CAPE ELIZABETH — Dreams don’t always come true.

The Jordan family, which owns Alewive’s Brook Farm on Old Ocean House Road, learned that last week when an online fundraising campaign to expand the farm fell well short of its ambitious goal.

The multi-generation farming family sought funding to build a new farm stand and expand the business with a kitchen for prepared food, including cooked lobsters.

They used the Kickstarter crowdfunding website, and raised about a sixth of their $60,000 goal. The terms of the website are all or nothing; so although they had pledges of about $10,000, they won’t receive any money.

“We’re disappointed obviously,” farm manager and Town Councilor Caitlin Jordan said Wednesday. “Hopefully people still want to donate the money that they pledged and maybe we’ll try to do it in phases instead of in one big project.”

In hindsight, Jordan said Kickstarter was great because it let people know they were serious about raising the money, but at the same time, they would have liked to use the money they did raise.

“If I had that $10,000 I could have torn down the stand and at least put up four walls,” she said. “Maybe we wouldn’t have a kitchen by next year, but maybe in three or four years instead.”

If they use a similar platform in the future, Jordan said they will probably use one with the option of keeping any money pledged.

A grant they had been eyeing that would have helped with their expansion also fell through, because they needed matching funds, Jordan said.

And although they don’t have any firm plans right now, they’ll continue to be hopeful for a new farm stand, she said.

“We’ll just keep putting a coffee can on the counter,” Jordan said. “Short of winning the lottery, of course.”

Will Graff can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 123 or wgraff@theforecaster.net. Follow Will on Twitter: @W_C_Graff.