I've sponsored Lauren Ipsum (a book about computer science for kids), the recording of a country music CD, an archiving project by Jason Scott (of archive.org),

I've sponsored Lauren Ipsum (a book about computer science for kids), the recording of a country music CD, an archiving project by Jason Scott (of archive.org), homicidewatch.org and the restoration of an old printing press among others. Most under $10k, all under $50k. These are small projects but they're the vast majority of what you'll find on Kickstarter. They all got funded and as such are successful by their own standards. I always got my rewards, too. Huge projects that require hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding, like games and hardware, are a relatively recent phenomenon on Kickstarter. And while those projects are potentially more transformative, I wouldn't mind at all if Kickstarter decides that that game is too risky to play for them.