DENVER - What do local schools, filmmakers and most recently a local Project Runway star have in common? They're all tapping into the same website to raise money for their creative projects.
9NEWS Your Money Reporter Heidi McGuire met up with former Project Runway contestant Fallene Wells to see how she's using the site to launch a dream.
"This is where the magic happens for now," Wells said from her Denver home.
Up until recently, Wells' home workshop has served her well. To create her entire 2012 Modern Nouveau collection in different sizes, she's going to need more hands, and more space, and all of that's going take something else she doesn't have.
"I don't have the money to produce a line," Wells said.
An entire line, or even enough for those famous knickers that got her so much attention on Project Runway, will cost quite a bit. She says just one pair would cost her about $500 to reproduce. The solution? A website called www.Kickstarter.com. It's known as the world's largest funding platform for creative projects.
"For me that was the only option, is to do [the] crowd-funding platform instead of a small-business loan or a private investor. It makes the most sense to me," Wells said.
The site not only allows you to raise funds for various projects, it also allows you to market what you're doing at the same time, and sort of test the market to see how people respond to your work.
So far, Wells is happy with the response.
"I have 37 backers, which is not bad, with a total of $2,661," she said.
The catch with Kickstarter is, it's all or nothing. You set the amount you want to raise and if you're off by even a penny, you get nothing.
"It is hard. I'm trying to raise $20,000, but if I broke it down and 1,000 people donated $20, I could have my goal, so it doesn't sound that hard," she said.
Kickstarter also allows you to track who's donating to your project and how much. Local designer Mondo Guerra from Project Runway is among Wells' backers, along with a lot of people she doesn't know.
Wells has 45 total days to raise the money. Feb. 22 at 9:25 p.m. EST is her deadline.
As of Wednesday, she has 28 days remaining. Wells says the $20,000 will not only help her launch her line, but the money will employ workers at CoSewn, a new Denver-based company that collaborates with local designers who want to produce apparel domestically.
"I think it's important to give back to the community to keep a strong fashion community out here," she said.
To learn more about Wells' Kickstarter program, visit:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/foreverdarling/fallene-wells-modern-nouveau-collection-fall-2012?ref=live.
To learn more about Kickstarter, visit: http://kickstarter.com.
(KUSA-TV © 2012 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)