Kickstarter Budget Tool Shows Backers How Funds Will Be Used

Kickstarter has introduced a new tool called Project Budget that helps creators estimate how much funding they need and makes it easier for them to be transparent with their backers regarding how the funds will be used. The new tool joins a previously added Funding Calculator launched back in August as a way for creators to keep in mind hidden project costs like taxes.

Kickstarter describes the Project Budget tool as a spreadsheet designed specifically for budgeting. With it, creators can input the cost for their entire project, including whatever aspects they need money for, such as research and development or packaging and shipping (or both). A custom and easily deciphered graph is created.

Creators can use this tool privately to visualize the project expenses, but they also have the option of sharing it as part of their campaign in order to increase transparency with backers about where the funds are going. The shared graphs will appear in a new section within the campaign's project page.

Users can generate the graphs based on either the amount of money needed for each category or by percentages, making it easier to show how much of the funds will go to each step of the creation and/or manufacturing processes. This will also potentially help backers decide whether they're willing to contribute to the campaign.

Of note, Kickstarter isn't forcing its creators to share a graph of their project costs and it notes that some creators have historically made the financial details available in their campaigns. The tool is merely a simplified way to create the budget and make it available to backers for creators who choose to do so.