How Do Kickstarter Stretch Goals Work? A Complete Guide for 2025

When you’re in the middle of hosting a live crowdfunding campaign, things can feel a little hectic. No matter how many plates you feel like you’re spinning, though, it’s essential to keep your backers engaged — and one of the best ways to do that is with stretch goals.

But how do Kickstarter stretch goals work, and how can you use them most effectively toward campaign success? We’ll cover all that and more in this complete guide on Kickstarter stretch goals that you can take and start implementing for your next crowdfunding campaign.

Key Takeaways

• Understanding what Kickstarter stretch goals are and how they work
• How to set Kickstarter stretch goals and the different types you can use
• Examples of realistic stretch goals and what successful campaigns have used them in the past

What are Kickstarter stretch goals?

There are a few different ways to stay engaged with backers throughout the crowdfunding timeline, and stretch goals are one of them. Stretch goals are rewards that unlock when you hit certain self-defined funding goals, and they’re a feature that’s unique to crowdfunding. These goals are tied to funding milestones that exceed the original goal and aim to enhance or expand the project.

Here are some simple examples that illustrate what stretch goals can look like by product type:

• Board game project: Additional cards, miniatures, and game modes
• Tech gadget project: New colorways, additional features, and upgraded components
• Creative project: Exclusive behind-the-scenes content, additional chapters, or higher-quality print versions

No matter what product category you’re in, there are always creative additions, options, and improvements that you can introduce to your main product.

Why use stretch goals in your campaign?

Stretch goals are a fun feature you can introduce to backers, but is it really necessary? Are there any good reasons besides engagement that you’d want to use stretch goals in your campaign when you already have so many other things to worry about?

The most obvious benefit of stretch goals is that they are a tool for upselling in crowdfunding. If backers learn about new exclusive content that can be unlocked when reaching certain backing milestones, the most dedicated ones will do what they can to make reaching those goals happen. Whether it’s upgrading the amount they’ve pledged or sharing your campaign on social media to get more people to back, there are things that backers will do to make sure the collective community benefits from new stretch goals.

Introducing stretch goals during a live campaign also helps to boost the momentum of the campaign. It’s common for campaigns using the LaunchBoom system to exceed funding goals very early. As a result, fundraising can slow down as the weeks go on. Stretch goals are a great way to inject new life into an ongoing campaign as it brings in new traffic from prospective backers and gets previous backers reengaged with the project.

Types of stretch goals you can set

While stretch goals are not technically an official part of the Kickstarter platform with various functionalities built-in, there are still different types of stretch goals creators can set. Remember, the idea is to incentivize backers to push your project over certain thresholds, so you can get creative with the rules you set for your stretch goals.

What are good stretch goals for Kickstarter? Here are three types that we’ve typically seen:

• Monetary: Monetary-based stretch goals are when you promise new rewards once specific amounts of funding are reached. This is the most common, and has the obvious benefit of pushing your total raise higher.
• Social: Social-based stretch goals unlock rewards when your campaign reaches a certain number of shares or likes on social media. If you engage heavily with your community on social media, this can be an effective tactic.
• Backers: Lastly, backer-based stretch goals use the amount of backers as the goal post for new rewards. This tactic can be effective if your product is at a low price point.

Each of these Kickstarter stretch goal strategies have their own benefits and situations where they are most effective. Analyze the needs of your project and how similar crowdfunding campaigns in your product category have utilized stretch goals, then apply the best tactics to your own campaign.

At the end of the day though, it’s all about getting the most engagement you can from backers. Here’s an example of a campaign that used multiple types of stretch goals:

By creating multiple ways for backers to engage with various parts of the multichannel marketing strategy, the campaign gained several new ways to help spread awareness of their brand.

How to set realistic stretch goals

Stretch goals are good for maintaining momentum, but they have to be realistic in order to be most effective. The first thing you must do is understand your initial funding goal. Stretch goals shouldn’t be too far beyond the reach of your base goal, but they should still feel like an achievement if accomplished. For example, if your initial goal is $10,000, a good goal might be $12,500, and incrementally increase by $2,500 for subsequent goals.

Offering awesome rewards at milestones that are completely out of reach serve no purpose. Instead, you want to keep the milestones reasonable and offer rewards that can provide value to backers. Stretch goals should enhance the core offering of your campaign, including things like new features, additional content, or better materials. You can even consider things like special editions that only become available after a stretch goal is reached.

The last thing you want to do when setting realistic stretch goals is know your own costs and resources. Before announcing stretch goals, be aware of the cost implications like additional manufacturing fees, shipping considerations, and logistical demands of getting multiple components to the right backers. If your stretch goal reward is going to be too expensive to get all of this done successfully, it might eat into your funds beyond what it’s worth.

Examples of successful Kickstarter campaigns using stretch goals

Now you know how stretch goals can work in theory, but how do stretch goals work on Kickstarter in practice? Let’s look at three different examples of Kickstarter stretch goals and how they were able to help creators greatly exceed their initial funding goals and launch their products.

Campaign #1: Tilt Five augmented reality system

No matter how complex the product is you’re trying to launch, there are ways to introduce simple complementary stretch goals. The Tilt Five, a tabletop augmented reality system that launched on Kickstarter and successfully raised $1,767,301, used simple stretch goals to great effect.

Their funding goal was set at $450,000, which means they managed to raise more than four times what they initially wanted. The campaign used the following stretch goals to keep backers engaged and push the raise as high as possible:

• Stretch goal #1 ($750,000): Backers could vote on a new board color and choose between that and the classic black.
• Stretch goal #2 ($1,250,000): Additional glasses and wand colors were unlocked besides the classic white based on backer votes.
• Stretch goal #3 ($1,500,000): A third round of voting was opened up to choose a second color option for the glasses and wand.
• Stretch goal #4 ($1,750,000): The final stretch goal unlocked Kickstarter-exclusive games that backers could get for free with their Tilt Five system.

In the end, Tilt Five was able to push their revenue up past their final stretch goal, but so much of the work was done by the first three goals. By offering simple votes for new colorways before the final offer of new games, they were able to keep backers invested in their campaign and triple their funding goal.

Campaign #2: Exploding Kittens

Stretch goals don’t always have to be monetary milestones, exemplified by this well-known game launch. The Exploding Kittens card game is one of the most famous Kickstarter campaigns, raising over $8.7 million from an initial goal of just $10,000 back in 2015. To match the creativity of their game concept, they combined the mechanic of stretch goals with achievements that you’d typically see in video games. Here’s the list of achievements they set for their backers to accomplish:

In order to unlock the final two stretch goals, backers had to work towards achieving 20 and 30 achievements respectively. Overall, backers were unable to complete 30, but because they completed 20 they got upgraded boxes to deluxe versions that held more content for more hours of awesome gaming.

These creative stretch goals that incentivized activity on social media helped the campaign go viral and encouraged the target audience to continue sharing the project. This momentum resulted in one of the largest raises for a game the platform had seen at that time, and demonstrated how creativity can be used effectively when matched with your ideal audience.

Campaign #3: The Pebble Time smartwatch

When it comes to tech products, stretch goals present a good opportunity to add more than just cosmetic improvements. The Pebble Time smartwatch campaign raised $20,338,986 on Kickstarter, making it one of the platform’s most successful campaigns back in 2015. The Pebble Time team used stretch goals to reward the product’s backers with enhanced features and functionality.

They initially set a funding goal of $500,000, but the response from backers was huge from the start and they quickly surpassed that. Here are the stretch goals they introduced when they realized the popularity of their campaign:

• At $12 million, new watch faces and apps would be unlocked to make their product more flexible and appealing.
• At $15 million, Pebble would add voice recognition features which expanded the functionality of their product.

Ultimately, these stretch goals not only kept backers excited about the campaign’s progress, but greatly improved the base functionality of the product. The Pebble Time team recognized that they had the momentum for a huge raise, and they decided to immediately start reinvesting that money into improving their smartwatch. Improvements like new apps and voice recognition capabilities require significant capital to develop, and Pebble Time demonstrated what’s possible with stretch goals and a drive for innovation.

Pitfalls to avoid when using stretch goals

Stretch goals can be a fun way to reward your backer community, but there are some common pitfalls to avoid when using them. One of the most important things we stress is that stretch goals are not mandatory — and they’re not always good for every campaign. But if you are thinking about using stretch goals, here are some things to consider that can help you avoid the pitfalls.

• Project complexity: If you’re running a simple campaign, or are a first timer, it can be tempting to want to pile on stretch goals when you reach full funding early. Just be aware that this adds more complexity to your project and makes fulfillment have an extra layer of difficulty. It’s better to consider whether or not you will add stretch goals when you’re still in the early stages of planning your Kickstarter campaign.
• Communication: Along with adding stretch goals comes the need for effective communication. Failing to communicate with your backers about progress or having to walk back certain promises because you got overly ambitious is a tough pill for your community to swallow. Have a strategy in mind for how you will communicate most easily with backers.

If you want to avoid the stretch goal pitfalls altogether, you can consider an alternative upsell tactic. Add-ons are an optional reward that lets backers select additional items they weren’t able to get in their chosen reward tier. These are a built-in feature of Kickstarter, and they are a good way to boost funding in the final 48 hours of your campaign.

Final thoughts on how Kickstarter stretch goals work

Stretch goals can be powerful tools for increasing engagement and funding. But it’s important to remember that careful planning is essential to avoid overextending your resources, and communicating clearly with your backers throughout the campaign is a crucial element for success with stretch goals.

But if you’re still asking the question “how do Kickstarter stretch goals work,” we understand. Grasping the various mechanics of crowdfunding platforms can be overwhelming — and that’s why LaunchBoom is here to help. No matter where you are on your crowdfunding journey, we can lend you everything from our expertise to our proprietary tools to help give you an edge. If you’re ready to reach out, set up a call with one of our product launch experts today.

Frequently asked questions about Kickstarter stretch goals

What is a good amount for a first-time creator’s stretch goal?

A good stretch goal amount should be realistic and achievable, typically starting at 10% to 30% above the original funding goal. This ensures that the goal is within reach and doesn’t overburden the creator with additional costs. The stretch goal should also cover any extra production or shipping costs incurred by offering new features, rewards, or upgrades.

It’s important to note that first-time creators should avoid setting overly ambitious stretch goals that could complicate production or fulfillment. This is one of the most common pitfalls of stretch goals that can stretch resources too thin.

Should I announce all my stretch goals at once?

It’s generally better to announce stretch goals gradually to keep backers engaged throughout the campaign. This creates a sense of progression and excitement as each goal is unlocked. Revealing one or two stretch goals at a time helps maintain momentum and encourages backers to keep supporting the project. Announcing all goals at once can have the unwanted effect of overwhelming backers and reducing enthusiasm.

What happens if I don’t meet all my announced stretch goals?

If you don’t meet all your stretch goals, it’s okay. You are technically only obligated to fulfill what was promised in the base funding goal. Stretch goals are considered bonuses, so not meeting them doesn’t affect the core project delivery. That being said, clear communication with backers is essential to manage expectations if certain stretch goals are not met. Failing to be transparent about these issues with backers can erode their trust in your brand.

How do stretch goals work in Gamefound?

Similar to Kickstarter, Gamefound allows creators to set additional funding milestones called stretch goals that unlock extra content or rewards once the base funding goal is met. Stretch goals on Gamefound can include physical product upgrades, digital content, or exclusive items for backers. Creators on Gamefound often use community engagement tools like polls and voting to determine which stretch goals to prioritize.