Kickstarter has tools that can help you to collect all the information you need in order to fulfill your backers’ rewards. If your project is eligible to use our Pledge Manager, you can find a guide for how to set that up here.
Kickstarter’s Pledge Manager is also home to the Backer Survey, which can be used to gather information such as mailing addresses and item variant preferences (e.g. size, color), as well as an easier way to collect any applicable shipping and taxes from your backers.
You can start building your backer survey at any time after your project has launched. However, you will have to wait until after your project has successfully ended and pledges have been collected before sending it. Your survey will also be sent to backers when you launch your project’s pledge manager.
For more information about tools to help you with fulfillment, please visit the Creator Handbook.
I’ve launched my Kickstarter Pledge Manager or Backer Survey, what should I do if there are backers who haven’t responded with their information?
If you are still waiting to receive information or shipping and taxes from some backers, and you have made attempts to contact them, we recommend moving forward with the next stage of your project.
When using Kickstarter’s Pledge Manager or Backer Survey tool, we will email backers when this launches, followed by a regular reminder* email until this is closed, for anyone who hasn't responded yet. For backers using the Kickstarter mobile apps, they will receive push notification reminders. Additionally, when a backer logs in to their Kickstarter account they will see a notification banner at the top of their screen alerting them that they still need to provide their information in the pledge manager or backer survey.
*A reminder email will be sent every 7 days for the pledge manager, and every 2 days for the backer survey.
You can also message backers that fall into a specific filtered view in your backer report, including backers that have not yet responded to the pledge manager or survey.
If a backer is unable to submit their response due to the pledge manager or survey being locked, you will need to work with them directly to see if an alternative arrangement can be made.
Some of my backers are using private relay email addresses, how can I collect their information?
When backers sign up to Kickstarter with their Apple ID and opt to hide their email address, you will only be able to see their private relay email address in your backer report at the end of the campaign. The unique private relay email address tied to their Kickstarter account can only be used for communication within Kickstarter. This means that any communication you may send outside of our platform – including via a third-party survey tool or pledge manager service – will unfortunately not reach their inbox.
If you need an alternative email address from these backers in order to fulfill your project, we recommend reaching out to them directly via the Kickstarter messaging system to request that information. To message backers individually, click on their name in your backer report and open the ‘Send message’ tab.
Once you obtain this information, you can update the email address for the backer by editing your backer export. It isn’t possible to change the email address on the platform, however you can leave a note to yourself in the backer report.
If you are using a third-party survey service, you will need to update the information there too, and re-send the survey link to the backer using their new email address.
By using Kickstarter’s Pledge Manager tool, any backers with a private relay email address will receive the pledge manager emails sent by Kickstarter in their inbox, and will be able to submit their response by logging into their Kickstarter account.
How do I see how many backers have completed the Kickstarter Pledge Manager?
After launching your pledge manager, the ‘Pledge manager’ page will change to show you the current status. This will include the percentage of backers who have finalized their order, how many are still remaining, and how much has been collected for shipping, add-ons, and taxes.
If your backer report access has expired, you can request an extension by following a few simple steps.