What is a pledge manager?
A pledge manager is a tool that many crowdfunding creators use to collect shipping addresses, shipping fees, and taxes from their backers. Kickstarter has very limited functionality when it comes to actually fulfilling backer rewards, so companies like BackerKit created pledge managers to make the process easier. The form you fill out in the pledge manager is called a survey.
IF YOU DO NOT FILL OUT THE PLEDGE MANAGER WE WILL NOT KNOW WHERE TO SHIP YOUR GAME AND YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE YOUR GAME. We will have the pledge manager open for a couple months to ensure everyone has enough time to fill it out, but if you do not fill it out you will not receive a copy of the game. Please make sure you take a couple minutes to enter your information.
At a high level, you'll receive an email from BackerKit once we open the pledge manager. All you have to do is click the link in the email, go through a couple steps, and finalize your order. Your credit card won't be charged until we lock the orders (expected to be in May 2023), and you'll be able to update your address until we begin fulfillment at the end of this year or early next year.
See below for a step-by-step walkthrough of the process for someone who backed at the Deluxe ($70) level. The process will be very similar regardless of what pledge level you selected, but we'll do our best to call out where you may see differences along the way.
IF YOU DO NOT FILL OUT THE PLEDGE MANAGER WE WILL NOT KNOW WHERE TO SHIP YOUR GAME AND YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE YOUR GAME. We will have the pledge manager open for a couple months to ensure everyone has enough time to fill it out, but if you do not fill it out you will not receive a copy of the game. Please make sure you take a couple minutes to enter your information.
At a high level, you'll receive an email from BackerKit once we open the pledge manager. All you have to do is click the link in the email, go through a couple steps, and finalize your order. Your credit card won't be charged until we lock the orders (expected to be in May 2023), and you'll be able to update your address until we begin fulfillment at the end of this year or early next year.
See below for a step-by-step walkthrough of the process for someone who backed at the Deluxe ($70) level. The process will be very similar regardless of what pledge level you selected, but we'll do our best to call out where you may see differences along the way.
Step 1: Email from BackerKit
We will post a campaign update on Kickstarter when we launch the pledge manager to ensure everyone is aware. Once it is launched, you will receive an email from no-reply@s.backerkit.com (which will show up as Sophisticated Cerberus Games) with the subject "Response Needed - Get your reward for The Stifling Dark: A Horror Board Game". A screenshot of what the email will look like is below for reference.
Click the "Click Here to Respond" button to be taken to the pledge manager.
If you don't get the email (or can't find it), you can also visit https://sophcerb.backerkit.com/ and enter in your email to look up a link to your survey. Note that this will be tied to the email associated with your Kickstarter account, so make sure you're using the right email address when searching.
Note that retail backers and backers of the "pledge without a reward" levels will not receive an email. Retail will be handled separately, and backers that pledged at the no reward level (not to be confused with the $1 Neophyte support level) never intended to receive a reward. If you accidentally backed at the no reward level instead of the Neophyte level please email us at support@sophisticatedcerberus.com and we'll switch your pledge to the appropriate dollar level.
If you don't get the email (or can't find it), you can also visit https://sophcerb.backerkit.com/ and enter in your email to look up a link to your survey. Note that this will be tied to the email associated with your Kickstarter account, so make sure you're using the right email address when searching.
Note that retail backers and backers of the "pledge without a reward" levels will not receive an email. Retail will be handled separately, and backers that pledged at the no reward level (not to be confused with the $1 Neophyte support level) never intended to receive a reward. If you accidentally backed at the no reward level instead of the Neophyte level please email us at support@sophisticatedcerberus.com and we'll switch your pledge to the appropriate dollar level.
Step 2: Landing Page
You will be taken to the landing page, which has some high-level information about our game and your pledge. A screenshot of what this page looks like is below:
From here, select your country and state/region for shipping and then click "Get Started!" to continue.
A few important callouts for this screen:
A few important callouts for this screen:
- If you are a dollar backer and want to upgrade your pledge to receive a copy of the game, this is the place to do it. Click the "Switch your Pledge Level" link below the green "Get Started!" button and select the level you want to upgrade to.
- If you are a dollar backer and do not want to upgrade your pledge, you can proceed through the rest of the process and submit your order. It won't ask you for your address, nor will it charge you anything, but it will mark your survey as completed so you won't receive reminders to complete your survey.
- If you live near Minneapolis, MN or Appleton, WI and want to select Local Pickup, make sure you select "Local Pickup" from the country drop-down. Please make sure you still enter your address in the Shipping section (at least your city and state) so we know where to ship your game.
Step 3: "Questions"
We added an informational "question" to begin each survey to address some commonly asked questions. A screenshot of this page is below:
All you have to do is read through the information, select the "I understand!" option, and then hit the Next button.
Dollar backers will see a different question asking them if they want to upgrade their game or not, and Ultimate backers will have a second question relating to specific aspects of their pledge.
If you chose any add-ons (extra games) during the Kickstarter you will see one additional screen (shown below) before moving on to the pledge manager add-ons. You can just click next, BackerKit is just acknowledging that you also chose an add-on during the campaign.
Dollar backers will see a different question asking them if they want to upgrade their game or not, and Ultimate backers will have a second question relating to specific aspects of their pledge.
If you chose any add-ons (extra games) during the Kickstarter you will see one additional screen (shown below) before moving on to the pledge manager add-ons. You can just click next, BackerKit is just acknowledging that you also chose an add-on during the campaign.
Step 4: Add-Ons
You should now be on the add-ons page, where you can choose to add on extras (such as another copy of the game). A screenshot of this page is below:
This screen also shows you all the items you will be receiving on the right-hand side, along with your shipping cost, any applicable taxes, and your outstanding balance. Once you're satisfied with your selections you can hit the "Next" button on the right-hand side.
If you met the criteria to receive a free mini-expansion it will already be in the list of items under your pledge level on the right-hand side of the page. As a reminder, you had to be subscribed to our mailing list at the end of the campaign and you also had to back at least the $50 level.
If you backed at a dollar level, never subscribed, unsubscribed prior to the end of the campaign, cancelled your pledge, or had your payment fail you will not be eligible for the free mini-expansion. If your Kickstarter email is different than the email you joined our mailing list with, please email us at support@sophisticatedcerberus.com and provide both of your email addresses so we can validate your eligibility.
If you met the criteria to receive a free mini-expansion it will already be in the list of items under your pledge level on the right-hand side of the page. As a reminder, you had to be subscribed to our mailing list at the end of the campaign and you also had to back at least the $50 level.
If you backed at a dollar level, never subscribed, unsubscribed prior to the end of the campaign, cancelled your pledge, or had your payment fail you will not be eligible for the free mini-expansion. If your Kickstarter email is different than the email you joined our mailing list with, please email us at support@sophisticatedcerberus.com and provide both of your email addresses so we can validate your eligibility.
Step 5: shipping
You should now be on the shipping page, where you enter in your complete shipping address so we know where to ship your game. A screenshot of this page is below:
Please make sure you fill out all fields, including phone number. Some carriers require this, and if you leave it empty it may delay or prevent your product from being shipped. Once you have finished entering your information you can hit the "Next" button on the right-hand side.
A few important callouts for this screen:
A few important callouts for this screen:
- You will still be able to change your address up until we begin fulfillment at the end of this year or early next year. We will send out a notice prior to locking addresses, so please make sure you keep your address up to date if you move between when you fill out the pledge manager and when we begin shipping games out.
- As a reminder, despite what the screen says, please enter at least your city and state into the address field if you're selecting local pickup so we know how many pickup games we need to ship to each city.
Step 6: Confirm
You should now be on the confirm page, where you can review all your order info (items, add-ons, shipping address, etc.) and enter your payment info. A screenshot of this page is below:
Please double-check that you are receiving the correct items (visible below the shipping info, that section isn't shown in the above screenshot) and that your shipping address is correct, then enter in your payment information. Once everything looks good you can check the box to accept the terms and conditions (which are the same they were on our Kickstarter page) and hit the "Place My Order" button. That's all there is to it!
An important callout for this screen:
An important callout for this screen:
- Your card won't actually be charged until we lock orders, which we currently plan to do in May. We will send out a notice prior to charging cards to make sure everyone is aware.
Questions or issues?
Feel free to contact us at support@sophisticatedcerberus.com if you have any issues or questions with the pledge manager. You can also check the BackerKit FAQs or check the comments on Kickstarter in case other people have already had the same question.
Thanks once again for your support to help bring The Stifling Dark to life!
Thanks once again for your support to help bring The Stifling Dark to life!