How high should I set my goal on kickstarter?

[forgotmypiano]

Hello, nice to meet you!

So I'm making my first visual novel, and I plan on releasing a demo and a kickstarter on December this year. The thing is, I have no idea how much should I set the goal? How do I calculate it? What are the usual costs I have to have in mind? I really dont know.
If you could help me, I'd be very glad!
Thank you!

[Mutive]

A few thoughts...

1. If you don't meet your goal, you don't get the funds. So...that's a thing to keep in mind. If you don't think you can make $5k (or $20k or $100k or whatever), don't set it that high or you won't get the funds when the kickstarter ends even if you get a lower amount.

2. Alternately, if you *need* a certain amount to make the game, ensure that your goal is at least that high. (Since if the game *is* funded, you have an obligation to produce the game. So you don't want to set the goal at $5k, but have the game costs $10k, and either have a bunch of angry fans or have to put in $5k of your own money.)

I'd argue the *best* amount is something that lets you fund the primary expenses for your game, but only hits that threshold. You can always add tiers for higher thresholds.

(And as to what you'll need, it's quite dependent on what you're trying to accomplish and what your skills are. If you're a talented artist/writer/programmer who needs to bring in no outside help, you could easily set it at a few hundred dollars. If you're expecting to need art, voice acting, bringing in a programmer, writer, etc. it might be worth checking how much those are likely to cost. One way of doing this would be to check prices with a few artists you like or, alternately, see how artists are pricing sprites, backgrounds, etc. on the forum.)

[forgotmypiano]

A few thoughts...

1. If you don't meet your goal, you don't get the funds. So...that's a thing to keep in mind. If you don't think you can make $5k (or $20k or $100k or whatever), don't set it that high or you won't get the funds when the kickstarter ends even if you get a lower amount.

2. Alternately, if you *need* a certain amount to make the game, ensure that your goal is at least that high. (Since if the game *is* funded, you have an obligation to produce the game. So you don't want to set the goal at $5k, but have the game costs $10k, and either have a bunch of angry fans or have to put in $5k of your own money.)

I'd argue the *best* amount is something that lets you fund the primary expenses for your game, but only hits that threshold. You can always add tiers for higher thresholds.

(And as to what you'll need, it's quite dependent on what you're trying to accomplish and what your skills are. If you're a talented artist/writer/programmer who needs to bring in no outside help, you could easily set it at a few hundred dollars. If you're expecting to need art, voice acting, bringing in a programmer, writer, etc. it might be worth checking how much those are likely to cost. One way of doing this would be to check prices with a few artists you like or, alternately, see how artists are pricing sprites, backgrounds, etc. on the forum.)

I seee, thank you!!!

[Imperf3kt]

Make sure you are ready as well. A kickstarter should not really be considered until your game is well established. Starting a kickstarter when you're game is little more than ideas, is likely to fail.

[Tremarl]

You should also make sure to bear in mind that if you are funded a large portion of that will go to tax. You can in most countries delay the tax as deferred income. So for this reason when you are budgeting you need to include the tax implications.

If the game is going to cost you £500 to make, and you raise the funds for it, but vat is 20% then you will end up short £100.

[Morhighan]

I've done several kickstarters for both myself and others' projects. The more details you have pinned down, the more successful you are likely to be. Based on the information given here, I don't believe you are ready to consider a Kickstarter at this time. Whether or not you'll be ready come December depends on you.
Before you do this, you need to do a lot of research.
Questions you want to answer before hand:
-is this your first game? if so, what will make people want to give you money for a game?
-are you approaching this as a hobbyist or as a professional? this can make a great deal of difference on how you operate
-is this project going to be commercial or released for free after funding?
-will you be operating as a business or individual?
-will you be using your name or an assumed name (doing business as)?
-what are the risks and benefits of operating as an individual vs a business?
-what are the fees and required paperwork to be filed for operating as a business or an individual using an assumed name?
-can you do your own taxes or do you need to hire someone to do them for you?

Why do you want to make a Kickstarter? This is the most important question to ask yourself. Consider the pros and cons of crowdfunding your project.
For example, a previous campaign I've done covered the costs of an original soundtrack for a visual novel that was effectively finished. We were able to keep the kickstarter goal low by absorbing other costs (writing, sprite work, programming). We could have used public domain music and released it then and there, but felt that an original soundtrack would really add to the game. As an added bonus we added stretch goals for any extra funds the crowdfunding acquired. We ended up not only getting the custom OST, but also more CGs, a vocal theme song, and professional voice acting.

One thing I personally prefer to do is have a script completed before anything else. Then I can figure out what background art, sprites, music, etc. I need based on the completed script. It is possible to crowdfund projects with only vague ideas of the amount of sprite variations and background art you need, but I don't recommend it as it can be a headache and it's likely you'll shoot past your budget estimate. Speaking of estimates, figure out how long you think it'll take you to get the game out. Now double it, because these things rarely go according to plan.

I encourage you to look at other campaigns to try to get a grasp on what you will need to run a successful one, and what pitfalls you may wish to avoid. Also look into trends about timing your campaign. December projects can run into issues due to the holidays, but sometimes do well because people are in a generous mood. I once launched a campaign only to have 19 other visual novels launch Kickstarters at the same time. That campaign failed due to bad timing.