How to Set Your Kickstarter Funding Goal Without Killing Your Campaign
- Jun 5
- 5 min read
The funding goal is the single most strategically important number in your Kickstarter campaign.
Get it wrong, too high, and your campaign stalls before it gets started. Set it too low and you fund a project that can't be delivered at the quality you promised. And yet most first-time Kickstarter developers set their goal by asking 'how much do I need to make this game?' rather than the question that actually matters: 'what is the minimum amount I need to demonstrate this project is real and funded?'
Kickstarter is all-or-nothing. Your goal is not a budget number; it is a threshold that either releases all the money pledged or releases none of it. A campaign that raises £40,000 against a £50,000 goal gets nothing. A campaign that raises £40,000 against a £25,000 goal gets everything and is 160% funded. The same pledging activity produces completely different outcomes based on where you set the number.
There's also a momentum dynamic. Kickstarter's algorithm promotes campaigns that are funding well, that have strong early momentum, and that are clearly going to succeed. A campaign that hits its goal on day one gets visibility, press attention, and social proof that accelerates further funding. A campaign sitting at 30% funded on day three sends the opposite signal — 'this might not happen' — and backers are loss-averse. They don't want to back something that might fail.
This post covers how to calculate a realistic minimum viable goal, what Kickstarter's fees mean for your budget, the psychological dynamics at play, and how to structure your goal alongside stretch goals to maximise both trust and total funding.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Set the lowest goal you can genuinely deliver on. Momentum from early funding creates more total pledges than a high goal ever will.
Kickstarter takes 5% plus payment processing (typically 3–5%). That's 8–10% off the top before you see a penny. Build it into your numbers.
Reward fulfilment costs are the most commonly forgotten item when calculating a goal. Physical rewards especially can eat into your budget significantly.
Your goal and your stretch goals are separate things. Confusing the two with backers erodes trust. Your goal funds the game. Stretch goals make it bigger.
The all-or-nothing dynamic: why your goal isn't a budget target
This is the most important reframe in Kickstarter strategy. Your budget — the actual cost to make your game — and your Kickstarter goal are not the same number. They might overlap, but they serve different purposes.
Your budget is what you need to finish the game at the scope you've planned. Your Kickstarter goal is the minimum amount of public validation and funding that makes the project real enough to proceed. It's a commitment threshold, not a production budget. And there is almost always a minimum version of your game that could be made for less than the full-scope budget.
Ask yourself: what is the smallest, most focused version of this game that would still be worth backing and playing? Set your goal around that. Everything beyond that scope lives in stretch goals. This approach gives you the best chance of funding quickly — and a campaign that funds quickly almost always ends up raising more total money than one that struggles to reach a higher goal.
How to calculate your minimum viable funding goal
Start with your minimum scope development costs: time costs (your hourly rate or the rate for any contractors), software, assets, and tools. Then add reward fulfilment costs — physical rewards like art prints, boxes, or merchandise can cost significantly more per unit than they appear to at first. Then add Kickstarter's fees (5% of total funds raised) and payment processing (approximately 3–5% depending on geography). Then add a 10 to 15% contingency for costs you haven't accounted for yet.
The number you arrive at is your minimum viable goal — the amount below which you genuinely couldn't deliver what you've promised. Everything above that number is a bonus, and stretch goals provide the mechanism for reaching it.
The most common funding goal mistakes
Setting it too high
A goal set to match your full-scope development budget is almost always a mistake. If your full-scope budget is £80,000 and you set your goal there, you need to raise £80,000 before any backer can be confident the game is happening. That's a long road to fund, and every day spent below 50% funded sends a discouraging signal to potential backers.
Instead, set your goal at your minimum scope, build your campaign around that tighter, more achievable version of the game, and use stretch goals to add the full-scope elements. Most backers understand this structure and prefer it — it's honest, and it means the core game is guaranteed.
Forgetting reward fulfilment costs
Physical rewards are a common trap. A backer tier that includes a physical art book sounds attractive and doesn't seem expensive — until you price out 500 units of a 100-page art book with international shipping. Pricing your physical rewards without factoring in manufacturing, packaging, and fulfilment costs is a fast route to delivering your game and losing money.
Rule of thumb: price physical reward tiers at three to four times the manufacturing cost of the item. The surplus covers Kickstarter fees, processing, and shipping buffers.
Goal vs stretch goals: keeping them separate
The goal funds the core game. Stretch goals fund additional content, features, or scope beyond the core. This distinction should be visible and explicit on your Kickstarter page. Backers who understand that the game is funded at your goal — and that stretch goals are bonuses, not requirements — have more confidence in backing than backers who feel like the game might still not happen even if you hit your goal.
Never list stretch goal content as part of your core game description. If you've already promised something in your main campaign description, a backer backing at your goal tier expects it. If it turns out it's actually a stretch goal, that's a trust problem.
Psychological anchoring: how the number affects perception
Round numbers feel arbitrary. £25,000 is a cleaner and more psychologically accessible goal than £27,500. But the actual number matters less than whether it feels achievable. A goal your audience can see themselves helping to fund — 'if 300 people back this at £75, it funds' — creates a different relationship with the campaign than an abstract large number.
Some campaigns show a simple calculation on their page. 'We need 400 backers to fund this game.' That transparency makes the goal personal. Every backer is one of 400 — they matter. That framing can accelerate early momentum significantly.
QUICK REFERENCE: GOAL CALCULATION CHECKLIST
Minimum scope development costs (time, contractors, tools)
Physical reward manufacturing and fulfilment costs per unit × estimated units
Kickstarter fee: 5% of total raised
Payment processing: 3–5% of total raised
Contingency: 10–15% added to the total
Agency fees (Full Charge average fee; 5%)
Result: minimum viable goal
Full-scope items above this minimum → move to stretch goals
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the average Kickstarter goal for indie video games?
Successful indie game campaigns range widely, from under £5,000 for small solo projects to over £100,000 for larger team endeavours. The median funded video game campaign tends to sit between £10,000 and £30,000. What matters more than the number is whether your goal is achievable given the size of your pre-launch audience and your marketing plan.
Should I lower my goal if my campaign is moving slowly?
Kickstarter does not allow campaigns to lower their goal once they've launched. This is why getting the number right before launch matters so much. If your campaign is under-performing, the tools available to you are marketing — more ads, creator outreach, press, community activation — not goal adjustment.
Does a funded campaign that overfunds show up differently on Kickstarter?
Campaigns that fund quickly and significantly often get Kickstarter's 'Project We Love' badge, which increases their visibility on the platform. A campaign that funds in 24 hours at 150% generates different press interest than one that slowly accumulates pledges over 30 days. The speed and margin of your funding directly affects the momentum the rest of your campaign operates with.
