If you’ve got friends in creative places, you’ve probably been asked to contribute to a Kickstarter campaign. The site lets users raise funds for projects by inviting people to pledge amounts toward a specific goal; they collect the money only if the total is reached by the deadline. Each week, Pumped-Up Kicks selects an ongoing project based in Minneapolis, telling you where to spend your donating dollars.
Project: Punk Rawk Labs Official Launch
Goal: $10,000
Due date: Tuesday, February 7
Why it’s good: Punk Rawk Labs‘ Alissa has the turn-lemons-into-lemonade system down pat. After toxic gas exposure left her with an autoimmune disease six years ago, she turned a medically necessitated diet into opportunity, studying to become a gourmet raw food chef. Then, when a debilitating car accident left her unable to work, she started making and selling her own vegan snacks and launched a how-to raw food web series. Now she has 16 episodes of the “uncooking show” online, and her nut milk cheeses are being offered at New York’s Pure Food and Wine restaurant. If Alissa’s success and perseverance so far aren’t enough to get you donating, the Kickstarter page inspires extra confidence with its transparent breakdown of the kitchen equipment and other supplies Punk Rawk Labs needs. PRL has already proved itself to be a good idea–Alissa just needs help turning it into a full-fledged business.
Rewards: Most of the Punk Rawk Labs reward offerings follow a “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” model: By donating $100 or more, you can earn a banner ad on PRL’s website, an ad within one of the uncooking show’s videos, or even an entire episode of the series dedicated to you or someone you know.
Why Kickstarter: “The most surprising thing about Kickstarter is how community building it is,” Alissa says. “It’s really opened things up for me. I think before this campaign started, my biggest obstacle was really just people not understanding what my obstacles were, and expecting more from me than I was capable of. But the Kickstarter campaign gave me a platform to just put things out there. As they are. Plain and simple. And this has really lifted a huge burden for me.”
Last word: “I am cashing in on a lifetime’s worth of good karma to make this work. Wish me luck!”
