Editorial Policy & Disclosures
GizmoCrowd is an independent publication covering Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns. We review crowdfunding projects so backers can decide before they pledge, and we update our coverage when campaigns go wrong. We never take payment for editorial reviews.
This page explains how we choose what to cover, how we review it, how we make money, and how every type of content is labeled.
Who we are
GizmoCrowd has covered crowdfunding since 2019 and has published 300+ reviews, guides, creator interviews and campaign updates. Editorial decisions are made by our Chief Editor, independently of the commercial side of the business.
-
Michael, Chief Editor - tech and innovation: wearables, health tech, productivity gear, smart home and audio-visual equipment.
-
Sarah, Senior Writer - tabletop games, comics, illustration and gaming gear.
-
Slaveya, Creative BizOps & Project Manager - operations and production, making sure what we plan gets published consistently.
-
Jonathan, Co-Founder and reviewer - campaign analysis across Kickstarter and Indiegogo.
-
Ruben, CEO & Co-Founder - publisher, responsible for the business side, including sponsored content.
Every article is signed by the person who wrote it, and each author has a profile page with their background and articles.
How we choose campaigns
Our editors decide what we review. No creator, platform or advertiser decides which campaigns get a review, what a review says, or which products appear in our buying guides.
We look for campaigns our readers would want to know about before they pledge: products that are new, useful or interesting in their category, with enough information to evaluate them fairly. If we don't think a product is worth our readers' attention, we don't review it.
How we review campaigns
A crowdfunding product usually doesn't exist in its final form yet, so we're clear about what each review is based on. When we test a prototype or sample unit, the review says so and describes what we tested. When we don't, the review is based on the campaign page, the creator's track record, specifications, video and image material, answers from the creator, and comparison with similar products already on the market.
Every review covers what the product does, how it compares, what it costs across reward tiers, and the risks a backer should weigh, such as an unproven team, an ambitious timeline or missing details. A review can be positive, mixed or critical.
Creators never review or approve our articles before publication. If a creator points out a factual error (a price, a spec, a date), we check it and correct it.
How GizmoCrowd makes money
GizmoCrowd is free to read. We fund our work in two ways.
Affiliate links. Some reviews contain affiliate links, through platforms such as Kickbooster or directly with creators. If you back a campaign through one of these links, we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. Affiliate relationships never decide whether we review a campaign or what we say about it. Reviews with affiliate links say so at the top of the article.
Sponsored content. Creators can pay for a Campaign Spotlight or a newsletter sponsorship. These are advertising formats, clearly labeled, and kept separate from our reviews:
-
A Campaign Spotlight presents a campaign: what it is, its reward tiers, its timeline and its team. It contains no verdict, no rating and no recommendation. Spotlights are published in their own Campaign Spotlight category, never in our reviews or buying guides.
-
A newsletter sponsorship is a labeled slot in an issue of our newsletter.
We decline sponsored requests for campaigns we wouldn't be comfortable presenting to our readers. Paying for sponsored content never buys a review, a rating or a place in a buying guide.
Labels you'll see
-
No label: an editorial review with no commercial relationship.
-
"We may earn a commission…": an editorial review that contains affiliate links. Our editors chose to cover the campaign and wrote the verdict independently.
-
"Sponsored content created with [Creator]": a Campaign Spotlight paid for by the creator. No verdict or rating.
All links in sponsored content, and all affiliate links, are marked as such for search engines.
When a campaign goes wrong
Crowdfunding carries real risk. When a campaign we've covered runs into serious trouble (repeated delays, unresponsive creators, undelivered rewards or signs of fraud), we add a visible warning to the article and update it as the situation develops. We do this for every article, whether or not there was a commercial relationship with the creator.
Corrections
We correct factual errors as quickly as we can. Significant corrections are noted at the end of the article with the date of the change. To report an error, email "michael[at]gizmocrowd[dot]com" with the article link and the correction.
Contact
Editorial questions and corrections: "michael[at]gizmocrowd[dot]com"
Submissions and sponsored content: Submit your campaign