Kickstarter Pledge Management: What Is It and Why Do You Need It?

Your Kickstarter campaign has just wrapped up, and you’ve crushed your funding goal. The confetti has settled, the victory tweets are out, and the excitement is still buzzing. But here’s the thing—your journey isn’t over yet. In fact, the real work is just beginning.

Now comes the critical part: fulfilling all those pledges, managing backer information, and (hopefully) maximizing your campaign’s post-funding potential. That’s where a Kickstarter pledge manager comes in.

A pledge manager is more than just a tool—it’s your post-campaign command center. It helps you collect backer details, organize shipping, offer add-ons, and even increase your total campaign revenue. Without one, you risk delays, frustrated backers, and a logistical nightmare.

In this guide, we’ll break down everything you need to know about Kickstarter pledge management: what it is, why you need it, how to set it up, and which platforms can help streamline the process. Whether you’re new to crowdfunding or gearing up for your next big launch, this is your ultimate roadmap to handling pledges like a pro.

Let’s dive in.

What is a Kickstarter Pledge Manager?

At its core, a Kickstarter pledge manager is your post-campaign HQ. It’s the tool that helps you collect all the essential details from your backers—what rewards they chose, where they want them shipped, and whether they’d like to grab any last-minute add-ons.

Kickstarter itself lets creators set up reward tiers and add-ons during the campaign, but once the funding period ends, you still need a system to finalize backer choices, confirm addresses, and handle shipping logistics. That’s where pledge management software comes in.

Think of it as the difference between handing out concert tickets and actually organizing the stadium seating, VIP upgrades, and merch sales. Whether you use Kickstarter’s built-in survey tool or a third-party pledge manager, this step is non-negotiable if you want a smooth fulfillment process.

Why You Need a Pledge Manager

A Kickstarter pledge manager is your backstage crew after the big show—keeping everything running smoothly while you focus on delivering what you promised. Without it, you’re stuck sorting through endless spreadsheets, chasing backers for details, and trying to juggle shipping logistics like a circus act.

Here’s why it’s worth using:

• Smooth Data Collection

Instead of manually chasing thousands of backers for shipping details and reward preferences, a pledge manager automates the process, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.

• More Fundraising

We keep teasing about this but in reality, what numeric value does a Kickstarter pledge manager add to your campaign? Here’s how. We calculated that, on average, pledge management platforms could add anywhere between 5-30% additional funds to your crowdfunding campaign.

• Inclusion in Email Newsletters

Many pledge managers include weekly or monthly email campaigns, reaching a highly engaged audience of backers—especially repeat supporters. This extra visibility can help boost post-campaign sales and backer engagement.

• Allowing Backers to Upgrade or Add Other Products

A post-campaign survey is a perfect place and time for an upsell. The beauty of a Kickstarter pledge manager is that you can be flexible in your offers and design them in ways that will make backers upgrade to higher-tier rewards.

• Get More Sales After Campaign Ends

Kickstarter campaigns last a maximum of 60 days. After your live campaign, you must either enter the retail market or Indiegogo Indemand. However, if you’re done with crowdfunding but aren’t yet ready to enter ecommerce, pledge managers usually allow you to set up a pre-order page easily. It’s a simple landing page with your rewards and SKUs.

• Backer Satisfaction and Loyalty

Usually, pledge managers are very flexible compared to Kickstarter itself. Backers have more freedom over their “buying” experience as they get to add and remove items, choose add-ons and colors, change their initial order, etc. A good post-campaign survey experience increases backer satisfaction and helps build loyalty for future campaigns.

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How to Choose the Right Pledge Manager for Your Campaign

Not all pledge managers are created equal. The right one can make your post-campaign process seamless, while the wrong choice can leave you drowning in unnecessary fees and logistical headaches.

So, how do you pick the best fit for your campaign? Here’s what to consider:

• Features That Match Your Needs

Some pledge managers focus purely on surveys and fulfillment, while others offer extras like marketing tools, pre-order stores, and upselling options. Define what you need before committing.

• Pricing and Fees

Every platform has different pricing structures—some charge a flat fee, while others take a percentage of post-campaign funds. Make sure the costs align with your budget and expected revenue.

• Fulfillment Integration

If you’re working with a third-party logistics provider (3PL), ensure the pledge manager can integrate smoothly to prevent delays and manual errors.

• Marketing Potential

Some pledge managers offer exposure through email newsletters and featured campaign sections. If you want to keep raising funds post-campaign, this can be a valuable perk.

• Ease of Use

A powerful tool isn’t much help if it’s a nightmare to navigate. Look for a platform that’s intuitive and doesn’t require a PhD in crowdfunding logistics to set up.

• Backer Support Options

A good pledge manager should help reduce your customer support load, either through automation or by offering direct assistance to backers.

Choosing the right pledge manager ensures you stay organized, keep backers happy, and maximize every opportunity to increase revenue.

Popular Kickstarter Pledge Managers

The world of Kickstarter pledge management isn’t that saturated. Of course, more than a few tools accomplish the same task, but the choices usually come down to these: BackerKit, PledgeBox, and Kickbooster.

We’ll briefly cover all three and then show you how to set up your post-campaign survey using a Kickstarter pledge manager.

1. BackerKit

BackerKit is by far the most well-known name among all crowdfunding pledge managers. The company creates software that makes the lives of crowdfunding creators and backers much easier. The company is most famous for its Kickstarter pledge management, however, it also offers a range of marketing services and a recent rollout of its crowdfunding platform.

BackerKit pledge manager allows creators to tackle

• the survey creation
• data collection,
• fulfillment,
• shipping organization,
• canceled pledges,
• upsells, etc.

BackerKit marketing includes advertising services for live campaigns. None of the services are interconnected, which means that using one does not necessarily mean you have to use the rest.

BackerKit newsletter is an email blast to their 250,000 subscribers three times a week. The demand for their newsletter promotion is very high, which makes the selection criteria quite strict. Each campaign is viewed individually to determine whether or not it’s a fit. Placement is not guaranteed to creators.

BackerKit charges a 5% platform fee plus 2.9% + $0.30 per pledge for payment processing. Their pledge manager is free for BackerKit-hosted campaigns but includes a 5% transaction fee.

2. PledgeBox

PledgeBox is another great platform to manage all your campaign pledges, upsell backers and organize shipping. PledgeBox goes beyond pledge management too, but in a bit of a different direction. PledgeBox came up with PledgeBoost – an affiliate link-tracking system for crowdfunding campaigns.

Back to marketing services, though. PledgeBox also offers a paid newsletter feature, which campaigners can use to blast their campaign to thousands of repeat backers and raise more funds.

Beyond these features, PledgeBox also includes:

• Backer Surveys: A streamlined way to collect and manage backer preferences, shipping details, and reward selections.
• Pre-order Store: Allows campaigners to continue selling after the campaign ends, keeping the momentum going.
• Shipping & Fulfillment Tools: Helps coordinate logistics with built-in shipping integrations and exportable reports.
• Multi-Currency Support: Enables campaigners to accept pledges and add-ons in different currencies, making international sales easier.

As crowdfunding is fast-paced and usually runs on a limited budget for campaign owners, it’s beneficial when crowdfunding platforms, or pledge managers, offer more than one service.

PledgeBox only charges 3% from upsells, which is excellent for campaigners with limited budgets.

How to Set Up a Pledge Manager for Your Kickstarter Campaign

After choosing the right Kickstarter pledge management platform for your campaign, you can start setting it up. Even though the whole setup and fulfillment preparations can be daunting, the interfaces of all three platforms are pretty straightforward. For easier navigation, we’ll use BackerKit as a reference, but the process is very similar for all three. Now let’s get right to it.

• Connect or Import Your Campaign to BackerKit

Whether you’re running a Kickstarter or Indiegogo, live/In-demand campaign, it doesn’t matter. You’ll need to:

• Log in to your BackerKit account.
• Enter the URL of your crowdfunding campaign page in the corresponding field.
• Check the “I’m the owner of this project” box.

BackerKit will start importing all the information from your campaign onto the platform – the campaign name, the amount of raised funds, images, rewards with their descriptions, etc.

After your campaign is successfully connected to BackerKit or another platform of your choice, it’s time to start working on the post-campaign survey.

• Creating the Post-campaign Survey

Once your campaign is imported, your next step should be creating all the items you plan to offer to your backers as add-ons, assigning SKUs and variations, setting shipping prices, and more.

Make sure to have high-resolution square images for all the items at hand.

Proceed with the steps of getting started and setting up items. If your product has variations, this is the time and place to mention it.

The platforms will automatically generate Stock Keeping Units (SKU) for items, which is very helpful unless you have already agreed on SKUs with your fulfillment house.

If the item you’re adding is part of a Kickstarter reward, mention that. Also, check the respective box if you plan on offering that same item as an add-on.

You can highlight the items you want to push more by marking them as “Creator’s choice,” which would work just like any ecommerce experience.

• Sending the Survey, Setup Review, and Smoke Test

When done with the entire setup of your survey, review everything carefully. Thankfully, there are multiple ways to ensure your survey is flawless.

Pledge management platforms offer a survey preview from a backer’s POV, so you can test everything and make tweaks if needed before you send it to backers.

Another significant aspect is that you can send your survey for review by the platform itself, and you’ll be informed if there’s an error you missed.

Last but not least, once all the manual and automated review stages have gone successfully, you’ll be able to smoke-test your survey. Pledge management platforms let you send the survey to 5% of your backers first. If the smoke test goes well and backers don’t report any issues, you can send it to the rest of your community. If not, this is an excellent chance to fix the problems before it reaches a more significant percentage of your backers.

Conclusion

Running a successful Kickstarter campaign is only half the battle—what happens after funding ends is just as critical. Without a solid plan for managing backer rewards, collecting shipping details, and handling post-campaign sales, things can quickly spiral into chaos.

That’s where a Kickstarter pledge manager makes all the difference. It keeps your fulfillment process organized, helps you boost revenue with upsells and add-ons, and ensures your backers have a smooth experience. Whether you use it to collect data, streamline logistics, or continue selling through a pre-order store, a pledge manager helps you get the most out of your campaign without drowning in spreadsheets and support emails.

Choosing the right platform depends on what you need—some handle basic surveys and fulfillment, while others help with marketing and extra sales.

But no matter which one you choose, the goal is the same: deliver rewards smoothly and keep your backers engaged for the future.

Pledge manager? I hardly know her!