How to Communicate Kickstarter Delays Without Losing Backer Trust
Delays alone won’t break backer trust. But silence can.
Delays happen on most Kickstarter campaigns. That doesn’t stop backers from backing campaigns or being excited about them. But even still, creators should do what they can to prevent delays and handle them well if they come up.
Simply put, there are a lot of things that can go wrong in the supply chain. Manufacturing can run long. Freight can get held up at customs. Quality issues might require production reruns. Other external factors beyond your control push timelines back.
Delays alone won’t break backer trust. But silence can.
How you communicate during delays separates creators who maintain goodwill from creators who lose it. Backers are more likely to forgive delays when they understand what's happening and believe you're handling it. This isn’t always the case for those who go silent or who post vague non-update updates.
This guide covers what to say, when to say it, and how to maintain credibility when your timeline slips.
Brandon Rollins
The Golden Rule of Kickstarter Updates: Communicate Often (Before They Ask)
If you take away one thing from this post: the moment you know about a delay, communicate it. Don't wait until backers start asking questions in the comments.
Waiting makes everything worse. Silence is dry tinder for the flames of anxiety. Some backers will assume the worst when you go quiet. They’ll be the first to speak up, and then they’ll set the narrative that other backers read.
But if you’re proactive and open, it’s harder for a three-week manufacturing delay to become speculation about whether you've disappeared with others’ money.
One uncomfortable update immediately after finding out about delays beats weeks of backer anxiety, speculation in the comments, and damaged credibility you'll spend months rebuilding.
What Information Do Backers Need?
Backers need five pieces of information when delays happen:
- Current Status: What phase are you in right now? Are you still in manufacturing? Waiting for freight? Stuck in customs? They need to know where you are in the process.
- Cause of Delay: Give them the specific problem. Saying items are being held up due to a customs inspection is more helpful than citing “shipping issues.”
- Your Response: Describe concrete actions. That is, specific steps that you are taking to resolve this.
- New Timeline: Give them a realistic estimate with buffer built in.
- Next Steps: Tell them the very next milestone they'll hear about. "Samples arrive March 15, we'll share photos that day" gives them something concrete to expect.
If you are able to provide these five pieces of information in your update, then you’re already in good shape. At that point, all you need to do is avoid going into too much detail about your feelings (beyond expressing disappointment briefly) or giving an overlong apology. Keep it focused on their immediate concern: where their pledge stands.
Beyond this, any additional specificity you can provide will just further build credibility. "The manufacturer discovered the card stock was too thin during production testing, they're reprinting with the correct weight" is useful information.
Good Updates vs. Bad Updates
To help further cement this idea, consider this example of a vague update:
"We're experiencing some delays with manufacturing. We're working closely with our partners to resolve this as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience!"
Notice this doesn’t discuss what is causing the delays, how long they’re expected to last, or how things are likely to be resolved. A better version would be:
"Our manufacturer discovered a quality issue with the card stock during printing. It was too thin and would wear out quickly. They're reprinting the entire run with the correct material weight. This adds 3 weeks to production. Right now, we’re looking at sample approval by March 15, production completion by April 30, and freight booking by May 5. We'll update you when samples arrive for final approval."
You’ll notice here that all five necessary elements are in this update: current status, cause of delay, creator response, new timeline, and next steps.
How Much Should You Update During Kickstarter Fulfillment Delays?
When your project is stable, it’s OK to send out updates every 3 weeks or so. There’s not much to say when your board games are on the Pacific Ocean, waiting to reach the port, after all.
But when there are delays or active problems like manufacturing issues or quality concerns, it helps to update backers more frequently. As a general rule of thumb, when you have materially important new information, it’s OK to write a new update. New updates every day would likely be excessive, but an update every week or twice per week for a while is OK.
The main problem to avoid is lengthy silence. "No news is good news" does not apply to Kickstarter. Backers can sometimes interpret silence as problems you're hiding. So it’s best to not wait a month between updates when there are problems actively being solved.
Thimira Thenuwara
Showing Progress Even When Nothing's Moving
By now, it’s clear that you need to be transparent and open with your backers. But there are also parts of the process where you're just waiting. You might have containers sitting in the port or samples in transit. Or maybe you’re just waiting on customs.
If things are going according to plan, you can go 3 weeks at a time between updates. Beyond that is really pushing it, though.
So it helps here to turn waiting into education. If you have a container sitting at port, you can share the tracking number and explain typical port processing times.
You can also share the latest status, even if not much has changed. For example, it’s OK to say something like: “Our container is still sitting in Long Beach as of Monday. Average customs clearance is 7-10 business days, but the port itself is experiencing delays. Currently, we’re still waiting on customs inspection and the latest estimated date we’ve gotten from our customs broker is March 22.”
If you’re waiting for samples, you can show factory floor photos. If you’re running into customs delays, you can tell people what customs officers are checking for, such as “they’re running our pallets through X-ray machines to make sure we’re not smuggling in things we’re not supposed to.”
If you have photos, it’s a good idea to share them since photos prove work is happening. You can show the production floor and the loaded container. You can show the warehouse receiving your goods. Visual evidence builds confidence.
Remember: even a sleepy update beats radio silence.
When to Revise Your Kickstarter Fulfillment Timeline (And How)
You’ll need to revise your fulfillment timeline if you run into delays. But be careful not to publish it until you have concrete information.
It’s never a bad idea to follow the “Scotty Principle” and add significant buffer to new estimates. Don't repeat the same mistake of promising the absolute best-case scenario. If manufacturing says three weeks, tell backers four to five weeks.
This is an underrated tip—it will keep you from having to publish multiple revised timelines unless things really go off-track. Providing one revised timeline beats providing multiple. And providing multiple revised timelines beats radio silence.
As you publish a revised timeline, be sure to show both the original timeline and the revised one. And put emphasis on what was changed so that it’s easier to tell at a glance.
For example, you could say: "Customs inspection added three weeks to our timeline. Our new delivery estimate is June 15."
Eric Steuer
Final Thoughts
When in doubt, talk about delays the moment you know about them. Answering questions before they’re asked is the surest way to maintain trust.
Specifics go a long way. If you can articulate why you’re seeing delays and what you’re doing about it, that goes a long way. And the same is true if you’re able to reset expectations with a new date and next steps.
You’ll win a lot of goodwill with your backers by taking responsibility, providing context, and being open and honest. After all, backers really love backing Kickstarter campaigns, and they want to see you succeed.
Brandon Rollins, MBA, is the Director of Marketing at Fulfillrite, proud provider of order fulfillment you can trust for eCommerce and crowdfunding.
