To answer Steve above: if you are a touring musician and this isn't just a hobby or a part-time interest, the monies raised to make the first crowd-funded album made that album happen, and any extras raised by sales of other copies of that album might well be absorbed into the day-to-day living expenses of the touring musician. That's certainly what happens to mine - yes, in an ideal world it would be great to have a separate savings account into which all monies for album sales would go, but I've never been rich enough to make that happen myself. You're expecting the crowd sourcing to fund two albums, it seems - I'm not sure why. Or, in your experience, is the money paid to touring artists already sufficient for someone to live on? They must be getting a lot of very well-paid gigs if you think that.
As to "artists asking for money for projects" you seem to be assuming the funders get nothing back for this - but of course they do, and it's not a question of the artist sitting and holding out a hat. From one book I helped to fund I received a signed copy of the book plus some beautiful limited edition prints, for example. Most album funding requests are simply requesting money up-front for the album itself.
There have been "angels" in the entertainment industry for many years now, putting money into theatrical events, helping to pay for printed programmes, putting money into building theatres and all manner of other schemes.
However, it all comes down to a simple thing - if you're not comfy with the notion of helping an artistic project come into reality, then don't bother. But why complain when others feel differently? Do you object to other ways in which they choose to spend their money? People buying raffle tickets, for example? People putting money into a busker's hat? I'm not sure there are limits, as long as the artist is upfront and honest about the project and makes sure they keep to all of their promises.
There's at least one of the commercial sites (not sure if it's Kickstarter) which does say that if the target isn't reached then the monies will be refunded to the funders. As PayPal takes a cut of payments made, this will ultimately cost the artist money, so it's a risk they have to take.
Meanwhile my next album will probably be funded by some money inherited from my parents ...I still won't spend a fortune on production or manufacturing, especially as many people these days are downloading rather than buying physical albums, but I may try to spend a little more on promotion.