, they will update in BackerKit to 'Failed' by ~Day 15, where they can receive a survey to re-instate their pledge by paying the full amount.
• When importing your project while your campaign is live, only the initial setup will show in the pledge manager. Any newly added items, pledge levels, campaign add-ons, etc. that were added to the campaign after the initial sync will not appear until ~24 hours after the campaign has ended.
• If you set up shipping fees for your pledge levels and/or campaign add-ons on Kickstarter, those fees are imported to BackerKit.

Kickstarter Late Pledge

• After the project ends, new late pledge backers are imported within 24 hours.
  • Like regular campaign backers, if a late pledge backer had a failed payment they have opportunity to fix it on Kickstarter first, and if not, then via the BackerKit survey. The system will check for updated payments every ~3 days.
  • Surveys are automatically sent during the next daily bulk distribution.

• "Late Pledge" Pledge Levels:

  Late Pledge backers import into their own duplicate pledge levels, indicated by (Late Pledge) at the beginning of the pledge level name. Here's how each situation will appear:

  • Original Pledge Tier - Same Price: A new (Late Pledge) level imports into BackerKit, set at the same price as the original tier, and will be set up identical to the original tier.  
  • Original Pledge Tier - Different Price: A new (Late Pledge) level imports into BackerKit, set at the new price, and will otherwise be set up identical to the original tier.
  • Brand New Pledge Tier: A new (Late Pledge) level imports into BackerKit, and must be set up with reward SKUs. Surveys are initially disabled for any new (Late Pledge) tiers and must be enabled in order to send surveys to backers in these levels.

• "Late Pledge" Campaign Add-Ons:

  Kickstarter Add-Ons for Late Pledge backers will show up in the pledge manager in the same place as for regular backers.

  • They will be titled with (Late Pledge) in front of the name, as well as a 'Yes' indicator in the "Late Pledge" column.  
  • Late Pledge backers will confirm these in their survey in the same manner as campaign backers.
  • When linking up a BackerKit survey add-on to its matching campaign add-on, the price listed on the campaign add-ons page will be honored, regardless of the price of the connected add-on.
    • This means an add-on reward offered at 3 different prices (for campaign backers, late pledge backers, and in the survey) can all use the same survey add-on.

Kickstarter Pledge Over Time

Pledge Over Time is a flexible payment option that lets backers split their pledge into three equal payments. Backers cannot receive surveys until their status in the pledge manager shows as either Collected (balance paid in full) or Failed (backer dropped by KS). Please note these important timelines:

• For a successful payment #3: It can take up to 48-72 hours after the final payment for backer data to update in the pledge manager.
• For a failed payment #3: Kickstarter gives backers 14 days to fix the payment. It can take up to Day 15 for any initially failed backer to update in the pledge manager to Collected or Failed.

Please update backers through campaign updates to inform them of when they can expect their survey, based on the timeline estimates above. For more information on this feature, refer to Kickstarter's doc here.

How BackerKit handles Pay Over Time Backers:

• Backer Status: Backers show as 'Pending', along with credit for their total expected pledge amount.

  

• Survey Access: The invite button remains greyed out until the backer status updates to Collected (balance is paid in full) or Failed (dropped backer). Backers are not inviteable while in a Pending or Errored state.  

  

• Timeline Management: Pay over time backers are excluded from 'send & remind' notifications until Pledge Over Time completion.

  
  
• Status Updates: There are 4 different pledge manager statuses you may see at different times with a Pledge Over Time backer. Here is what each typically means:
  • Pending: Standard POT status; backer is currently paid up
  • Errored: Backer failed a POT payment at some point; waiting on data sync to update
  • Collected: Backer successfully paid all 3 POT payments - backer is now inviteable

  • Failed: Backer did not fix a failed POT payment on time - backer is now inviteable

    
    
• Survey Distribution: Backers are only eligible to be invited to the survey once their status has updated in the pledge manager to Collected (fully paid) or Failed ($0 or partially paid).
  • Once a backer's status has updated, their survey will be sent automatically within 24 hours during the next daily bulk distribution.
  • Creators can also send manually from their Take Action timeline > Send & Remind page if they don't wish to wait for the auto-send.
• Failed Payments:
  • Kickstarter gives backers 7 days to fix payment #1, and 14 days to fix payment #2 or #3.
  • If the backer does not fix a payment in time, they will be marked as Failed in the pledge manager.
  • If a backer's payment #1 fails, the backer will be imported into the pledge manager with a $0 pledge amount. Refer here to see how we handle these backers.
  • Failed backers who previously made any successful payments will receive credit based on the amount they paid on Kickstarter. The "Pledge Amount" will be updated (lowered) to reflect this credit. If no successful payments were made, the amount will be updated to $0. Once these backers receive their survey they can pay any remaining balance.
  • The timeline for status updates will vary per backer depending on which payment installment was failed, how fast a payment is fixed, etc. Typically you can expect status updates within a few days for fixed payments. Dropped (failed) backers may not update until the fix window has closed.

Note: For backers who don't fix a payment in time and become dropped, any previously collected payments may be considered bonus support. The refund of any successfully collected charges will be at each creator’s discretion -  Kickstarter delegates the handling of failed payments to creators.

• Payment Notes for Failed Backers:
  • If you receive payment through another method: You must update the backer's order page in the pledge manager to reflect this. Scroll down to "Pledged during campaign" and adjust.
    • For example, if the backer had zero successful payments through Kickstarter but paid you $100 through Venmo or PayPal, update this field to $100 (and hit Save).

    • If their original total was $370, they will now owe only $270 in the survey to reflect what was already paid.

      

Important: Only do the step above after the backer status has updated to Failed, or the credit will be removed.

• If you issue a refund: Either cancel their BackerKit survey, or keep it active for potential reinstatement by lowering the “Pledged during campaign” amount to reflect the refund. The backer will owe any remaining balance from the original campaign via the survey. 
  • For ex. If the backer originally paid $100 on Kickstarter and you refunded $75, you need to update the Pledge Amount to $25.
  • If they choose to complete their survey, they will owe $75 once again, unless you intentionally give them complimentary credit to lower the total cost owed.

• How to Locate Pledge Over Time Backers: Using the segment tool, use the “Backers >> with failed, pending, or errored’ filter” and locate  the ‘pending’ backers.