Kickstarter seems to understand this, and it judges projects individually, so if the language in your description is rejected for not describing a "project," try revising it and resubmitting. (Kickstarter does have an appeals process, but, as Brett Callow of ioSafe told us, "Their web form limits [appeals] submissions to 500 characters, making it impossible to make a detailed case." To raise financing for its latest NAS device, IoSafe eventually turned to Kickstarter competitor IndieGoGo--a common solution to Kickstarter rejection.
Other users report that they didn't receive a reason for their project's rejection by Kickstarter. Jennifer Chu's Silver Linings shoe liners idea was rejected by Kickstarter, she says, without explanation. Says Chu, "From what I have heard, Kickstarter gives reasons for declines if they are things you can change. For other issues, they just give the canned response." Rather than attempt to figure out what happened, Chu also jumped to IndieGoGo.
2. Problem: Your project didn't reach its goal
Once Kickstarter has accepted your project, you're hardly out of the woods. A vast number of projects never get off the ground because they don't meet their funding goal. Remember: If your campaign falls short of goal, you receive none of the funds you've raised.
This is a universal problem with no easy diagnosis. Your rewards may be out of line with expectations--a free baseball hat or DVD in exchange for a $50 donation may not engender much success --or your promotion of your own project may have fallen short. (Kickstarter prohibits spam but encourages "smart outreach.")
Successful campaigns have lots of supporting information--including things like photos of prototypes and regular updates--proving that the project's founders aren't going to flake out or run off with the cash--whether due to incompetence or outright scam. Having a video can boost your credibility and funding immeasurably. On IndieGoGo, campaigns with a pitch video raise 114% more cash than those without one.
