One of the best parts about being a backer and supporting creative projects on Kickstarter is getting a front row seat to the creative process. In exchange for your pledge, you get a window into what it’s like to bring something from concept to production, and as a backer you can also opt to receive a reward in return for your financial support. Sometimes, however – and despite a creator’s best intentions – things don’t go according to plan.
Estimated Delivery Dates for Rewards
When it comes to rewards, each creator lists an estimated delivery date under each reward tier on their project page. As a backer, you can view the estimated delivery date for your reward either on the project page itself or under your Backed Projects list under the ‘Reward’ tab.
This date is determined by project creators as their best guess for when backers will receive their rewards. It is an estimate, however, because it can often be tricky to determine exact dates so early on in the creative process, when a project is still in its beginning phase.
Estimated delivery dates are not firm ship dates. The project itself must first be completed before rewards can be fulfilled. As such, it’s not uncommon for refinements and modifications to push back a project’s estimated delivery date. In cases where a creator is delayed, we expect that they will be open, honest, and communicative with backers about the change in timeline and the cause(s) of the delays.
What to do if you have questions or concerns about a specific project or reward
If you have specific questions about the status of a project or your reward, check the project updates first. Creators are expected to share news of their progress and/or challenges in updates, so that’s often a good place to start.
If you’re not finding the information you’re looking for in a creator’s project updates, the next step is usually to reach out to the project creator directly. To message them, follow the directions here.
We expect creators to maintain good communication with their backers. However, each creator may approach communication differently from the next. It’s worth keeping in mind that you may not receive a response right away – in many cases, a creator or a small team of creators is working hard to complete their project, both producing rewards, and communicating with backers. That’s a lot! So don’t be dismayed if it takes a little more time than normal for a response.
What to do if you still haven’t heard anything after reaching out to a creator
If you have already checked the project updates, written at least once or twice to the creator via Kickstarter direct messages, and given them a reasonable amount of time to reply, there are a couple of other things you can do.
In some cases, creators may move their communications off of Kickstarter after their project ends, or they may be more responsive elsewhere. In light of this, see if the creator might have listed their own website, social media pages, or a direct email address in previous updates or in their creator bio. We recommend reaching out to a creator through their own website or social media as a next step.
If you are still having trouble connecting with the creator, even after giving them ample time to respond, you can let us know by sending a message to our Community Support team. In that case, please be sure to outline the steps you’ve already taken to contact the creator, and let us know a little more about the nature of the issue. In certain instances, our Support team may be able to send a message to the creator, as an extra way of reminding them to follow up.