Women on Kickstarter and the Power of Gender in Analytics

In the past few years we witnessed that gender equality has become an important subject and has received a lot of online and offline discussion in the world of advertising, design and business. But what about Kickstarter? When it comes to fund raising and crowdfunding, how are women participating in the various platforms and what kind of impact are they bringing to the community? In today's post we are giving the matter some thought.

Kickstarter Campaigns by Women Tend to be More Successful

Although it may sound like a bold affirmation, a report released last year by PwC and The Crowdfunding Center called "Women unbound: Unleashing female entrepreneurial" affirms that female-led crowdfunding campaigns are more likely to be successful than male-led campaigns. They analysed over two years of seed crowdfunding data from nine of the biggest platforms globally and over 450,000 seed crowdfunding campaigns. It shows that campaigns led by women across the world, during the years of 2015 and 2016, were 32% more successful than those led by men across a wide range of sectors, nations and cultures.

According to the New York Post, “it’s surprising because previous research in the venture capital setting has shown that typically investors will invest in men, because they view them to be more competent,” Regan Stevenson, an assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship at Kelley, told Moneyish - a digital platform that discusses money and digital entrepreneurship. “But what we found in crowdfunding is that the perception of competence is less important because this is such an early stage in a project; what’s more important is whether or not, as a funder, you trust the individual behind it. And women, in particular, have an advantage because the gender bias amongst participants was that women are more trustworthy than men.”

What About Female Backers on Kickstarter?

The other day we held a meeting regarding the specifics of a future Kickstarter campaign we are currently working on, all this in order to improve the campaign's possibilities of success. Effectively when it comes down to it, we were discussing new ways to get more pledges on our projects. One of the struggles we have in the elusive and complicated world of Kickstarter is not convincing existing backers to donate, but rather attracting a whole new market to the table. During our demographic analysis of our latest campaigns, we realized a large percentage of our backers are men, in-fact only 25 percent were women. A relatively low number, right? Obviously our marketing-oriented team wanted to know how we could welcome and attract more women to our campaigns, in order to tap into an unexposed market. To better understand the topic, we asked ourselves some questions.

* Does the tone of voice in Kickstarter campaigns sound inclusive for everyone?

* How much does the use of color in our marketing and production influence the backer's final decision?

* Is it a general question of how people approach risk taking? Are women less likely to take risks?

Successful Kickstarter Campaigns by Women

While we certainly don't have all the answers and it would be disingenuous and dishonest to propose theories as facts, we will be looking into the matter. On Kickstarter, a backer gained can be a loyal customer and supporter for many years. We are not necessarily trying to find a solution right this second, but it's important to start making provisions for a future backer demographic. So why not give a deeper look into successful campaigns by and for women so far? Here you can find our personal selection of women-led Kickstarter campaigns that are worth looking at. Maybe they hold some of the answers to the questions we have.

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls

A children's book and a podcast that reinvents fairy-tales, inspiring girls with the stories of 100 great women from all over the world.

Neckties Celebrating Influential Women

Neckties for women and girls that are designed to reflect the genius behind some of the most influential women from the past and present.

Gaza Girls: Growing Up in the Gaza Strip

The photo book “Gaza Girls: Growing up in the Gaza Strip” recounts the stories of young women coming of age in a difficult place.

Further reading on the subject

1. Article: Why women are more likely to be funded on Kickstarter by the New York Post

2. Report: Women unbound: Unleashing female entrepreneurial potential by PricewaterhouseCoopers

3. Article: Finally, a Financing Strategy That Favors Women by Inc.

4. Paper: Gender Dynamics in Crowdfunding (Kickstarter)