KickstarterForum.org

Hmm...well, Kickstarter doesn't publish contact information data (rightfully so). I can't imagine a current creator being willing to release contact information data - that would violate their trust with the backers.

If you check out the stats I included in the general thread (480-million-pledged-by-3-million-people-in-2013-t1544.html)

You will see that 3 million people backed projects on Kickstarter in 2013. There were 800,000+ people who backed more than 1 project and 80,000 that backed more than 10.

That means that about 2.6% of the community of backers backed more than 10 projects.
26.6% of the backer community backed more than 1 project.
About 10% of the backer community that backed more than 1 project backed more than 10 projects.

To me, that means the vast majority of people are either: personal connections, one-time backers that hear about a project through a blog, a website, or someone they know (could be someone they don't physically know in person, but have consumed their music or read their articles).

I could be completely wrong (which is why I posted a bit of my reasoning above for others to critique), but that leads me to conclude that the best way to reach strangers is indirectly (rather than just direct pitching a bunch of people who gave money before).

If there was such a channel or email list, you can bet every creator on Kickstarter would be bombarding these high-volume backers and money plead requests would filter in from other platforms also. Not a good scenario. (I already get a lot of these through the blog. Though some projects are interesting, some are incredible scripted emails that just take time to wade through).

In this case, you would be 1 of 1,000 and a high frequency backer would be more likely to just tune out any new emails related to Kickstarter, thus destroying the value of being able to contact them. Again - Leads me to conclude that the best way long-term for creators to introduce a new project to enthusiastic backers is to reach them through the mediums they consume, not directly via a pitch email (a least for backers - not talking about blogs or influencers here).

I do think there is a way to reach this community that is enthusiastic about supporting and discovering new creators - but it must be done in a way that attracts potential backers - not pushes messages and pitches on them.

Finally, let's not forget that the Kickstarter discovery and project viewing functionality itself is a way that enthusiastic backers find new creators.

Regarding "scratching each other's backs" - Yes, see examples: i-ll-back-your-kickstarter-project-t1418.html

Also, this creator was doing a "i'll mention my project to my backers if you mention mine to yours" type promotion on the forum a while back: http://www.crowdcrux.com/5-things-no-on ... ckstarter/