The project has gone through its lifecycle, finishing up by shipping 3000 packages in 3 main variants and a couple of dozen combinations to backers around the world. At each point along the way, whenever I ran into a pain point, I took the time to automate it away.
The result is that BackerSupport is now a ridiculously configurable project management solution for Crowdfunders, handling everything from the initial import of your data to shipping cost optimization. With BackerSupport you can:
- Track and communicate with all your backers, individually or in groups.
- Define your product(s) and the rewards each product needs to deliver.
- Easily import all your data from KickStarter & Indiegogo (and other sites too), and automatically translate from the various backer rewards to their associated products and rewards.
- Keep your campaign running after your campaign terminates and accept new signups / addons via PayPal and other funding sources (I collected another $75k+ during the project period!)
- Update backer information, products, deliverables, etc., quickly and easily. If someone signs up late, or changes their order, or updates their address, all you do is paste an email into the app and it updates everything for you!
- Validate US addresses with the USPS automatically.
- “Batch” product fulfillment to minimize shipping cost and optimize your workflow. Filter by products, destination, backer id tags, USPS shipping zones -- you name it. For example, I generated batches where the backers were domestic, got the Early Adopter discount, wanted a single Premium blu-ray set, and were in shipping zones 1,2 and 3 -- because in those zones, regular Priority Mail was cheaper than the usually awesome Flat Rate Padded Envelope. Despite the complex fulfillment needs of my project, two people were able to pack, label and ship 500 packages a day without breaking a sweat.
- Print mailing labels and/or export addresses to USPS Click-N-Ship (particularly handy for international shipments as it'll print labels with the customs form filled out!), Stamps.com (what I ended up using), Postage $aver (great for bulk mailing), UPS.com, or any other app you care to use. If you use the Click-N-Ship or Stamps.com app, you can get the commercial discounts automatically!
- Let your backers vote on things, and run STV elections (a real nerd-feature)
- Generate custom reports and exports.
- And much more...
You can use BackerSupport for free. If it helps you, send me what you think is fair. It's available for Windows, Mac and as a standalone FileMaker application. More details are available here: http://www.backersupport.com/.
Here's an over-the-top trailer for the app I did about 6 months ago; it's gotten significantly more powerful since then.
http://vimeo.com/101394378
Hope it helps TNPB (The Next Poor Bastard)
