How Botany Raised Over $1 Million on Kickstarter: A Case Study in Data-Driven Planning
At the recent Board Game Design Summit, Dusty Droz shared the strategy behind the success of Botany, a first-time crowdfunding campaign that raised $1,057,307 from 15,105 backers.
Their approach wasn’t about guesswork or hope - it was grounded in hard numbers and conservative forecasting.
Key Numbers:
- Total raised: $1,057,307
- Total backers: 15,105
- Internal success goal: $22,000 (to cover production and advertising)
- Public Kickstarter goal: $5,000 (minimum viable funding)
- Break-even point: 1,500 units x $8 = $12,000 + ad spend
Conversion Rate Benchmarks (used for planning):
- Email list: 1% to 3%
- Kickstarter followers: 8% to 11%
- $1 pre-campaign promo buyers (via LaunchBoom): 35% to 45%
(Botany’s actual conversion rate in this channel: 48%)
Example Calculation (conservative estimates):
- 2,600 pre-campaign buyers x 35% conversion = 910 backers
- 910 backers x $39 (lowest pledge tier) = $35,490 projected revenue
That single channel already exceeded their internal $22,000 target. And that’s the core of their strategy: use the lowest conversion rate and the lowest pledge tier to run the numbers conservatively, and only launch when those projections exceed your internal goals.
Key takeaway:
Confidence doesn’t come from hope. It comes from math.
If your lowest-tier, worst-case projections can fund your game, you’re ready.
This case study is an excellent reminder that strong planning, backed by realistic modeling, can turn a good game into a blockbuster campaign.
