Kickstarter
Think of Kickstarter as crowdsourced philanthropy — a website where anyone can donate any amount to a project in development, with no money changing hands until a minimum threshold has been met. Case in point: Californian Magen Callaghan wanted to launch a new comic about a half-human, half-zombie character. To create and market a first issue, she estimated a cost of $1,500, so she wrote a pitch letter and solicited a sliding scale of donations. (Five bucks gets you a signed copy, $100 a bag of zombie swag.) Only after she passed the $1,500 benchmark were her pledges called in. Additional proof that this strategy works: the success story of the EyeWriter (see No. 49), a project launched by Kickstarter. It's low-risk, grass-roots fundraising — $1 at a time.