IgnitionDeck Review PROS & CONS + Comparison With Competitors

IgnitionDeck Fundraising Plugin

9

Easy to use

8.9/10

Settings

9.4/10

Price

8.0/10

Overall quality

9.5/10

Pros

  • Host downloads on Amazon S3
  • Content protection/paywall
  • Recurring payments
  • Customer credit system
  • Customer segment messaging
  • Email 3rd party integrations

Cons

  • Little pricey
  • No product discount option

You will need good plugin for creating WordPress Kickstarter website. In this IgnitionDeck review, I will answer is this the right tool for your needs.

Crowdfunding websites such as Kickstarter, RocketHub, and Indiegogo have helped get some great projects off the ground.

If you have a project for which you want to find financial backers or to create your own fundraising community, there is no reason why you can’t create your own crowdfunding website using WordPress.

All you need is WordPress fundraising plugin and a suitable WordPress fundraising theme (if using plugin any theme can be adequate).

By building a no-fee crowdfunding website on WordPress, rather than using Kickstarter or Indiegogo, fundraisers get to keep all of the money they raise and own the relationship with their users.

Luckily, there is the solution to everything in WordPress. Using IgnitionDeck, Crowdfunding plugin for WordPress, you can easily create WordPress Kickstarter clone.

 

IgnitionDeck Commerce vs WooCommerce vs Easy Digital Downloads

blank-comparison
  • Pre-orders
  • Link downloads to multiple products
  • Host downloads on Amazon S3
  • Product bundles
  • Advanced crowdfunding
  • Mailchimp integration
  • Content protection/paywall
  • Product discounts
  • Forums access management
  • Subscriptions
  • Product expiration
  • Regional Sales Tax
  • Recurring Payments
  • Customer credit system
  • Coupons
  • Mixpanel analytics
  • Customer segment messaging
  • Product SKUs
  • Product inventory
  • Sendgrid integration
  • Mandrill integration
ignitiondeck vs woocommerce
woocommerce vs easy digital downloads
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easy digital downloads vs woocommerce
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Here is comparison between Give vs Charitable, two alternative plugins which can also be used for fundraising and as good choice if you are not satisfied with IgnitionDeck. Donorbox plugin is another worthy consideration.

give donation plugins vs charitable donation
  • GIVE DONATION PLUGIN
  • Free with option to purchase extensions
  • Using free WordPress Importer plugin
  • Offline Donations and PayPal Standard
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Coming soon
blank-page
  • NAME
  • PRICE
  • SINGLE DONATION AMOUNTS
  • MULTI-LEVEL DONATION AMOUNTS
    This option lets you create an infinite amount of donation levels. Each level can be set to any amount you like, have its own corresponding level name, can be set as the default level, and later be re-ordered
  • FORM SHORTCODE
    Use the Form as a stand-alone page, or insert it anywhere on your site with a shortcode
  • CUSTOM AMOUNTS
    User can input amount he wants to donate
  • FIXED AMOUNTS
    User can choose from predefined amounts
  • SET MINIMUM AMOUNT
  • GUEST DONATIONS
    Do you want to allow non-logged users to make donation
  • REGISTRATION/LOGIN
    Allows you to add the WordPress Registration and/or Login form into your donation form.
  • DONATION GOALS
    Enable or disable donation goals
  • WIDGET
    Display forms using widget
  • FORM IN STANDALONE PAGE
    Show donation forms as it’s own stand-alone page with full content
  • TERMS AND CONDITIONS
    Add terms and conditions to your donation forms
  • IMPORT/EXPORT FORMS
  • DONATION DETAILS
    Get an overview of donations that you’ve received through your website. Filter and sort your donations by date, or status. Perform “Bulk Actions” like resending Email receipts, deleting donations,etc.
  • DONORS DETAILS
    Donor management, and reporting, as well as the ability to export data about those donors.
  • DONATION REPORTS
    Overview of the current state of your donation forms with displayed info such as performance per time intervals, donations per Form, activity of Donors, or breakdown of Payment Methods.
  • CURRENCY SETTINGS
    Allow you to configure which currency all your donations will be received and reported in
  • FREE PAYMENT GATEWAYS
    Which payment gateways come with free version of plugin
  • EMAIL SETTINGS
    Option to send and customize series of emails to both donors and admins for different purposes.
  • FORM FILED MANAGER
    Add and manage additional fields for your donation forms
  • PDF RECEIPTS
    Option for donors to get receipts for donations by making PDF downloadable copies
  • GOOGLE ANALYTICS DONATION TRACKING
    Measure campaign success. Track user interactions with donation forms, admin refunds, and more.
  • MANUAL DONATIONS
    Create donations directly in your WordPress dashboard. Donations can be attached to a specific donor, or a new donor can be easily created.
  • INTEGRATION WITH ZAPIER
  • EMAIL REPORTS
    Fetch all of your site’s important donation statistics in detaile report email that summarizes how your donation forms are performing for the current day, week, month,etc.
  • CUSTOMIZE EMAILS
    Customize everything from the logo, subject, content, and even template per donation form
  • CHOOSE PAYMENT GATEWAY PER FORM
    Set which payment gateways you would like to enable for donors per particular form
  • RECURRING DONATIONS
  • MAILCHIMP INTEGRATION
  • MAILPOET INTEGRATION
  • AWEBER INTEGRATION
  • CONVERTKIT INTEGRATION
  • CONSTANT CONTACT INTEGRATION
  • STRIPE PAYMENT GATEWAY
  • AUTHORIZE.NET GATEWAY
  • 2CHECKOUT GATEWAY
  • IATS GATEWAY
  • PAYPAL PRO GATEWAY
  • PAYTM GATEWAY
  • PAYUMONEY GATEWAY
  • PAYMILL GATEWAY
  • WEPAY GATEWAY
  • GOCARDLESS GATEWAY
  • AMERICLOUD PAYMENTS GATEWAY
  • DWOLLA GATEWAY
  • BRAINTREE GATEWAY
  • RAZORPAY GATEWAY
  • CCAVENUE GATEWAY
  • PAYFAST GATEWAY
  • USER AVATAR
    Add a community feel to your website by giving your donors the ability to upload their profile photo.
  • ALLOW OTHERS TO CREATE CAMPAIGNS
    Create a crowdfunding platform
charitable vs give donation plugin
  • CHARITABLE DONATION
  • Free with option to purchase extensions
  • Can’t resend email receipts
  • Can export donation data as CSV
  • Offline Donations and PayPal Standard
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension
  • Paid extension

 

IgnitionDeck Review

Crowdfunding is a way of raising money by asking a large number of people for a small amount. IgnitionDeck is probably one of the most well-known crowdfunding solutions and plugins in the WordPress space.

Unlike other crowdfunding platforms, IgnitionDeck does not charge based on how much money you raise. Use on an unlimited number of projects. There aren’t any applications, and you can keep all of the money you raise.

Whether you need to market a product, promote a business or raise money for your cause, IgnitionDeck WordPress crowdfunding plugin will do the trick. The plugin works with any WordPress theme, which means you don’t have to buy a new theme to get started.

Depending on the plan you purchase, there are available themes that are modifiable so you can customize them per your needs and work great with IgnitionDeck.

Although the plugin itself is free, you will most likely need to purchase their premium version to take full advantage of all the crowdfunding features. You can determine that after trying the free version.

 

kickstarter wordpress plugin

 

The premium version of the Ignition Deck plugin is much more powerful than the free version. The premium plugin package comes bundled with a variety of different skins and column configuration to display information about particular crowdfunding campaigns.

You can highlight the campaign goal, a number of donors, amount raised, end date, percentage raised, and a call-to-action button. Ignition Deck offers access to numerous extensions. These extensions add various useful functions.

You can add the Bitcoin, WePay, Amazon, Braintree, PayPal, and Stripe payment gateways to your crowdfunding website. There’s an extension for almost every scenario to fulfill every function you could need.

The plugin will work with any theme, but only a few themes have built-in styling and custom options for the Ignition Deck. The developers have also released several premium WordPress themes designed to operate smoothly with the plugin (you can see some down below in the post).

The premium version of Ignition Deck is probably the most popular standalone plugin crowdfunding solution for WordPress.

 

IgnitionDeck Features include:

  • Theme customization
  • Custom donation enabled
  • Flexible funding
  • Updated statistics
  • Preferred PayPal funding payments
  • Easy to manage contribution levels
  • Manageable goals
  • Campaign date flexibility
  • Mailchimp integration
  • Language flexible
  • Excellent support services
  • Reputable brand
  • PayPal and Stripe integration
  • 500 Framework Crowdfunding Theme
  • One or more IgnitionDeck extensions
  • Kickstarter importer plugin
  • IgnitionDeck e-commerce plugin
  • Membership registration and dashboards
  • Recurring pledges or donations
  • Front-end project submissions

 

IgnitionDeck Versions

As already mentioned, there is a free version of the IgnitionDeck WordPress fundraising plugin available which should give you a good overview of the interface. However, the more advanced features are found in the premium version.

Upgrading to one of the two premium versions of IgnitionDeck will give you the ability to build a fully functioning crowdfunding website with WordPress as its base.

 

best wordpress crowdfunding plugin

 

Depending on the license you choose, you can have everything up and running very easily. Allow visitors to register and start adding their own products in the hope of finding financial backers or even add your own products.

IgnitionDeck team offers a premium valet service in which they take care of everything from installing WordPress, creating the first project, with the result being that you will have a working IgnitionDeck installation. If time is money, then this service can help you save a lot of both.

Before there were four main variations of IgnitionDeck WordPress fundraising plugin:

  1. IgnitionDeck Crowdfunding (basic)
  2. IgnitionDeck Crowdfunding (legacy)
  3. IgnitionDeck + Membership
  4. IgnitionDeck Enterprise

In August 2016, IgnitionDeck legacy (which was the basic and premium versions) went into retirement, and IgnitionDeck + Membership was renamed to IgnitionDeck Echelon. Now there are only two (and free version). IgnitionDeck Echelon and IgnitionDeck Enterprise.

The free version of IgnitionDeck became more powerful as now it includes IgnitionDeck Commerce in it, which means it has the membership capabilities for free as well. The free version only includes PayPal as a payment gateway and doesn’t have a lot of the advanced aspects Echelon includes.

All of these scenarios require that you install, activate and register the IgnitionDeck Plugin. The registration process will automatically run IgnitionDeck updater. This will install a second plugin called IgnitionDeck Crowdfunding, which is mandatory for all IgnitionDeck-powered crowdfunding sites.

Running the IgnitionDeck updater for the first time will also install the free Theme 500 Framework, WordPress fundraising theme. This is a “parent theme,” designed to make it easy for you to either install and activate one of premium 500 child themes or create your own.

Once IgnitionDeck has been installed, you will have an “IgnitionDeck” link in your WordPress Dashboard’s main navigation. Click on this to go the main IgnitionDeck settings screen where you will see a “Register” button.

If you need a new account, click on “Register” and you’ll be presented with a form for creating an IgnitionDeck Launchpad account. Free account with IgnitionDeck.com

If you already have an account, click ‘Register’ and select the option to log in from the registration screen, enter your credentials and click the “Continue.”

If you are already logged into the IgnitionDeck.com website when you do this, it should detect that and handle the rest automatically. Once registration/login is validated, IgnitionDeck will automatically install both the IgnitionDeck Crowdfunding plugin and the Theme 500 framework.

Depending on what type of IgnitionDeck Crowdfunding system you are using, you will need to select the appropriate commerce platform.

 

Choosing IgnitionDeck Plan

The difference between Echelon and Enterprise is basically, that Enterprise is for building a full crowdfunding platform. Echelon provides an opportunity to create a crowdfunding site where you, as administrators, create and manage all projects yourselves.

All money goes directly to your payment accounts only.  You can have unlimited projects on your site. Also, you can use the license on unlimited websites. Enterprise provides an option to build a crowdfunding site where your members can create and manage their own projects themselves on your website.

Payments will go to them, and you can take a transaction fee from every transaction. Unlimited projects are available in this version also, but the license is for one live website and one sandbox/development server.

 

IgnitionDeck Echelon

As mentioned Echelon pricing plan is suitable if you want to create a crowdfunding site where you, as administrators, create and manage all projects by yourself.

Integrates with Mailchimp, Sendgrid, and Mandrill so that you can easily send newsletters and transactional email. Also, includes a group messaging feature for customer segments.

You can reward customers after purchase by issuing credits that they can redeem on future purchases. Or bypass dollars entirely and create your own virtual currency.

It provides an option to view and update a user’s profile, order history, access level, or credit value. Also, includes a front-end display for user self-management.

IgnitionDeck Echelon Features:

  • Adds additional gateways, including Stripe, PayPal Adaptive, Authorize.net, First Data, Coinbase, Offline Checkout, and more
  • Enables pre-orders and 100% funding options
  • Recurring payments (weekly, monthly, annually)
  • Adds support for renewals, automatic checkout page creation, subscriptions, expiring accounts, and free products
  • Additional custom email templates and transactional email integrations with SendGrid and Mandrill
  • Enables virtual currency, pay with credits, and instant checkout
  • Deliver products via Amazon S3
  • Integrates with MailChimp and automatically adds new users after purchase
  • Export data by product or project
  • Additional checkout options, including guest checkout and terms and conditions on checkout
  • Automatically disable the WordPress toolbar
  • Assign products on registration automatically
  • Automatic HTTPS on purchase pages
  • Upgrade pathways allow you to build your own upgrade funnels
  • Send emails to users by membership level segments

IgnitionDeck Echelon also includes WooCommerce integration, which allows you to sell products, crowdfund, and fundraise.

 

Ignition Deck Enterprise

IgnitionDeck Enterprise features a custom front-end registration form that is easily added to your navigation menu. Registered users can create and edit projects from the front-end of your website via custom dashboard menu.

Upon submission, both creator and admin will receive an email notification, giving admins the opportunity to review before publication. You can charge platform fees on a per-project basis using a commission percentage or flat price.

When using built-in Stripe or PayPal Adaptive integrations, fees are automatically levied during purchase and payout. Creator profiles are prominently displayed on each project page so that backers can learn more about each project creator, which increases trust and project marketability.

IgnitionDeck Enterprise Features

  • Front-End Submission for user-created projects
  • Front-end account management, creator profiles, backer profiles, and payment profiles
  • Charge platform fees via Stripe Connect & PayPal Adaptive Payments
  • Multisite support
  • Additional email templates included project submission confirmation, project publication, and project updates
  • Batch process pre-authorizations
  • Includes choice of free theme
  • Includes all extensions for free
  • Whitelabel crowdfunding and fundraising capability

 

IgnitionDeck WordPress Fundraising Plugin Extensions

Another selling point of IgnitionDeck is the extensions that are available for it. Depending on the license you choose when purchasing the plugin, you will get access to at least one extension, with other being available at an additional cost.

  • Sharesale Affiliate – Shareasale integration makes it easy to offer commissions on product sales
  • IgnitionDeck Social – Facebook login and registration
  • Mixpanel Analytics – Custom tracking for crowdfunding campaigns with metrics for every purchase, pre-order and donation
  • Email Receipts – Send email receipts and notification emails to the customer
  • Stripe Payments – Accept credit cards via Stripe’s API. Includes option to disable PayPal.
  • Stretch Goals – Add and maintain dynamic stretch goals for crowdfunding projects
  • Export to Google Drive – Save orders to Google Drive. Exports a spreadsheet with options to select project and level
  • FAQ and Updates – Show custom list of FAQ and Updates on project page
  • iDeal – Use Pay.nl to accept crowdfunding payments via the Netherlands’ most popular payment gateway
  • Kickstarter Sync – Import Kickstarter campaign data into your IgnitionDeck project.
  • WePay Payments – Accept credit card and bank payments for crowdfunding projects via WePay’s secure API
  • BitCoin Payments – Accept Bitcoin payments for crowdfunding projects

 

Crowdfunding WordPress Themes

While IgnitionDeck crowdfunding plugin will, in theory, work with any theme, the developers have created a selection of themes built especially for creating a crowdfunding website with WordPress.

The responsive 500 Framework is a free theme that comes with IgnitionDeck and includes WooCommerce support for handling the checkout process. The framework gives you the opportunity to customize the colors of your website through a visual set of controls, without the need to edit any code.

There are some child themes for a framework which add an entirely new look to features. Except for free 500 Framework, there are paid crowdfunding themes.

 

Backer Modern WordPress Crowdfunding Theme

A standalone theme featuring a custom IgnitionDeck integration. Available on ThemeForest and priced $53.

 

WordPress-Crowdfunding-Theme

 

The clean and minimalistic design of Backer will appeal to anyone looking for modern look for their crowdfunding website. Once this third-party theme has been installed, Backer makes it easy to customize the colors used for many of the elements of the theme.

Whether you are hosting your own projects or hoping to create a community of users promoting their own projects, Backer covers it all.


Fundify

Fundify is hugely popular Crowdfunding theme which integrates with IgnitionDeck.

best-WordPress-Crowdfunding-Theme

 

Now under the ownership of the IgnitionDeck team, Fundify continues to be a popular choice amongst those creating WordPress-powered crowdfunding websites.

The Fundify theme is ideal for creating a website to promote a personal project, or building a multi-author, a multi-project fundraising website.

Individual project pages on Fundify display all the relevant information including the amount being sought, the total received so far and the benefits for backers pledging certain amounts. Price for Fundify is $99.


For The Cause by WooThemes

For The Cause by WooThemes is standalone theme featuring a custom IgnitionDeck integration. Available on WooThemes.

 

woocommerce-fundraising-theme

 

Featuring a flexible homepage, large image areas, and detailed design, For The Cause can help you achieve goals.

The price of this premium crowdfunding theme includes one year of support and updates, which can be renewed after the first year of use. Price for single site license is $79.


CrowdPress

CrowdPress is a crowdfunding theme for IgnitionDeck that offers various color choices, layout options, and homepage styles.

 

best-fundraising-wordpress-theme

 

Use it to launch a single crowdfunding project, white label crowdfunding platform of your own using IgnitionDeck Enterprise. CrowdPress is a WordPress theme and relies on the crowdfunding functionality built into the IgnitionDeck plugins. Price is $99.


GoodWork – Multi-Purpose Responsive Theme

GoodWork is a standalone theme featuring a custom IgnitionDeck integration. Available on ThemeForest. Price $58.

 

responsive-fundraising-wordpress-theme

 

GoodWork is the ultimate fundraising theme for business. It is an elegant and modern with a wide amount of high-quality features, such as shortcodes, sliders, layout builders, theme options, page templates, responsive templating, etc.

UPDATE: This theme is no longer available.

 

IgnitionDeck FAQ

Here are most common questions asked by customers about fundraising plugin for WordPress:

Q: On how many sites can I install IgnitionDeck plugin?”

A: You can install Echelon on as many of your own sites as you wish. IgnitionDeck Enterprise can be used on one site.

 

Q: How many projects can I create?

A: There is no limit. Create as many projects as you want.

 

Q: Do I get free updates?

A: Each IgnitionDeck purchase includes a full year of support and updates.

 

Q: Is IgnitionDeck multisite compatible?

A: All IgnitionDeck versions are compatible with multisite.

 

Q: How do upgrades and support work?

A: Purchase grants you access to support forums, detailed documentation and product dashboard for one year after purchase of IgnitonDeck.

Certain products require a license key, which will enable updates via the WordPress admin.

 

Q: How much license renew costs?

A: You do not need to renew when your support and upgrades expire, but doing so will keep your product up to date.

 

Q: Does IgnitionDeck work on WordPress.com hosted websites?

A: IgnitionDeck works only on self-hosted WordPress sites. This is because WordPress.com is a closed environment and you are not allowed to install additional plugins or themes.

 

Q: What is refund policy?

A: Because digital products are impossible to return, refunds are not accepted. However, you can sell and/or transfer the license to another party.

 

IgnitionDeck Review Conclusion

Nowadays, you don’t have to resort to a website like Kickstarter, Go Fund Me, and You Caring to set up your own crowdfunding campaigns. Instead, you can run professional fundraising campaign on your own website without having to pay any fees to third-party sites.

Once again WordPress and developers working in the ecosystem have made it very easy to build a specific type of website. In this case fundraising plugin/theme.

The premium options will yield the best results, and the amount of money required to get a professional looking and functioning crowdfunding website online is very reasonable.

Don’t forget that IgnitionDeck WordPress fundraising plugin has its free version available to download from WordPress repository. Whether you want to start your own fundraising community or simply get some financial backing for your latest great idea, WordPress has you covered.

Tell me about your experience with crowdfunding tools. Have you used IgnitionDeck plugin or fundraising theme with WordPress? Share your experiences and let me know in comments below.


DISCLOSURE: Posts may contain affiliate links. If you buy something through one of those links, I might get a small commission, without any extra cost to you. Read more about it here.

9 thoughts on “IgnitionDeck Review PROS & CONS + Comparison With Competitors”

  1. Howdy, Folks!
    I’m just coming across this article. We’d love to provide some updated information. First off, IgnitionDeck was sold in 2018 and we (the new owners) have taken over the product and have been making incremental improvements. Our most important update includes the ability to Crowdfund using Bitcoin via our new CoinPayments integration. Our support is significantly better these days, too. =)

  2. The problem with this article is that it’s clear you get a commission on every sale, so it becomes automatically irrelevant and not reliable… I wish you could actually test it

    1. If you look it like that, then 90% blog posts on the Internet are irrelevant. Affiliate commission doesn’t have anything to do with my opinion.

      If you follow my publishing content you will notice I don’t publish 5-6 posts every week and pack them as so called reviews covering every available plugin, tool or theme available like many (popular) WordPress oriented sites do (for affiliate commission).

      I try plugins I review, even compare several of them and try to make one long, well-informed post every week.

      When I tested Ignition Deck in 2015. it was a very good plugin and I wrote from my experience then. I have not used it from that time. I can’t nor have time to test every plugin often so I try to at least update posts with latest features and changes to particular plugin or theme.

      That is why comment section is here. Leave your opinion or review about a product from your experience. I always approve valuable comments no matter if you agree or disagree with me.

  3. I wish I’d never purchased Ignition Deck Enterprise.
    Its the opposite of intuitive and the support module is useless.
    I don’t even know where to begin on all of the issues I have with it…

    1. Dear Bhamilton,
      We are in the process of purchasing the Enterprise edition of Ignition Deck. Pls, share with me what all issues you faced in using this software product. Will be very grateful with your feedback and insights.
      Rgds,

  4. Never thought there was option to simulate Kickstarter on WordPress site.

    This plugin looks very useful and interesting.

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