Kickstarter, restaurants, and maintaining your dignity
Be wary of for-profit enterprises requesting crowdsourced funds
Edit: Ian Froeb of the Post-Dispatch provides some interesting information regarding this article in an update here.
So you’re thinking about supporting a business on Kickstarter (or other crowd-sourced funding site)? Before you donate a cent, ask yourself the following question:
What’s the worst thing the project I’m backing could use this money for?
Now assume the project will do precisely that with the money you donate. Do you still want to contribute?
Now, I’m not telling you what to do with your money, but you might want to listen anyway. Not too long ago I wrote an article about the funny feeling I get from established businesses requesting Kickstarter funding. Today I heard even more evidence supporting my argument.
A few months ago, those behind a popular local restaurant, Katie’s Pizza, announced a new Kickstarter campaign so that the owner could start a brand new establishment. Thanks to the support of local St. Louis news organizations such as KSDK, the Riverfront Times, and Feast Magazine, the restaurant was successful in drumming up over $40,000 of donations from good-willed fans. (Those involved are still enjoying positive press for succeeding at their fundraising campaign.)
So imagine my surprise when the tweet from another local news organization, Town & Style, flittered by:
Now, I don’t know anything about this news other than the fact that it’s true. Any number of factors could be behind this new development. Perhaps something awful happened; perhaps funny business is afoot. I can’t say. But what I can say is that there are a lot of Kickstarter backers who, when they learn about this news, will be quite surprised. These good St. Louisans donated to the campaign because they liked and respected the original establishment — the same one now being sold off. Now, surely these donors expected little in return; that was a given. But chances are good they didn’t donate money so that the owners could flip the current restaurant around for cash and start a new one. It just doesn’t make any sense. Katie’s Pizza owes some answers immediately.
To return to my earlier point, naive donors would have been better off if their money had been flushed right down a toilet, I think, than used for this purpose, at least until it’s explained otherwise. For now, though, I can’t help but feel like everyone who contributed money was had.
These problems are happening elsewhere, too; perhaps you have read about the $120,000 that was almost collected for a scam beef jerky Kickstarter. At least this isn’t as bad. Just as long as mice aren’t involved.
