Creator Guidelines

These Guidelines are part of the Indiegogo Terms of Use. By accepting the Terms of Use, you also agree that these Guidelines apply when you use the platform as a Creator. To take part on indiegogo.com as a Creator, you need to have an active personal account and accept the Indiegogo Terms of Use. Once you do, you’ll get access to the platform features made for Creators.

As a Creator on Indiegogo, you need to have an active account and complete the onboarding process. Once that’s done, you’ll gain access to tools designed to help you run and manage your crowdfunding and pledge manager projects.

With these services, you can:

Important: You are responsible for the terms and conditions of your Project, which must be published on your Project page. They must always include your refund and cancellation policy and remain accessible to Backers from launch of the Project until all Rewards are delivered. Once a Backer pledges, those terms cannot be changed for that Backer unless they explicitly agree.

You may conduct a Project in cooperation with another individual or entity acting as a collaborator (“Collaborator”). Such Collaborator shall not bear any legal, financial, or contractual responsibility or liability in connection with the Project. You remain solely and fully responsible for the Project, including for its performance, delivery of rewards, and compliance with applicable laws. Any claims, disputes, or demands arising out of or relating to the Project shall be directed exclusively to the you.

When Backers pledge, they enter into an agreement directly with you, the Creator. Indiegogo is not a party to this agreement. You alone are responsible for fulfilling your obligations.

Every crowdfunding project on Indiegogo must use the Pledge Manager tool, as it is an integral part of the process.

Before launching a Project, Indiegogo and its payment partners may verify your identity, business model, and ownership structure. This may include a risk assessment, which can be performed not only before launch but also at any stage of your Project’s lifecycle.

You may be asked to provide:

Documents must be valid, clear, complete, and in an acceptable format and must be submitted in English. If originals are in another language, Indiegogo may request sworn translations.

You are also required to provide comprehensive and accurate information regarding the Rewards offered and the overall scope of the Project. Such information should clearly describe the nature of the Rewards, their characteristics, and the manner in which they will be delivered, as well as define the objectives of the Project. Project content and Rewards must be consistent with the Content Policy which can be found here.

Indiegogo may also require you to provide information on reward shipping logistics for tax compliance purposes. This can include details such as manufacturing location, countries of import, and the logistics hubs from which parcels are dispatched.

If you fail to provide the required information or documents:

Indiegogo may also request additional data (e.g., address, date and place of birth, tax identification numbers, or tax residence certificates). If you fail to provide the requested information despite reminders, Indiegogo will withhold payouts until compliance is met.

If your onboarding or risk assessment is negative, Indiegogo may refuse, suspend, or cancel your Project at any stage.

By providing the required documents, you acknowledge and accept that Indiegogo has the right to share them with its payment processing partners in order to launch your Project, or, in some cases, prior to the disbursement of funds.

The onboarding process is governed by these Guidelines as well as by the rules and requirements set individually by the payment processing partners and made available to you. In particular, you will be required to accept the payment processing partners’ terms and conditions. The list of current payment processing partners and the applicable terms of their services can be found at Indiegogo Help Center here. 

Indiegogo may also decline Projects based on internal risk assessment. This assessment may consider, among other factors:

Risk assessments may be carried out not only during onboarding but throughout the entire lifecycle of your Project (campaign, Late Pledge, and Pledge Manager).

If the risk assessment is negative, Indiegogo may, at its sole discretion:

To launch your first Project on the Platform, you must provide:

You may not use the Platform to execute a project or to facilitate payments for products or services offered by third parties. You may only use the Platform for the purpose of implementing your own project.

Indiegogo will notify you, via the e-mail address provided when setting up your personal account, of the acceptance or rejection of your Project. Your Project may not commence until you have received an acceptance notice from Indiegogo. Once your Project has started, you must comply with these Community Guidelines and Content Policy at all times, and such compliance is a continuing requirement for maintaining your Project on the Platform.

When submitting another Project, you may be required to re-submit all or part of the information specified for first-time campaigns (such as your business details, Project description, funding goal, reward list, timeline, and risk disclosures).

Indiegogo also reserves the right to:

Backers are charged only if your campaign reaches its funding goal. With instant payment methods, funds may be charged immediately; however, if the crowdfunding goal is not reached, payments are refunded to Backers. This does not apply to express crowdfunding campaign, under which no funding goal is defined and the funds are charged to the Backer immediately, regardless of the payment method selected.

Indiegogo does not guarantee that all pledges will be successfully collected. Some pledges may fail due to technical or objective reasons, such as expired credit cards or Backers not updating their payment details.

Payouts to the Creator are made in accordance with the payout frequency selected by the Creator from the options made available by Indiegogo, to the bank account specified by the Creator during the onboarding process and in the currency supported by Indiegogo’s payment partners. In the event that the Creator selects a project currency different from the standard currency for the Creator’s country, Indiegogo may limit payout frequency to monthly payouts. Additionally, for payouts made in a currency other than the standard currency applicable to the Creator’s country of residence, Gamefound may impose a minimum threshold for a single payout, as determined by Gamefound from time to time. Notwithstanding the foregoing, upon the Creator’s request, Gamefound may process a payout below the minimum payout threshold, in which case Gamefound shall be entitled to deduct from the payout amount any applicable transfer or payment processing fees. Creator may review the default currencies applicable to their country of residence in the list made available by Indiegogo here. In line with Indiegogo’s Reserved Funds Policy, a portion of the funds raised may be temporarily withheld to facilitate refunds and cover potential chargebacks. For more details, please see the Indiegogo Reserved Funds Policy.

Exceptional circumstances:

In cases of fraud or suspicious transactions, Indiegogo may request refunds of some, or all collected funds. Such refunds are always at your cost. As a Creator, you are required to fully cooperate with Indiegogo, provide all requested information and documentation, cover refund amounts and any related costs (including, but not limited to, chargebacks).

You have the right to cancel your crowdfunding campaign at any time before its scheduled end date. In such cases, Backers will not be charged. If a Backer used an instant payment method, their payment will be refunded. This does not apply to express crowdfunding campaign, under which no funding goal is defined and the funds are charged to the Backer immediately, regardless of the payment method selected.

Changing the end date of your campaign is possible only in exceptional circumstances and may require you to provide additional documentation to Indiegogo.

Indiegogo may implement technical solutions and platform features that automatically extend a campaign’s closing time when certain predefined conditions are met (for example, when a new pledge or an existing pledge is upgraded during the final minutes of the campaign). This functionality is designed to maximize campaign visibility, encourage last-minute contributions, and enhance overall funding potential.

If you cancel your campaign and decide not to continue funding through Indiegogo, you may publish up to two updates on the Project page to inform Backers. After that, Indiegogo may restrict your access to the Project and its settings.

If your campaign was successful and you enable this option, Backers can continue to support your Project by placing a Late Pledge after the original campaign ends or to modify their existing orders, subject to the Creator’s settings and availability of Rewards.

Once your project moves into the Pledge Manager phase, Late Pledge Backers will be required to provide shipping and tax information in order to complete fulfillment.

The Pledge Manager is a tool that helps you manage Backer pledges after your crowdfunding campaign and accept new orders in the post-campaign phase. It allows you to: 

Types of Pledge Manager:

This is an extension of your Indiegogo project, used to manage pledges collected during the campaign, and to collect new pledges if the Creator decides so. 

If your crowdfunding campaign was conducted on another platform, you can still use Indiegogo’s Pledge Manager to manage pledges. In this case:

Important:

As a Creator, you are responsible for covering the fees associated with using Indiegogo’s Platform. These include:

Indiegogo and its payment partners will, to the extent possible, deduct all applicable fees before transmitting the collected funds to you. Indiegogo fees and payment processing fees are non-refundable. You are solely responsible for paying any additional fees, taxes, or statutory charges associated with your use of the Platform. You will be informed of applicable fees at the project preparation stage, and you agree to receive invoices electronically. 

In exceptional circumstances (such as the bankruptcy or death of the Creator), Indiegogo will suspend payouts until it receives and verifies the relevant court decisions or official documentation that allows funds to be transferred either to you or a designated third party. 

If your campaign fails to reach its funding goal due to reasons beyond your control, no platform or payment processing fees will be charged. 

Indiegogo may satisfy any of amounts owed by you from the funds collected in connection with your campaign prior to making a payout.

For up-to-date fee information, always refer to the Indiegogo Help Center. 

Indiegogo reserves the right to withhold, delay, or conditionally release funds collected during a crowdfunding campaign, Late Pledge, and Pledge Manager if there is a reasonable suspicion that:

Indiegogo will notify you via email and without undue delay of any decision to withhold funds, restrict account access, or apply additional safeguards, and will provide the reasons for such action. Depending on the nature of your Project, your track record, or the level of identified risk, Indiegogo may, at its sole discretion, require you to provide additional guarantees or security for potential refund or chargeback liabilities. Such security may take the form of authorizing Indiegogo to charge your credit card, a cash deposit, or any other form acceptable to Indiegogo.

You may submit a written explanation, objection, or request for review through Indiegogo’s internal dispute resolution mechanism by contacting the legal department (details available on the platform). Indiegogo will review such submissions and respond within a reasonable timeframe. Following the review, Indiegogo may uphold, amend, or revoke its original decision based on the outcome of the legal assessment.

Suspended funds will remain with the payment processor until the circumstances requiring the suspension cease to exist, or, where appropriate, be returned to Backers. Under no circumstances will Indiegogo transfer such funds to its own bank account. 

Indiegogo shall not be liable for any loss, damage, or missed payment arising from the application of these risk-based measures, provided such actions are taken in good faith and for the purpose of protecting Users, preventing you from violating applicable laws, and safeguarding the integrity of the platform.

The Stable Pledge Program is an optional commitment by Creators to ensure price stability for Backers’ pledges during the crowdfunding campaign.

By joining this program, you agree that: 

As a Creator, you must not: 

If a refund is processed under this program, Indiegogo will refund you the platform fee related to the refunded pledge, except in cases where the platform fee has already been reinvested into marketing or incentives for the campaign. In such cases, the platform fee will not be refunded, as it has already been allocated and the creator has benefited from it.

Violations of the Stable Pledge Program may result in Indiegogo, at its discretion: 

For the avoidance of doubt, the Stable Pledge Program shall not apply to situations where, after a Pledge has been made, the effective price payable by a Backer changes due to circumstances on the Backer’s side, such as a change of residence or delivery address, which may affect applicable taxes, duties, or shipping charges.

Any form of manipulation, fraudulent or deceptive activity, dissemination of false or misleading information, or any other action artificially influencing the perceived success, funding level, Reward value, or additional benefits of the Project at any stage of its lifecycle is strictly prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to:

Such activities may result in the suspension or termination of your campaign, Pledge Manager, Late Pledge, or account, withholding of funds, and/or legal action. Indiegogo reserves the right to investigate any suspicious behavior and take appropriate measures to protect Backers and preserve the integrity of the Platform.

You are obliged to act in a transparent, reliable, and honest manner towards both Backers and Indiegogo, providing true, current, and complete information about the Project, its progress, and any changes that may affect the delivery of Rewards. You must respond to inquiries, messages, and requests for information from Backers and Indiegogo in a timely and substantive manner. You must promptly inform Indiegogo and Backers of any significant issues or circumstances that may affect the timely and proper delivery of Rewards.

You are required to regularly publish updates on the Project’s page, covering in particular:

In the event of non-compliance with the above obligations, Indiegogo may take measures it deems appropriate to address the situation, which may include actions affecting your access to or ability to use certain Platform services, delaying or withholding disbursement of funds, or other steps aimed at ensuring compliance with these Guidelines and protecting the integrity of the Platform. The scope, nature, and timing of any such measures shall be determined solely by Indiegogo at its discretion.

If you use generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools (including but not limited to AI-based text, image, video) to produce any content published on your Indiegogo Project page (such as campaign descriptions, visual assets, promotional videos, or other marketing materials), or in the creation or development of the product offered as part of the campaign or Pledge Manager (particularly where AI contributes to visual, textual, narrative, mechanical) you must clearly disclose this fact on the Project page.

Such disclosure must:

If you fail to disclose the use of generative AI in content posted on your Indiegogo Project page, Indiegogo may, at its sole discretion:

Repeated or intentional violations may result in permanent removal from the Platform, especially if the lack of disclosure misleads Backers or infringes third-party rights.

Indiegogo is not responsible for the content you provide on the Project page, including any information or claims relating to the use of generative AI. All content remains your sole responsibility.

You may delete your account or Project at any time through your account settings. In such a case, all rights of Indiegogo with respect to any content you submit the Platform shall survive such termination. Certain obligations also remain in force, such as your responsibility to fulfill Rewards to Backers, indemnification and liability provisions, intellectual property and license rights, and dispute resolution terms under the Terms of Use, these Guidelines, or applicable law.

If you delete your account or Project before the crowdfunding Project’s end date, except in the case of express crowdfunding, Indiegogo will immediately cancel any reservation of a charge on the Backer’s payment card or, if the Backer has chosen an instant payment method, refund the payment to the Backer.

If you delete your account or Project before the crowdfunding Project’s end date, or after its end but while the Pledge Manager is active, Indiegogo reserves the right to retain your data and the Project’s data on the Platform and/or to share such data with Backers in order to enable them to receive their Rewards. In such cases, Indiegogo may archive the Project page and keep the Project’s track record publicly visible.

Indiegogo reserves the right to take, at its sole discretion, any of the following measures to protect the Platform, Backers, and third parties, as well as to ensure compliance with the Terms of Use and these Guidelines: