Crowdfunding is a popular way to raise funds for the projects you're actively working on. The big daddy of all online crowdfunding platforms is KickStarter, which had a terrific 2011.

So good, in fact, that you might just want to fund your next project through Kickstarter. The platform raised nearly $100 million in pledges in 2011, funding 12,000 projects -- 46 percent of which ultimately launched.

If you are wondering which categories get funded most often, look no further than the "category wheel" available here to see how different projects were funded. Film and music dominated, but design saw the biggest growth. Games made an appearance, but publishing and technology projects fared positively, too.